10 new sets for 1 episode of AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS
Episode 6 of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens season 3 directed by Laura Murphy and written by Teresa Hsiao was quite the foray into possible alternate realities sort of like Nora is George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
While Episode 6 provided lots of fun sequences seeing each character in different “what if’s” it also meant A LOT of new sets for one episode. Like a lot, a lot for any TV show and especially a tiny low budget comedy like Nora from Queens.
Thanks to a SUPER set dec team: assistant set decorator Ashley Bradshaw, set dec buyer for the episode Casey Adams, and our trusty PA Kiran, we somehow put together 10 new sets in 1 week.
Lawyer Nora
Hot Tub Magnate Wally
Edmund’s Hi-Rise Kitchen that Grandma now lives in
Instagram Lin Family Home Kitchen
Instagram Lin Family Home Dining Room and Living Room
Instagram Lin Family Home Nora’s Bedroom
Nursing Home Grandma
Sad Bachelor Wally
Brenda’s Home
Fancy Living Room
LAWYER NORA
In the fantasy sequence where Nora does go to Kumon (lol) she becomes a high-powered lawyer with a Chinese middle aged lady’s boss girl haircut.
artwork by wonderful artist Crys Yin
we had a totally empty white room in which to fill with our best take on a high-powered millennial girl boss office.
what you can’t tell about the vertical blinds we put up for this wall of windows is that they have a really cool texture on them. We felt that vertical blinds quickly communicated the idea “office.”
lonely lawyer Nora drinking champagne alone with the back of faux high-powered photos and photos of cars like Mandy which she was desperately hoping for in the normal timeline of episode 306.
HOW THOSE PHOTOSHOPPED PHOTOS SAUSAGE IS MADE
If you are ever wondering how those faux photos are done, it is a whole process.
In our case, we came up with a list of high-powered problematic people for Nora to have photos with and then found their photos on a stock image site we had access to through production.
Then we float this idea with the director and writer (Laura and Teresa) and they tell us what they think in terms of the kind of people girlboss Nora would be proud to showcase photos of. They told us our first pull was too many political figures (I think we pulled Henry Kissinger as one of them) and to do more tech and rock stars.
We also had to look for photos that would be easy to photoshop Nora into to make it easier for our graphics people to do quickly. For instance that photo with Mark Zuckerberg is fairly easy to put another body into with a lot of space between the two people and black background.
Finally we settled on Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Drake, and a red carpet photo of the real Nora and Michelle Yeoh.
Then we printed out the stock photos we were going to use so that when they did a special photoshoot of Nora in the hair, makeup, and costume of Lawyer Nora (two days before we filmed the Lawyer Nora scenes) she would know how to pose to match the photos it would be photoshopped into.
Once those photos of Nora in hair, makeup, and costume are taken, our graphics team let by Dan-ah Kim have to frantically photoshop and print these photos so that we can put them into frames and have them on set to film these scenes.
Way more work than you were expecting right?
In this shot you can see the Elon Musk one.
MONOPOLY WALLY
Nora discovers that Wally has become a high-powered douchebag earning a fortune as a hot tub water bed magnate in this alternate reality.
For this set we also had an empty room with just a brick wall to work with.
In one iteration of the script Nora asks why Wally looks like the Monopoly man (I think they had to change the dialogue for copyright clearance reasons) but when we were prepping for the set we pulled reference images of the actual monopoly man (hahahha) and I think we matched the codes.
you can see where the business cards and holders are placed on the desk even though in the shot they are covered by one of the many young women fawning over this Hot Tub Water Bed Big Boss Wally.
my favorite detail: the business cards graphic artist Dan-ah Kim made for Wally!
EDMUND’S HI-RISE KITCHEN
In this sequence Grandma is living with Edmund in his fancy hi-rise kitchen where he lives as a successful actor.
Since the only other time we saw Edmund’s space this season is his trailer in ep 303 “Love and Order” we thought we would match the colors of his kitchen to the colors we used for that set, and even had some of the same art from that set in this set.
Since Edmund’s kitchen is sort of Grandma’s space too now that she lives with him, I thought she might also have a Chinese grocery store calendar here thanks to Dan-ah for making us another one.
we discussed with director Laura Murphy what would be on Edmund’s fridge and we decided he’s so full of himself it would be his headshot and a magnet that is another photo of himself and that’s it. 😂 (yes I’m old, this is my go-to laughing emoji)
This was a totally empty blank kitchen usually used for commercials so we had to totally fill it also.
Sad fact: one afternoon I went out and bought everything you see here and that night my production car was broken into and someone stole almost everything we bought. So I had to buy everything again a few days later. 😭
INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER LIN FAMILY HOME DINING ROOM AND LIVING ROOM
After Nora goes through that sequence of events above, she is presented with a whole other set of realities to contrast with that starting with her being married with a son and working as an instagram influencer.
Transforming the Lin Family Home was a real challenge. We had, and I’m not joking, 2-days to find, buy and rent all the furniture and decoration (Ashley the wonder woman Assistant Set Decorator MADE IT HAPPEN!) and 1.5 days to put it together in the set to change the rooms legibly enough that you would recognize the space but understand Nora had changed and had a different life
We were trying to make her new life bland, suburban, and “nice” in that boring IG way that people like sanitizing and remodeling their homes nowadays.
You can’t really see in this photo but the living room has different seating, drapes, and a whole kids toys section. Also Nora’s costume in this scene cracks me up so much—costume designer Michelle Li did such a great job.
How this same shot looked just last episode.
INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER LIN FAMILY HOME KITCHEN
How we changed the kitchen (if we had the resources to change the wallpaper we would have but sadly this isn’t that show).
How the kitchen normally looks.
before the light was installed, but still you get the idea of how sterile and different the kitchen has become.
the scenics even put a contact paper to change the kitchen counters to look like a marble countertop.
Those two cookbooks are my personal ones I brought from home the morning of filming and someone stole them. rude!
INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER NORA BEDROOM
her sanitized bedroom now a master bedroom for her miserable marriage.
how her bedroom normally looks
how this part of the room usually looks.
how it usually looks
During this quick storming out of Arthur you get a glimpse of this corner of the room
what this part of this room usually looks like
WORKING REALLY FAST
Like I said earlier, we only had 1.5 days to take down and properly store all the original decoration and dress-in the new look (only to have to re-dress it for future filming!) Which is possible but still a feat.
Since we had a great set dressing crew we were lucky everyone knew how to work quickly together.
when you are set dressing so fast you have no time to get a ladder
we stored all of the old Nora bedroom stuff in Grandma’s room and this is what that looked like 😱
Laura the Production Designer and me during our manic extreme set selection session where we had to decide everything for transforming the Lin Family Home in 1 hour so Ashley would have time to act on those decisions and put the rentals through and make the purchases.
WALLY’S BACHELOR PAD
the alternate reality where poor Wally never meets Brenda and lives on his own in a sad bachelor pad .
GRANDMA’S NURSING HOME
This was an empty room, and Casey did a great job bringing this idea to life.
Not only is this old TV with an episode of “Love and Order” playing a funny detail, this shot give you a glimpse at the many great small details Casey put into the set in this part of the room.
HOTEL/FANCY LIVING ROOM
You will see more of this room in the finale as this is where the episode ends “to be continued…” but we had to have this set ready by this episode.
I’ll talk more about this set in the next post but just know this was a build on a stage which is usually the type of set that is the most work for the art department.
when Nora meets Awkwafina….what?! stay tuned!
BRENDA’S HOME
exterior of Brenda’s Home which we tried to match the porch to with plants and a boho vibe with her eclectic colorful wardrobe.
When we first started Season 3 of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, Production Designer Laura Miller and I discussed how Brenda’s home was the set she was most excited about for the season.
Brenda has been a character since Season 1 and she always has a clear artsy boho quirky style in her wardrobe and this would be our chance to flesh out her character with her home interior and exterior.
One of the first sets we started working on was Brenda’s gathering reference images and style inspiration based on our understanding of the character and matching the vibe of her wardrobe for the last three seasons.
snapshot from a pinterest board we started for her set from early early prep for the show.
reference images I had taped to my office wall including ideas for the design of the coffee table we had custom made as a stunt breakaway so that Wally could safely fall onto it and break it.
said breakaway coffee table, plus the hint (like the slightest hint) of the vases filled with roses.
Sadly we really didn’t see much on screen for this set, so here are some before and after shots of the sets we created for Brenda’s Home:
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER (imagine the vases underneath the sign filled with roses)
a hilarious shot of B.D. Wong as Wally
You can read more behind-the-scenes putting together the sets and everything related to Awkwafina is Nora from Queens Season 3 here.
And for fun with the real star of episode 306: