认识有远见的人，将Aretha Franklin的传记片“尊重”带入生活

When the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect comes out (hopefully later this year), you can credit production designer Ina Mayhew for how it looks. It’s her job to create sets and designs that make the location real. It won’t just be Jennifer Hudson, with sass and verve in her role of playing Aretha, who illustrates how the Detroit native became our first lady of soul. Mayhew’s work also helps bring that story to life.

w ^母鸡艾瑞莎富兰克林的传记片尊重出来(今年有望更高版本)，你可以信用制作设计师伊娜·梅休了它的外观。 她的工作是创建可以使位置真实的布景和设计。 扮演詹妮弗·哈德森(Jennifer Hudson)的扮演艾瑞莎(Aretha)的角色将不仅仅扮演傻瓜，这说明了底特律人如何成为我们的灵魂第一夫人。 Mayhew的工作还有助于使该故事栩栩如生。

“I study the things I need to build,” says Mayhew, a New York-based designer who is considered a legend by her peers. She has worked extensively with Dolly Parton, Tyler Perry, and Ava DuVernay and was personally tapped to work on the music video for Jay-Z’s 2018 cultural hit “Family Feud.” “You have to get it right,” she says.

“我是学东西，我需要牛逼 Ø打造”梅休，一个总部位于纽约的设计师，谁被认为是由她的同龄人一个传说。 她与多莉·帕顿(Dolly Parton)，泰勒·佩里(Tyler Perry)和艾娃·杜韦尔奈(Ava DuVernay)进行了广泛的合作，并亲自为杰伊·Z(Jay-Z)的2018年文化热门歌曲《家庭仇恨》(Family Feud)制作音乐录影带。 她说：“你必须把它做好。”

Part of getting it right includes studying architecture and art of the time period, the significance of colors and textures in furniture and carpets and wall coverings, plus how those accoutrements interact with the actors and their character’s personalities. In Aretha’s case, since the biopic starts with the singer as a child, Mayhew had the difficult job of piecing together what that neighborhood looked like, what the original house looked like, and even how the staircase was built.

弄清这一点的部分内容包括研究该时期的建筑和艺术，家具和地毯以及墙壁装饰中颜色和纹理的重要性，以及这些服装如何与演员及其角色个性互动。 以阿瑞莎(Aretha)为例，由于传记片是从小时候的歌手开始的，所以梅休(Mayhew)很难将附近的样子，原始房屋的样子，甚至楼梯的构造拼凑在一起。

The card-carrying member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences worked several seasons on Queen Sugar, creating the lush sightscapes that distinguish that show from many others. She just built a warehouse in New York that houses all the things she finds and needs to use in her films. And she makes a point to hire women of color and bring them into an area that is traditionally a White boy’s club.

美国电影艺术与科学学院的持卡会员在Queen Sugar上工作了多个季节，创造出茂密的景观，使该表演与其他表演区分开来。 她刚刚在纽约建立了一个仓库，用来存放她发现并需要在电影中使用的所有物品。 她提出要雇用有色人种的妇女，并把他们带到传统上是白人男孩俱乐部的地区。

I talked to Mayhew about designing sets for our favorite films, her artistic upbringing, and her focus on mentoring women. Here’s what else she had to say.

我与梅休(Mayhew)谈了为我们最喜​​欢的电影设计布景，她的艺术成长以及她对女性指导的关注。 这是她不得不说的。

ZORA: What were the challenges in re-creating Aretha Franklin’s childhood home?

ZORA：重建艾瑞莎·富兰克林(Eretha Franklin)的童年时所面临的挑战是什么？

Ina Mayhew: The house is the centerpiece of that movie. It was that era of the ’40s and ’50s, and, you know, her mother left when she was seven or eight. It was a balance of the design and style of the house knowing that [her father] had a lot of money. Everything was beautiful and perfect. The real house was in disrepair, and no one lived in it for many years. By 2012, someone bought it, but it was in poor shape. We understood the structure and things like where is the staircase — the stuff that I don’t know that everyone pays attention to. What the yard looks like out the front door. I wanted to make sure we found an exterior house that resembled as close as possible what [Aretha’s childhood house] looked like. It was all about land.

伊娜·梅休(Ina Mayhew)：房子是那部电影的核心。 那是40年代和50年代的那个时代，她的母亲七八岁时就离开了。 知道[她的父亲]有很多钱，这是房子的设计和风格的平衡。 一切都美好而完美。 这座真正的房子年久失修，没有人居住其中多年。 到2012年，有人买了它，但是它的状态很差。 我们了解了楼梯的结构和事物，例如楼梯在哪里-我不知道每个人都会注意的东西。 院子看起来像是前门一样。 我想确保我们找到的外屋与[Aretha的童年房屋]看起来尽可能近。 都是关于土地的。

What about Aretha’s New York home and her churches?

那Aretha在纽约的家和她的教堂呢？

She was in New York for more than 10 years. We don’t really know where she lived. You would think that there was more information, but there just wasn’t. We really worked hard to find it. Every now and then, I’d read a blurb in a book about a conversation between her and someone else saying upper East or West Side, and I’d say, “Okay, now I have an idea.” For some of that, I had to use my best judgment. … We did tons of design boards. We shot it mostly in Atlanta; there are many churches here. One I knew very well, and it has a very red interior. A lot of wood.

她在纽约呆了十多年。 我们真的不知道她住在哪里。 您可能会认为有更多信息，但实际上没有。 我们真的很努力地找到它。 时不时地，我在书中读到一本关于她与其他说上东或西边的人之间对话的摘要，然后我会说：“好吧，现在我有了一个主意。” 对于其中的一些，我不得不做出最好的判断。 ……我们做了很多设计板。 我们主要在亚特兰大拍摄； 这里有很多教堂。 我很熟识，而且内部非常红。 很多木头。

I’m from theater, and all we ever did were period pieces, so I was already a person who’d go to museums as an artist, plus I come from an art family. Everything is a kind of study.

我来自剧院，我们所做的只是时期作品，所以我已经是一个会以艺术家身份去博物馆的人了，而且我来自一个艺术世家。 一切都是一种学习。

Your parents are artists?

你的父母是艺术家吗？

Both of my parents are painters. My mom’s Italian. My dad is a Black artist, Richard Mayhew. My parents let me do my thing. There was no “Girl, you have to cook and sew.” I started theater in high school. I loved the idea of not being in a studio but having these big sets. I loved building sets and painting sets.

我的父母都是画家。 我妈妈是意大利人。 我父亲是黑人艺术家理查德·梅休(Richard Mayhew)。 父母让我做我的事。 没有“女孩，你必须做饭和缝制。” 我在高中开始戏剧。 我喜欢不在工作室而是拥有这么大的场景的想法。 我喜欢建筑布景和绘画布景。

Wait. You actually build things yourself?

等待。 您实际上是自己建造东西吗？

I’m handy. I was always a draftsperson. I could always make stuff and paint. To this day, I collaborate with the carpenters and tell them what I want and how it could be built.

我很方便。 我一直是制图员。 我总能做东西和油漆。 迄今为止，我与木匠合作，告诉他们我想要什么以及如何建造。

“I’m happy that all these men didn’t [question] ‘oh she’s a woman, can she do it?” There wasn’t a hesitation.”

“我很高兴所有这些男人都没有(问)'哦，她是一个女人，她能做到吗？” 毫不犹豫。”

How do you encourage women to join this behind-the-scenes field?

您如何鼓励女性加入幕后领域？

My whole thing is to be supportive, to be patient with the ladies as all the guys are with all their guys. They bring in people that are clearly not qualified, but they somehow just jam them through. They do it because they teach them. This is how you have to do it. The big thing is I like people that have some skills, really established skills, whether it is researching, drafting, graphic design, or illustration. If you don’t have that skill or background, I can’t take you seriously.

我的整个工作就是支持，对女士们保持耐心，因为所有的男人都与他们的所有男人在一起。 他们引进了显然不合格的人才，但是他们却以某种方式使他们陷入困境。 他们这样做是因为他们教给他们。 这是您必须执行的操作。 最重要的是，我喜欢具有一定技能，确实具备一定技能的人，无论是研究，绘图，图形设计还是插图。 如果您没有这种技能或背景，我不会认真对待您。

You worked on Tyler Perry’s first film?

您为泰勒·佩里(Tyler Perry)的第一部电影工作吗？

It’s so interesting to grow up with everybody and see where they all are now. We were all really early and young. Reuben [Cannon] was the person who introduced me to Tyler and eventually Paul Garnes and Roger Bobb. It was this group of us that all influenced each other. I’m happy that all these men didn’t [question] “Oh, she’s a woman, can she do it?” There wasn’t a hesitation.

与每个人一起成长，看看他们现在在哪里，真是太有趣了。 我们真的很年轻。 Reuben [Cannon]是向我介绍Tyler以及Paul Garnes和Roger Bobb的人。 正是我们这群人互相影响。 我很高兴所有这些男人都没有[问题]“哦，她是女人，她能做到吗？” 毫不犹豫。

Do you have any memories of working on the music video for “Family Feud” with Jay-Z?

您是否有与Jay-Z合作制作“ Family Feud”音乐视频的回忆？

Ava called me up. I’d just finished 16 episodes of Queen Sugar. It was August, and I was at my aunt’s house visiting my family. I was completely burnt out. I was about to say, “Can I call you back?” And then I had to talk it over to myself. Yes, of course, I want to do a Jay-Z and Beyoncé music video. Ava wrote a very specific script. We had a small amount of time and had to figure out locations and all that. The only thing that Jay-Z wanted was a Catholic church in New York. That was very specific. So it did help with the concept. There’s a script and then a conversation with the creator and the talent, and you want to find a way to make it all work as a total piece.

阿娃打电话给我。 我刚完成了16集《 皇后糖》 。 那是八月，当时我在姑姑家探望家人。 我完全被烧死了。 我正要说：“我可以打给您吗？” 然后我不得不对自己说。 是的，当然，我想制作一个Jay-Z和Beyoncé音乐录影带。 Ava写了一个非常具体的脚本。 我们花了很少的时间，不得不弄清楚位置以及所有这些。 Jay-Z唯一想要的是纽约的天主教堂。 那是非常具体的。 因此它确实对概念有所帮助。 有一个脚本，然后是与创作者和才华的对话，而您想找到一种方法来使它们全部工作。