Production Designer Ryan Brett Puckett Talks The Intricacies Of Set Dressing A One Location Film In The Knife
Choice and consequence is one of the central themes that filmmaker Nnamdi Asomugha was interested in examining with his directorial debut The Knife, which premiered at Tribeca Festival. The story follows a young family whose fortunes are forever altered when a mysterious woman enters their home one night, setting in motion a fraught encounter with law enforcement.
Asomugha not only co-wrote and directed the film, but he also lent his acting skills to his character Chris, a man who wants to carve a promising future for his beloved wife Alex (Aja Naomi King) and their two girls. The chilling story unfolds almost in real-time over one incredibly tense evening. The story asks audiences to feel as though they’re in the intimate space of a home in the midst of renovations with the family of four over the course of the night, a challenging feat in storytelling and filmmaking, and it wouldn’t be possible without production designer Ryan Brett Puckett. Puckett has long created worlds where some of our favorite characters come to life, having worked on the incredible sets of The Boy Behind the Door, Manhunt, and Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge.
Director Asomugha wanted everything, particularly the set, to feel natural and fresh in its simplicity. He didn’t want it to be self-conscious. The location they wound up choosing? A unique period home Puckett had worked in previously, and it just so happened that the house was exactly what Asomugha was envisioning for his film. “When I was pitching for this job, I had a couple of days beforehand where I was mulling over the script and putting together references of what I wanted it to be,” Puckett told me. “I had happened to have just shot at this location, so I knew it was available.” He then created a multi-page deck of how he visualized the film, including an image of the house as an option. Puckett explained to me that he had been second guessing his decision and quickly pulled the image of the house from the presentation the night before his meeting with Asomugha. Unbeknownst to him, Asomugha had been eyeing that same house. “He stopped, and he’s like, ‘Hey, can I show you some locations? We’ve been location scouting, we found this place, and I want to see how you feel about it.’ So, he does the screen share, and he starts showing me the photos of the exact same house I put in there.” It’s safe to say, they had an instant connection and a wonderfully creative working relationship.
A challenging aspect in set design is, well, the set. But more importantly, the time the audience will be viewing the set. In this case, the very house Puckett and Asomugha fell in love with was the only set. “It’s always tough doing one house, one location, because you spend a lot of time in a single space,” Puckett shared. “It can get either boring very fast or it gets confusing.”
The set and production design aid to the story in a way most audiences may not realize, but Puckett said given the single location they really had to lean into utilizing the colors and tones within the different rooms of the houses to provide more depth to the characters and the turmoil they experience in this story. The set gives the characters life. For instance, the house the family resides in during the course of this film is partially still in construction, which was a critical choice made by Puckett and Asomugha. “It was a lot of, well, if I was in this position, what would I do?” said Puckett about achieving the vision by crawling into the minds of the characters.
The Knife is awaiting its turn to be picked up by a distributor following its Tribeca premiere.
