Designing CURSED
PRODUCTION DESIGNER CATRIN MEREDYDD AND HAIR, MAKE-UP AND PROSTHETICS DESIGNER ERIKA ÖKVIST TALK US THROUGH SOME OF THEIR WORK ON THE ARTHURIAN SHOW
WORDS: IAN BERRIMAN
A computer model image of the port Hawksbridge.
Design Philosophy
CM When I first met Zetna [Fuentes], the director, we were very much in agreement that the tone of the piece should have its grounding in reality, and research: use all the Arthurian legends and the medieval traditions, but then take it to another level. So you’re starting with something very true and natural, then picking out various elements and exploring them, and maybe highlighting certain things and pushing others to the background. I went back to the Mabinogi, which is the Welsh version [of Arthurian lore] that I was taught in school, being a Welsh girl. But then I looked at all the Celtic world, and how those stories transformed across Europe, as they travelled by word of mouth, with various subtle differences.
Once extras are no longer needed, they are swatted.
Hawksbridge
CM That was built on a military site out near Deepcut [in Surrey]. I looked at a lot of references from the UK obviously, but also from Europe, and mixed the architecture together so we weren’t anywhere specific. It started off as Hawksbridge, but also had to work for the rest of the series and change into a couple of other towns - so it was making sure it was modular. For example: the walls of the town, when you first see it, are clad with large pine timbers, which is quite a Viking thing. So it’s like a Roman town that has lots of different textures from different people having taken it over. Then we took all that timber away, and beneath we’d already plastered and had it as stone for the next town. So there was a layer underneath, beneath Hawksbridge, that revealed itself later on. You always have to be looking ahead!