section_path: Production/Sets
section_name: Sets
paragraph_text: Sets
  
  That's the most important thing for me why the images came the way they came, even if they don't make sense from a realistic point of view. We don't care that it's not possible, because this is not reality. It's The Substance's reality.
  
  The Substance required a three-month construction period to build the sets, including Elisabeth's apartment with distinct spaces like the bathroom and secret room as well as the New Year's Eve theater and a TV studio hallway. The central feature of the apartment set was the large panoramic window, symbolizing Elisabeth's past and, later, Sue's rebirth and future. Fargeat envisioned the apartment with a "timeless, old-fashioned but also futuristic quality", allowing it to transcend specific eras and enrich the story with symbolism. Initially, Fargeat and Kračun considered LED-screen technology from Darkmatters for the window's scenic Los Angeles cityscape, but Kračun determined it was costly and technically challenging, involving nine technicians to operate. He additionally felt that LEDs could not achieve Fargeat's vision of hard sunlight for Los Angeles. Instead, they opted for a 115 ft x 42 ft Rosco SoftDrop backdrop, evoking a romantic, Hitchcockian quality; Kračun described the overall look of the film as "pink noir". Fargeat expressed great satisfaction seeing the practical set for the first time as she had anticipated shooting it on greenscreen.
  
  Fargeat wanted the bathroom set to function as a metaphorical "cocoon" and envisioned it as a mental space that felt abstract, stylized, and empty. She pushed back against the production designer who wanted a more realistic look and who asked: "Are you sure you don't want any furniture in the bathroom at all?" Kračun wanted sconces to help modify the lighting but Fargeat ultimately rejected this idea, and the lighting was kept harsh.
  
  During the birth scene's point-of-view shot, two identical bathroom sets were built to simulate a mirror: Qualley acted in one, while Kračun (wearing a head-mounted camera) and a body double mimicked her movements in the other. The hand movements on the mirror were later reshot in post-production in front of a green screen due to difficulties syncing the movements. For some shots, an actual mirror was placed between the two bathrooms to capture Qualley's reflection. The scene with Moore lying on the floor and striking her head, while the camera booms up, was shot fully in camera and achieved by constructing a shower three times taller than standard height.
  
  After the production finished shooting on the apartment set, it was destroyed to build the theater in the same space, being "basically built on the ashes of the apartment" according to Fargeat. Initially, there were plans to shoot in a real theater that was going to be refurbished completely, but the crew discovered that the venue, while initially welcoming at the idea of shooting a small splattering of blood, became apprehensive upon realizing the extent of the blood effects. As one producer remarked, "Okay, I don't want to finish in jail. We can't shoot in a real theater, because there is no way we can protect it in a way that it's not going to be destroyed".
  
  That's the most important thing for me why the images came the way they came, even if they don't make sense from a realistic point of view. We don't care that it's not possible, because this is not reality. It's The Substance's reality.
  
  The Substance required a three-month construction period to build the sets, including Elisabeth's apartment with distinct spaces like the bathroom and secret room as well as the New Year's Eve theater and a TV studio hallway. The central feature of the apartment set was the large panoramic window, symbolizing Elisabeth's past and, later, Sue's rebirth and future. Fargeat envisioned the apartment with a "timeless, old-fashioned but also futuristic quality", allowing it to transcend specific eras and enrich the story with symbolism. Initially, Fargeat and Kračun considered LED-screen technology from Darkmatters for the window's scenic Los Angeles cityscape, but Kračun determined it was costly and technically challenging, involving nine technicians to operate. He additionally felt that LEDs could not achieve Fargeat's vision of hard sunlight for Los Angeles. Instead, they opted for a 115 ft x 42 ft Rosco SoftDrop backdrop, evoking a romantic, Hitchcockian quality; Kračun described the overall look of the film as "pink noir". Fargeat expressed great satisfaction seeing the practical set for the first time as she had anticipated shooting it on greenscreen.
  
  Fargeat wanted the bathroom set to function as a metaphorical "cocoon" and envisioned it as a mental space that felt abstract, stylized, and empty. She pushed back against the production designer who wanted a more realistic look and who asked: "Are you sure you don't want any furniture in the bathroom at all?" Kračun wanted sconces to help modify the lighting but Fargeat ultimately rejected this idea, and the lighting was kept harsh.
  
  During the birth scene's point-of-view shot, two identical bathroom sets were built to simulate a mirror: Qualley acted in one, while Kračun (wearing a head-mounted camera) and a body double mimicked her movements in the other. The hand movements on the mirror were later reshot in post-production in front of a green screen due to difficulties syncing the movements. For some shots, an actual mirror was placed between the two bathrooms to capture Qualley's reflection. The scene with Moore lying on the floor and striking her head, while the camera booms up, was shot fully in camera and achieved by constructing a shower three times taller than standard height.
  
  After the production finished shooting on the apartment set, it was destroyed to build the theater in the same space, being "basically built on the ashes of the apartment" according to Fargeat. Initially, there were plans to shoot in a real theater that was going to be refurbished completely, but the crew discovered that the venue, while initially welcoming at the idea of shooting a small splattering of blood, became apprehensive upon realizing the extent of the blood effects. As one producer remarked, "Okay, I don't want to finish in jail. We can't shoot in a real theater, because there is no way we can protect it in a way that it's not going to be destroyed".