(Top) Building the set for 4:44 (Bottom) Production designer, Frank DeCurtis (left) talking to Director, Abel Ferrara (right), on location We get out of the cab with our cameras, tripods, and boom mike. It’s a rainy afternoon in New York City. The streets are somewhat empty, but in a couple hours, people are going to start to fill the blocks with their Friday night mojos. We run into Frank DeCurtis in front of the building where Abel Ferrara will be shooting his new film, 4:44. Frank is the production designer; he is creating the space that the crew and the cast will live and breathe in for the next several weeks. We have a quick chat with him, and then go upstairs to the 5th floor. This is the loft that Cisco and Skye, the two main characters of the film, are going to share. The place looks like it’s still under construction even though it’s the last 4 days before the 4:44 team starts shooting. The walls are painted a deep maroon color, darkening towards the bottom and fading towards the top like fire. This is a real artist’s loft and it will also be an artist’s loft in the movie. The dark gray floors are covered with colorful paint splashes, giving the space a playful, cheerful tone. We want to know more about the choices that were made in building this set, so we go up to Frank and steal him from the set decorator he is talking to. Frank DeCurtis has been collaborating with Ferrara for many years, and he knows exactly what Ferrara wants and pictures in his mind. Our attempt to interview him turns into a casual conversation and Frank tells us about the apartment a bit more. “Abel wanted the maroon walls,” he tells us. Later on, when we hear that the walls in Ferrara’s apartment are also a maroonish red, and we can’t help but make the connection: Is this film somewhat autobiographical? “The important thing is to be able to create an environment that the actors can comfortably adapt to,” says Frank. “We’re going to set the painter’s studio at the far end of the room, which is the actual studio space. The rest of this place was filled with the belongings, especially thousands and thousands records, of the artist we’re renting the studio from.” The apartment, a work in progress, was appealing to all of us. A little rundown, a little dark, it spurred feelings of nostalgia for something we couldn’t put our fingers on. Though the best part of the whole experience was stepping out on the terrace to face Manhattan’s historic Lower East Side during sunset. After seeing this view and reading the script, I couldn’t help but form an incredibly vivid image of the film’s last scene in my head. Don’t worry, no spoilers here. Only something to look forward to. Stay tuned for more production stories… -- Eren Gulfidan (www.filmannex.com/ErenGulfidan)