Here are some pics of a new set we did for the One Tree Hill finale. I designed the set to fit into an existing location. It took the place of an existing set, Clothes Over Bros, that was already in that location. I had about a week to come up with the design and our crew had about 3 weeks to tear down the old set and build this new one from scratch. Looks like this is going to the last set I do as a Production Designer on One Tree Hill. We’ve just wrapped season 8 and it looks like I’m going to New Orleans to be an Art Director on a big Paramount action film. Should be a fun change of pace. It was a good run on OTH and I had a fantastic crew to work with the entire time.

Here are some of the concept art pieces of the model I did in Sketchup along with photos of the finished set.

Tags: One Tree Hill

Just finished up another wedding and reception on One Tree Hill. Season 8 has been building to the big wedding between the Brooke and Julian characters. We initially planned on using the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, but that proved to be too expensive for our budget as well as difficult to fit into our shooting schedule. So we instead used the new Convention Center in Wilmington. We gave the reception a bit of a sleeker feel, since the Brooke character would be drawn to that look due to her design background.

Here is the concept art that I drew for the set, as well as some set pics.

Tags: One Tree Hill

Just finished up a really fun set to design and build. We had another episode where a car crashes on a bridge and gets pushed into the river. Due to the logistics of shooting a car crash on an actual bridge and river in October, it was decided (kind of late in the game) to build a replica on stage. We needed to have the actors in the car as it sunk in the river as other actors try to save the trapped passengers. So to control the environment, we built the bridge as well as a section of the river as a tank on stage. The tank ended up being 40’ by 65’ by 3’ deep with a 24’ x 24’ section that was 7’ deep. We kind of backed into the whole thing, as we started building just a tank first to shoot some close-ups in the water. Then with only 2 1/2 weeks until shooting, it was decided that we should build the bridge as well as river banks so that we could film entire sequences in the controlled environment of the stage. This all takes place during a heavy rainstorm as well, so FX had to rig rainheads over the whole thing. Our crew did a fantastic job in an incredibly short amount of time, working nearly round the clock and building the whole thing in just 2 weeks. Here are some pics of the concept, the stage and the location that we matched:

Quick Concept art done in Sketchup:


Another view for Previz:


The set under construction:


Work continues; Painting the last bits as the water fills the tank:


The car being hoisted into place. There’s plastic over the water to help heat it:


Nearly finished:


Here’s the real location:


Here’s the car placed in the water:


Filming the car in the ‘river’:


Filming continues:

Tags: One Tree Hill

We’re always doing strange things on One Tree Hill based on whatever crazy thing comes up in the script. This time we needed to have an articulated ‘dummy’ of one of our ex actors on the show. So we found a mannequin that looked similar and had our talented scenic department paint the face. Also, our construction department cut apart the mannequin and built joints so that we would have an articulated head and arms. Which generated some funny photos...

Tags: One Tree Hill

Just found out that One Tree Hill has been picked up for the back 9 episodes of season 8. That makes another full season order. Pretty incredible that this show has lasted so long. It’s been great to have such steady, long term employment in this industry. It’s definitely not the norm for the film business. Every crew member on the show has been very lucky to have such a great run.

Tags: One Tree Hill

We’re shooting some scenes at the set ‘Club Tric’ for our Halloween episode. We ‘ghouled’ it up a bit. Here are some pics...

Tags: One Tree Hill

Scouting for One Tree Hill today at the Atlanta Georgia Dome. We have an upcoming episode tied to a character playing for the Atlanta Falcons. We were able to watch the intro from the field as the players entered the stadium. Definitely a lot of fun and pretty cool to get paid to watch an NFL game. Too bad I don’t like either team. It’s going to take quite a bit of logistics to be worked out for us to film here...

Tags: One Tree Hill

So I’m back for another season of One Tree Hill. After the big finale last year with a couple of our characters being shot, of course we had to build some hospital sets. Just finished the hospital ICU rooms on stage. Here are some pics...

Tags: One Tree Hill

These past two episodes have been kind of crazy for the art department. I've had to design two concerts back to back. The first was a huge outdoor concert with plenty to pull together in only 8 days. We had to build an outdoor stage, create all of the artwork and graphics, work out the stage plan and truss designs, create a backstage area and tents, arrange a fireworks display and more. We pulled it all off in time, only to have torrential rains for 3 days straight. Then once the rains cleared, we had to deal with flooding since we were right along the Cape Fear River. All of the rain, combined with lunar high tides, caused quite a mess. After almost a weeks delay, we finally filmed it and it turned out well. After pulling that off, we received the next script and found yet another concert. This one was meant to be an 80's themed fundraiser within the show. We soon found out that Cheap Trick was going to be the band - very cool. The design for that one seemed kind of obvious - lots of black and white checkerboard patterns. Hopefully the next script has something other than a rock concert in it.

Tags: One Tree Hill

Just got word from the network that they have picked up One Tree hill for the full season! 22 episodes. That means we'll be filming until the end of March. Nice to have a steady paycheck.

Tags: One Tree Hill