How the ‘Nickel Boys’ Team Delivered RaMell Ross’ Immersive Vision Through Detailed Design Work

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys” unearths the haunting realities of two boys, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), as they navigate a brutal reform school, blending visceral storytelling with an experimental approach.

In adapting Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, production designer Nora Mendis explains Ross’ vision came from a conceptual place.

She says, “It was more about looking at contemporary artists, photos, content and what the justice system means throughout history.” Mendis adds, “Our conversations were based in a higher space of art, and he would trust us to go and do what we would do.” Throughout the film, which is now in theaters, Ross uses archival footage to juxtapose Elwood and Turner’s abusive experience at Nickel Academy (which subs in for the real Dozier School for Boys in Florida, where more than 100 students died from abuse) with the social and technological advances of the ‘60s, like the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race.

He tells the story though, through a first-person point of view. “’Point-of-view’ was a term we dropped. What was wanted to build was called a sentient image,” cinematographer Jomo Fray explains. “We wanted an image that felt like it was connected to a real person in a present tense fashion, and was tied to a real body, a real consciousness, moving through space.” Ultimately, Ross wanted an aspect of immersion for the audience to experience what the two boys Elwood and Turner were going through.