Set decoration and costume design in ”Savu”

by Mindele Baran

Pyry (Nestori Kyyrä) and her mother (Minna Hämäläinen) having pea soup.

I worked as set decorator, prop master and costume designer in the 10-minute short fiction film “Savu”. The set decoration department consisted of myself and my two assistants: Elina and Meike and the costume department of myself and my assistant Liisa. I also received help from a friend who works as a set builder.

My interest in doing set decoration stems from internships I’ve done on two feature films. Our school hasn’t conveyed that much knowledge on the craft of these two departments. Most of the things I do know have been learned elsewhere.

I began my work by assuming the role of the set decorator. Since the production was lacking a costume designer at the time I took on that job as well upon the production manager’s request. I was working as the head of two separate departments but it was relatively easy to combine the two because I could find the costumes in the same places I bought or borrowed the set dressings and props.

Firstly I analyzed the script prepared a written plan which I then showed to the director. She commented on my plans and it became clear that we were on the same page. I sent the written set decoration and costume plan to my assistants so they could get a general idea of the direction I was taking.

We visited almost all of the flea markets in the Turku area during pre-production. We had some sponsors and a small budget that enabled us to buy the things we couldn’t borrow. Liisa and I also used some of our own clothes for costume work.

A big part of the film is set in the main character’s parents’ house which was also the most demanding set to decorate. I wanted the family’s home to be a common place familiar to those who grew up in the 90’s – maybe not your home, but the home of someone you know. The sense of familiarity was achieved by using common Finnish design like Iittala and Vallila. I found it interesting that a somewhat broken family could have a nice home decorated in comforting colors like light green and beige. I wanted the decoration to be nice but a little bit outdated, showcasing that the family has more prominent issues than redecorating the house.

The main character’s mother in the family home’s kitchen

 

Other locations included the main character’s friend’s house (one where we were able to use many things that were already there), and a couple of outdoor locations where we had mainly hand props. Among the more challenging outdoor locations were a graveyard and a drive-in.

The director had a very strong vision about her characters so it was pretty easy to start thinking what sort of clothes they would wear. The film takes place over a substantial period of time so the characters had to have several outfits for different times and seasons.

I wanted the clothing to support the character’s personality, but also bring something new to their general appearance. For example Pyry is the kind of person who would want to “hide” in his clothes but I still wanted him to dress in a way that makes him look good. One of the basic challenges in costume design is to make people look good in such a way that it seems as if they don’t care what they wear.

The Girl, Suvi (Reeta Kulmala), is wearing my old sweater and jacket, a bow I made myself, and a shirt borrowed from a flea market. Her personality is sweet and she makes Pyry happy so I wanted there to be some spiciness and flirtiness to her clothing.

 

Pyry and his friend Aki (Jussi Jätinvuori) smoking in the yard. Most of their clothes were borrowed from my boyfriend and Liisa’s. Pyry’s jacket was borrowed from Retrobot store. The tobacco was one of the most expensive props in the whole production as lots of it was smoked in the film.