Everyone was excited to see Beyoncé's incredible "Formation" video which was shot at the Fenyes Estate in Pasadena as it was turned into a Southern Gothic space.
Production Designer Ethan Tobman worked on the design of the home for a short period of time. Because of the quick turnaround, Tobman and his crew merely converted a historic home in Pasadena to fit the theme of the video. Despite its theme, the video isn't shot in New Orleans but in Los Angeles, The Times Picayune reported.
"Beyoncé is a pleasure to work with, and she really knows New Orleans well," Tobman said according to Yahoo! "She asked me, 'are you going to be able to do this with the time that we have?'"
It was a challenge for Tobman and his team to find a building in Los Angeles that has a porch that looks like the one in New Orleans. Hence, they used the Fenyes Mansion wherein the Pasadena Museum of History is located. They added Spanish moss, ivy, wisteria, vintage plantation-era rugs and classic furniture.
Tobman revealed that the interior was more than enough for them to work with since it features a damask wallpaper and dark wood flourishes. Also, the scale of the building was perfect for the video.
After they came up with the concept, the set up was ready for less than a week. Also part of the design are paintings of black women and families on the wall. It was the idea of director Melina Matsoukas, whom Tobman calls as "wildly intelligent" about the reference of "Formation" to the culture and history of the era.
The director wanted the paintings of black people done in colonial style saying that "this is not a house the slaves are working in; this is a house where the slaves are the masters." Since they cannot find paintings featuring black people, they scanned paintings of white people and then painted black people over them.
Tobman wanted to create something with a certain texture and tone, that is why they used a couch that has been ripped to threads and destroyed in order to convey the idea of "tearing it down and building it up again."
"[That scene] has a vibe," Tobman said. "It's not like everything is a big discussion and metaphor. You're working with a group of very talented people and trust them. The styling on the video was incredible. Costumes were pulled together in three days."
