Earlier today, we shared the first half of our interview with The Hunger Games set decorator Larry Dias. Keep reading to learn more about what went into the process of creating the set!

CasaSugar: Where was the chandelier above the dining table sourced?

Larry Dias: The "chandelier" was actually comprised of 50 to 60 separate fixtures from Arteriors that we arranged off site and installed into the cantilevered overhang on stage. It was built into a wedge that floated over the dining table that came to a very shallow point. We had to put one of the set dressers inside the wedge to do the installation and wiring so we picked the smallest guy and in he went. A claustrophobic environment to say the least.

CS: The chairs at the dining table are so futuristic, and I love the pleating effect. Where were these sourced?

LD: Those chairs are made by the Phillips Collection [note: photo above is from Phillips Collection, not from the film]. Buyer Margaret Hungerford found them in High Point in North Carolina. We decided they were perfect for the set since we were looking for something that was a little "off center." They are made of strapping similar to seat belting and are woven around a wooden frame. The texture and silhouette of the chairs read wonderfully on film.

CS: Since Lenny Kravitz also has a design firm, did he have any feedback about the set? Did you collaborate together at all? (The high pile rugs in the penthouse reminded me a bit of his designs.)

LD: He gave some really positive feedback. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the sets. By the way, the high pile carpeting was area rugs that we fused together because we had to cover an area that was quite large.

CS: I loved Katniss's bedroom quarters. What went into your look for her room? How did you choose the color palette?

LD: Phil and I were trying to come up with a bed that anchored the room, and we were really playing with color. We couldn't find anything that wasn't too recognizable so he designed it on his computer and we built it. The paint is a high-gloss lacquer, and the upholstery was this amazing patterned velvet Margaret had found. The faux fur spread was an homage to Katniss's hunting prowess.

CS: I also loved the row of organic, macrame-look pendants behind Katniss's bed. Where did you source these? How did you come up with the idea for these lights as a focal point?

LD: Those fixtures are actually made of wire. They are a group of pendants from a company called Shine Labs in the Bay Area. I thought they had great silhouettes so I bought a number of them and played around with some configurations, and that's what we ended up with.

CS: What went into your inspiration for President Snow's Capitol home? What
time period particularly influenced you?

LD: This was a funny one. The script called for an opulent room in the Capitol, but being sort of landlocked in Charlotte limited the options available for Phil to choose from, and since it was at the very end of our shooting schedule it was impossible and not cost effective to do a big company move. A film crew has quite a lot of people working between all of the departments. So after futile attempts to find something appropriate, Phil asked me to join him to look at a space in the Philip Morris facility that we were using as our home base. The room was a former screening room/meeting room of sorts that looked out onto an amazing interior courtyard. We had the neglected plants pruned and added about 50 rose bushes to the garden. We built some interior walls that were clad in a faux travertine and did mica inlays that were very luminous. It tied into the brutalist architecture very well and to me had the feeling of the '30s Milanese Villa Necchi Campiglio, one of my favorite places ever.

Have you seen The Hunger Games yet? What was your favorite part of the set design? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Film photos courtesy of Lionsgate

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Watching The Hunger Games at a press preview, both Angela and I were scrambling to jot down notes on the fantastic set design showcased in the film. Now, we have the answers to all of our set design questions. Set decorator for The Hunger Games Larry Dias was integral in making the film come to life, from the Appalachia-inspired homes seen in District 12 to the opulent palace of President Snow. Dias was nominated for an Oscar for his production design work on Inception, and he's worked on the set design for films including The Village, The Last Airbender, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Keep reading to find out more about the process of designing the look of The Hunger Games. CasaSugar: I read that much of the decor for District 12 was sourced from local antique shops in North Carolina. How were you inspired by these antiques, and how did the look for this district develop?
Larry Dias: When [production designer] Phil Messina discovered the North Carolina location that serves as District 12 in the film, it just made sense to utilize the local antiques sources. In the book, District 12 lies within what is formerly known as the Appalachians. It could not have been more perfect. We found a number of dealers that had an abundance of unfinished "as is" antiques with rotting wood, peeled finishes, broken drawers, and rusty hardware, and they were items from the region. It was a perfect fit.

CS: The train car seems to have an art deco feel. Was this an influence for the look? How did you decide on the color palette and wood choices? What items did you include that seemed particularly important for these scenes?
LD: Phil came up with the design of the train cars, and the palette was an early idea that we toyed with changing a number of times but we always went back to the blue. The velvet I used in the upholstery was from Dedar, and at first we were having some trouble having it fit within our time frame. It was milled in Belgium, if I remember correctly, and we tried numerous times to find a replacement close to our original choice and just could not find a suitable one, so we played the odds and got it at the last minute. I'm glad we did because it had such amazing depth and was a really regal-looking hue that ended up being the perfect complement/contrast to the muted blue dress that Judianna Makovsky had designed for Katniss.

Of course we compared our swatches, but I think it really told a story when she entered that train car. The wood tones were chosen by Phil. As my team and I were sourcing the furniture for the train it became apparent that we would need to do part antique and part reproduction mainly because of quantities and also because Katniss drives a knife into the dining table! A lot of deco furniture is veneered, and we found a lot of great pieces that had irreparable finish issues or pieces that were too diminutive in scale, so we ended up finding some good reproductions that we could get quantities of. Because it was really difficult to get the woods to work well together on pieces coming from all over the US, we had our lead scenic Rick Riggs and his amazing crew faux finish the furniture to tie it all together.

A funny thing is the barrel chairs that play prominently were pieces that my buyer Sara Gardner-Gail found online, and they were really inexpensive but had the perfect shape. I had the legs cut off and added a swivel platform base, had them painted and upholstered, and they looked like the finest antiques. One of the things about set decoration is that you have to be ready to improvise as well as accommodate change. Unlike the design of, say, a hotel lobby where everything has been drawn in will not change, a film set is quite the opposite. Once the actors, camera, and crew are in the set, furniture starts flying, literally.

First, just to accommodate the cast and crew, usually at least one half of the set will be cleared of furniture, then as the shots and camera angles are being set up, the director may decide he needs things to rearrange a bit to accommodate a scene. It can be a little improvisational so having a few extra chairs, lamps, or occasional pieces hanging around is a good thing.

Keep reading for more of our interview with Hunger Games set decorator Larry Dias!

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