The Significance of Prop Design in the Apple TV Series Severance
In the critically acclaimed Apple TV series, Severance, the prop design plays a pivotal role in creating the coherent and believable retro-futurist vacuum of Lumon Industries. The production design, lighting, and blocking have established Severance as a visually arresting movies in recent years.
Jeremy Hindle, the production designer responsible for the creation of props such as the Lumon WoeMeter and the MDR-Terminals, took inspiration from the mid-century quest for the 'perfect workplace'. The Lumon WoeMeter, a representative example of the often anachronistic tech at Lumon, was designed with a blend of old and new elements. It features knobs from an early '90s Nagra tape recorder and meters powered by stepper motors and a series of LED displays. An ESP-32 microcontroller on a custom-designed circuit board brings the prop to life, making it fully functional for actors to use convincingly.
The MDR terminals, designed to reinforce the retro-futurist aesthetic, feature contradictory design elements such as a cathode-ray tube and a touchscreen, a trackball for input. These terminals were inspired by the 1977 Data General 6053, also known as the Dasher D2. The Lumon minicassette player used in Severance is a repainted Philips LFH0085 from the later 1960s.
Prop master Cat Miller tracked down genuine vintage erasers for Severance, stamped with the Lumon logo. The strange paintings celebrating Lumon's founder Kier Eagan are pastiches of real-world works from different eras and styles. Digital artist Hugh Sicotte planned each painting based on references in the script, and actor Marc Geller posed as Kier in different positions. These paintings add a comical grossness to Lumon's corporate propaganda, reminiscent of Jon McNaughton's portraits of US president Donald Trump.
The Lumon WoeMeter is a symbol of the unique and intricate prop design in Severance, which is crucial to the depiction of Lumon Industries. The last episode of Severance Season 2 will be released on Apple TV late Thursday / early Friday (20 / 21 March) and will have a longer runtime of around 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The Apple TV production of Severance has established a reputation for visually arresting movies, and the prop design is no exception. The attention to detail in the design of the props, from the Lumon WoeMeter to the MDR-Terminals, contributes significantly to the overall aesthetic of the show, making it a must-watch for fans of science fiction and unique visual storytelling.
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