Production Designer: Machaca
I was the Production Designer and co-Producer, along with Director Iván Cantu-Villarreal, for the short live-action film, Machaca. I concurrently ran a crowdfunding campaign, secured funds, and then took on the roles of Casting, Location Scout, Costume Designer, AD, Set Dresser, Prop Master, and -well, you get the idea. On a micro budget of under $15k we successfully scheduled, built and shot eight sets on ten different locations, managed two child actors and eleven teenage extras, and gave direction to ten crew members (all on weekends, all of this while working overtime at a knife factory. I can barely believe it myself honestly and I am so proud of the Machaca team.)
My favorite frame from Machaca. Our first inspiration in preproduction was the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio’s paintings and honestly, I feel like that comes through here in the rhythm of the light and shadow of the candles and early dawn.
The heart of Machaca’s production design was based on the color palate of the Tének embroidery that you see laid on the table here, a design that is traditional to our main character Mamá’s home of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. All characters in the film wore and were often surrounded by colors that were based on the tenor of their relationship with Mamá, who always wore the Tének palette to symbolize her connection the culture she was away from.
A pivotal moment in Machaca as Mamá ponders her jewelry box, empty but for some handmade objects from her son, Mauricio. Gillian Hunt, the concept artist, art director, and all around magical crew member on Machaca, set dressed this strikingly composed frame.
This is the bedroom and living room of the small apartment that Mamá and Mauricio share. I designed the space based on the narrative of a struggling single mom who does everything she can to create a cozy and rich space with the few resources she has, and the sparse possessions with which she moved to the States. I was able to use a photo of a the actual bedroom that the writer/director grew up in.
Still frame with Mamá and Mauricio watching a “Monstalunch” commercial on TV. The daybed is Mamá’s side of the shared bedroom/living room.
Mauricio caught in the act of stealing from Mamá. Here you see his side of the room with his art supplies and drawings made by GT’s son and childlike sculptures that we made.
I sculpted all my childhood pets and stuffed animals and Iván asked for Dragon Ball Z characters to represent Mauricio’s childhood imagination.
It was very important that we find a brass pot like the one his TV perched on as a kid. Why? Because it is one of those set pieces that are totally illogical but make the scene believable and authentic. I went to every store in Portland to find a brass pot within our limited prop budget that met approval. Who knew something like this on eBay would be hundreds of dollars these days. Shout out to the clearance section of World Market where I finally snagged this one for $20, (Yes, I know you can barely see it anyway but we knew it was there and it informed so much about the style of this room.)
Machaca still frame of the CRTV on a brass pot. Eventually there will be a stop-motion animated commercial for “Monstalunch” playing on this tv. We just have to finish making it first!
Actual photo of Iván’s childhood TV on a brass pot.
The shoot that I was the most worried about was the middle school cafeteria. It was our most expensive shoot day. This experience really impacted my understanding of how immense the responsibility is of a producer. Though we were able reduce the cost of renting the space by going all the way out to North Clackamas School District, we still had to pay a pretty penny per hour. Our AC’s car wouldn't start that morning which initially felt like a bad omen but otherwise the day went off without a hitch. In fact, the parents of the child actors and extras ended up acting in the background as teachers, in a scene that the director choreographed like a pro. Though delighted that we could fill the room we paid so much for, I hadn’t expected so many extras so show up and was a little unprepared that day as costume designer, without enough extra clothing for the scene changes. The royal blue shirt you see on the kid in the background was actually mine that I took off and gave to him. I think it works pretty well compositionally!
Gillian Hunt and I decorated the cafeteria with posters that I had made and bought from old 90’s teacher supplies I found at SCRAP. Is Columbus still taught the same as it was in the 90’s? I hope not!
I made this paper maché mask that appears in a nightmare Mauricio has. It resembles Chupis, the vampire mascot that terrorizes Mauricio thought the film and causes a rift between he and Mamá. The mouth opens and closes as the puppeteer talks. It just so happens that I am the puppeteer behind that mask. This scene turned out as creepy as we had hope, and somewhat terrorized the crew and the on-set cat.
Gillian Hunt designed the Monstalunch branding and the character Chupis. She had the boxes printed and we filled them with store-bought lunches. Initially we were going to have a grocery store scene with rows of these, so we had quite a few printed, however renting a grocery store proved too much for our micro budget so the director cleverly re-wrote the script with this scene that ultimately has more emotional impact than the grocery store would have.
Mattie taking a break on set to pet Lula.
More stills from Machaca:
