In Hulu’s The Man in My Basement, the home at the center of the story is more than just a backdrop—it’s a vessel of memory, grief, and history, as well as a stage for confrontation. For production designer Kathrin Eder, the task was both daunting and thrilling: translate a dialogue-heavy novel into a cinematic world where walls, textures, and objects could carry as much narrative weight as the script itself.That meant months of collaboration with director Nadia Latif and many conversations with cinematographer Ula Pontikos, carefully mapping out the house’s evolution, designing and constructing a full-scale set in Wales, and engineering a basement that could both confine and expand under the camera’s eye.Drawing on her background in social and cultural anthropology, Eder rooted her designs in the history of Sag Harbor, incorporating the Arts and Crafts movement and Craftsman influences to build a home that felt like a “jewel” of its community—while also layering in the visual language of absence, stillness, and emotional paralysis. Every decision, from stained glass windows that became a visual motif to authentic century-old wallpapers, was made with an eye toward how light, shadow, and movement would transform the sets on screen.In the interview below, Eder walks us through the technical and creative processes that shaped the film’s physical world and how production design became a crucial bridge between psychology, history, and story.You can now stream The Man in My Basement on Hulu. - YouTubewww.youtube.comNo Film School: What were your first thoughts when you read the...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - 3 days ago