I have often admired home decor shots in ads and films. While some of these locales are actual homes, most times they are just production sets. A production set according to Wikipedia, is ” a place with an artificial nature that creates the illusion of a real or imagined place”. They look real, alright!
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| Remember this one? It’s the set for the Kellogg’s ad |
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| A dress-up for the Maggi ad film shoot |
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| The production set for the Dell Computers ad |
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| Niyoti Upadhye |
My work here is to dress up the empty space and make it look like what it does (living room/ dining room etc). The director usually gives me a brief – whether the space has to look traditional, modern, middle class, affluent etc, depending on the story of the film. After that I go out to furniture and decor shops and some film prop shops where I source all these pieces on rent. A lot of furniture and other small items are rented out just for the shoot and returned to the vendors.
Sometimes I create specific pieces along with my team, to fit the theme/look of the film.
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| Set for the Acquaguard ad |
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| My personal favorite. The set for Mr. White detergent |
Now, that’s a totally enviable profession! And, did you know? She has a mascot to distinguish her work on every set she does. She says, “My mascot that I always add on every set that I style/ design is a Cat :)…it is in the form of an artifact or a painting or a relief…it could be anything! My sets are never complete without a cat somewhere around!”
Wasn’t that interesting? Can you see her mascot in any of the pics featured here? 🙂 I spotted a couple of them!
All images courtesy Niyoti Upadhye
