Art concept Mangalo's Main street set.
The village of Mangalo (the main street) was built on location in the country of Accra, in Ghana. After chosen the right location some existent house was used as set and we instead built around the main street (that included the Bar and the Hotel set)
Night scenes in the Main street of Mangalo's village.
Art concept Church/School set. The Tree had intentionally the shape of a horn like a weird symbol to the 'cursed' village.
The Church/School set of Mangalo was recreated on location near the Main street location. We used only the Church building (yellow one) and transform it as old building, instead the School (the blue one) we built it for exterior and interior shooting. All environment around was made and of of course we planted the big horn shape's tree.
Still from Church/school set.
Other picture Church/ School set. In the background we can see the Old man's Hut set, built for use it for the Fire sequences.
Detail of the School building set. It was built inspiring from local construction using rusted corrugated iron and brick walls with plaster painted.
Art concept John's classroom- School complex.
Int. School, John's classroom set. It was built and set dressed with real forniture from existent schools around, We also thought of some local custom and details like a type of blackboard, made simply painting black the wall and using chalks on it.
School and playground area set. The area for the kids was very simple and made with poor and recycled elements.
Other view Church/School area set.
Art concept Festival and playground area. The concept illustrates the definitive look of the Hunters Festival set. It was chosen on the opposite side of the Big Tree/Church/School set (you can see in the background).
Art concept Hunter's Festival set (bonfire). It was an early concept of the Hunter's Festival , thought to be in the space front Church/School area with a celebrative big bonfire.
Hunter Festival set. The set was built, set dressed and prepared for the night feast shooting with big bonfire, stage, and all adorned with little flags, practical lights and ornaments.
Hunter Festival set. Detail of the stage and the big bonfire.
Detail stage Festival set.
Hunter's Festival set. Still from the movie of the final version of the Hunter Festival set.
Art concept Bar /Hotel set in Mangalo.
Ext. Bar Hotel set. It was built as part of Main Street of the village. It's an exterior and interior set with the Bar at entrance that thru a stair leads to the corridor and the hotel rooms. The building was made half real concrete bricks (the lower part) and wood and rusted corrugated iron on roof.
Art concept Int. Bar set.
Int. Bar set. Was entirely built, also the furniture and the props was made specifically for the set. Was used very old practical lights.
Another detail of the table zone of the Bar set. The wall was very aged and scratched for give more a lived look.
Detail of the counter zone in the Bar set.
The counter, the shelves, the stools, all was built specifically for the Bar set, with old plank's wood.
The corridor leading the Goodwin's room. It was made with accessible doors to other rooms.
Int. corridor to Goodwin's room (night scene)
Art concept Int. Goodwin's room set.
The Goodwin's room was thought with a very low profile look, an anonymous room adapted to a hotel room.
In the Goodwin's room all set dressing inside was thought e 'adapted' to be a furniture of a hotel room. So very used stuff, also we gave this decay's look, aging everything and using old wooden shutters broken here and there. The big portion of the wooden shutter window looks out the main street set.
Art concept Int. Ayomide's home set (courtyard).
Art concept ext. Ayomide's house set. The location had two building in front of each other, I thought to made an courtyard just connecting the buildings thru two and enclosing the space.
Art concept Int. Ayomide's house set.
Ayomide's Courtyard house (location). The courtyard had many rooms connected. As a hunter's home all the walls of the set was dressed with hunted animal skins like trophies.
Art concept Uchebo's office set.
Int. Uchebo's office set. We thought to place this set 'geographically' near the Church set, so it' is inside the School building. We aged all and set dressed it with some religious props.
Other view of the Uchebo's office set.
The Uchebo's office picture in working progress, with set dressing. Every element of the set dressing (furniture, props, textures, curtains) was found thru local markets and accurately chosen for the right mood of the set.
Art concept of Path to Mangalo's Village set. It was an initial idea using the 'horn' form, recurring symbol in the cursed village.
Path to Mangalo's Village set. In reality the location was an old railway that leads to the town. We left grown the brushwood and the grass to give us more abandoned look and placed the sign of the town.
Another view of the path to Mangalo's village. Here it's more visible the real abandoned railway near the banano's tree.
Here the Cursed woman's hut set. We create the hut of the cursed woman (at the left in the background) inside an old abandoned station. I thought her house more about a very little hut, like a box and made simply with old corrugated iron and old wood, making the little holes where the woman can peek at.
Another picture of the abandoned Station set.
Art concept Int. Church set. The Church was conceived as two specific moment in the story: the old pastor Uchebo's time and the new time with priest John, so one in completely dark (this case), reflecting Uchebo's soul and the other instead bright and with more light sources, reflecting the good soul of the priest.
Here instead the priest John version look, more brightly and more 'open'.
Thinking of John's version of the Church we also added a kid's choir during the mass.
Art concept Burned Old man Hut.
Art concept Int. Hut Old man set.
The burned Old man's hut set. It was built somewhere near the Church set as exterior /interior shooting hut, with typical straw roof and thatched mobile walls (for facilitate the shots). Then the structure was prepared by SFX team for the fire sequences.
Here the ext. Old Mangalo's post office. It was chosen a existent building in the town, near where we built the main street. We modify little bit its look and aged all.