Have you ever wondered how the magic of TV is actually brought into reality? Well, for ABC’s newest hit CONVICTION, Director Lyle Jobe brings viewers behind-the-scenes to a truly revolutionary set.
First impressive feat: this two storey set was built in just a month. In just one flip of a calendar page, this set team built what we see as the C.I.U office space — pretty impressive, huh? What’s also impressive is the backdrop to the office space. When viewers see a stunning New York sky-line, it is actually just one huge poster that wraps around the whole set, and depending on the lighting the designers use, it can be night or day.
Additionally, there’s the “fish-bowl” as Jobe calls it — or the bull-pen where Hayes and her team hash out cases — which has some special features. Not only is it 360 degrees of glass paneling, but those panels move so that cameramen can play with reflections and close-ups and angles. Jobe confirms that these are especially helpful with the rapid back-and-forth dialogue between Hayes (Hayley Atwell) and Sam Spencer (Shawn Ashmore).
Finally, we hear what the cast has to say about this ingenious set. Both Emily Kinney, who plays Tess Larson, and Eddie Cahil, who plays Wallace, say that because it matches the style of the show, it helps them get into character and can actually inform the choices they make as actors. Merrin Dungey aptly says “It’s the likes of which [she] hasn’t seen before”, and she would be right.
Together with the costume designers, make-up department, producers/directors, and actor’s themselves, the set-department is a vital organism to making CONVICTION come together every Monday at 10 PM ET/PT on ABC.
