Approximately one-third of the Netflix true crime thriller “Woman of the Hour” takes place on set of “The Dating Game,” where real-life serial killer Rodney Alcala was a contestant in the 1970s. So, the production designer for the Anna Kendrick-directed film had two missions: to accurately recreate the well-known set and to make that colorful, cheery space highlight the irony of a murderer’s participation on a romantic game show.
“Woman of the Hour,” written by Ian McDonald, is structured to jump back and forth in time to dates where Alcala committed his heinous killings, while “The Dating Game” show anchors the action. Kendrick also stars in the film, portraying Cheryl Bradshaw (Sheryl for the movie), the unwitting bachelorette on the 1978 episode.
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One of the first questions production designer Brent Thomas asked himself was, “How do we help the audience experience what Sheryl is going through on the set?”
The answer was in the orange-hued, heart-shaped details.
Thomas and his team took inspiration from various gameshows including “The Price Is Right,” “Let’s Make a Deal” and “The Newlywed Game,” to capture the original feel of “The Dating Game,” but take some creative liberties with its revival.
“My thing was, research, research, research, and then throw it all away,” Thomas says, adding the goal was not to come up with an imitation, but a model. “You never just illustrate something. You dramatize it.”
Plus, the movie’s recreation required more than just game show’s set. “It was creating ‘The Dating Game’ studio’: the backstage, the lights, the grid, the director’s booth,” Thomas says. The team built every detail to be accurate, down to the vintage TV monitors that displayed the recorded version of what was happening live on stage.
Another important element was how to pull off Sheryl’s introduction onto the show. “As opposed to just walking out, we put her in a little capsule,” Thomas says. That element of the set was built to allude to the fact that Sheryl is being released into a dangerous situation. “I like to equate it to Katniss being catapulted out into the battlefield in ‘The Hunger Games.’”
Inside the small booth, there’s a mirror reminding contestants to “check your lipstick” before they’re spun around to go live on camera. That detail was meant to underline one of the ideas Kendrick wanted to explore, Thomas recalls, that “your job, young lady, is simply to look pretty and not be too smart.”
Then, once Sheryl gets onstage, “There’s this disorienting quality with moving lights,” Thomas says. “And there’s this disorienting quality with these glass panels that you could kind of see through, but couldn’t see through.”
The blurred glass between Sheryl and her bachelors was meant to enhance the tension. While she tries to get a peek at the men to work out who she’s talking to, the audience is painfully aware that the one of the mysterious figures on the other side is the murderous Alcala.
“The idea behind this was, when Sheryl was sitting there, she could kind of see a vague shape through the glass. But who was this person? Was it safe? Was it dangerous?” he says. “This was boring down right into the theme of the movie. As Sheryl’s makeup artist said, [all the contestant’s questions boil down to] who’s going to hurt you?”
