n_vestigate by Andrei Kovalev: two investigators study photographs and notes pinned above a cluttered desk.

n_vestigate

In February 2017, the American director Thomas Burns asked me to be production designer on his advert for n_vestigate, an international network of experienced investigative journalists.

The opening scene needed a cross between FBI field headquarters and a busy newsroom.

The empty atrium hall before the build: bare walls, a lone table, windows onto trees.

The empty atrium hall before the build: bare walls, a lone table, windows onto trees.

The location: a half-abandoned atrium hall deep in the labyrinth of the Georgian Film Studios. Some challenge!

Then I understood why I had kept all that scrap paper for all those years…

Old letters, photos and parcels piled on a red folder, seen from above.

A long table covered in papers, photos, an X-ray and notes.

Old ledgers and typed sheets spread out in sunlight.

Old letters, photos and parcels piled on a red folder, seen from above.

A long table covered in papers, photos, an X-ray and notes.

Old ledgers and typed sheets spread out in sunlight.

Building the set took a day and a half. Here is the first evening:

A wall pinned with dozens of papers and photos on the first evening of the build.

A wall pinned with dozens of papers and photos on the first evening of the build.

Papers pinned to a grey wall above a desk heaped with files.

A wall of notes, a world map, an X-ray and an old photo.

Papers pinned to a grey wall above a desk heaped with files.

A wall of notes, a world map, an X-ray and an old photo.

Old fluorescent lamp fittings in a market stall.

Old fluorescent lamp fittings in a market stall.

Next, we went to Eliava, Tbilisi’s biggest construction market, for old industrial lamps and light fittings.

Two men on a stepladder hang a fluorescent lamp over a desk in the hall.

The finished set: desks, shelves of files, lamps and papers on the walls.

Two men on a stepladder hang a fluorescent lamp over a desk in the hall.

The finished set: desks, shelves of files, lamps and papers on the walls.

Towards the camera.

Action!

Actors at a desk under fluorescent lamps in the hazy hall, a man by the window.

Actors at a desk under fluorescent lamps in the hazy hall, a man by the window.

n_vestigate by Andrei Kovalev: two investigators study photographs and notes pinned above a cluttered desk. — n_vestigate, an advert by Thomas Burns, 2017. Set design by Andrei Kovalev

Production crew

Concept and set design: Andrei Kovalev · Assistants: George Kolbaia, Tata Melnik

A man pins photos and papers to a big window looking onto a snowy courtyard.

A man pins photos and papers to a big window looking onto a snowy courtyard.

More of my film work →