Meet the Set Decorator: A Conversation with Claire Kaufman (‘Oppenheimer,’ 'Little Women')
Learn about the art of set decorating in this interview with Claire Kaufman, a skilled Set Decorator with an impressive portfolio that spans from the Oscar Award-Winning film Oppenheimer to the highly stylized FX series American Horror Story.
Furnishings, wallpaper, drapery, paint swatches — Set Decorating (known in the industry as 'Set Dec') may sound similar to interior design, but paired with a script, it turns into time travel.
Claire Kaufman, a skilled Set Decorator with an impressive portfolio that spans from the recent Oscar Award-Winner, Oppenheimer to the 2019 adaptation of the period film, Little Women, to comedy cult classic, Grown Ups, to the highly stylized, American Horror Story, sums up how she describes her passion for this important department, “I love my job and it certainly doesn’t come without its stressful moments, but it is such a great payoff when you see final touches on a set, and the camera is about to roll and things have come to life... I love it and I feel grateful every day that I have spent the last 20 years doing this.”
The set decorating process
After breaking down the script, Claire begins every project by creating a wall that visually describes the arc of the project, from start to finish. “I get a sense of the palette, the colors, the textures, that need to be on the set, and how they are going to look throughout the film” she explains. “Then I dive into the characters and all their nuances, their likes and dislikes, to create a believable world that fits their characters. Often this process involves working with the director, the production designer and even sometimes the actors who bring their own ideas to the table.”
While assembling this mosaic of elements serves a practical function in the set decorating process, it’s also a lot of fun. “I love wallpaper, fabrics, and making drapery!” says Claire, “I love putting all that stuff up to create my mood board so I can see it all working together, and maybe see it not working. Some things jump out at me, and I’ll say ‘we should do more of that and we should make this bigger.’”
Filling the board with inspiration helps Claire research her designs. Exploring even the smallest details in a reference photo, anything from a table, to a painting, or even the pattern of a strip of wallpaper, can be the starting point for the entire set. Once inspiration strikes, it’s a matter of building upon the idea from there.
In her recent work on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, while filming in Los Angeles, there were fifty-seven sets and sometimes three setups happening on the same day. Given the fast-paced schedule, Claire had to plan out every detail in advance to ensure her team knew the vision and could execute quickly in multiple locations. She accomplished this complex coordination by requesting a floor plan from the production design team and sketching in every single piece of furniture. This allowed Claire and her team to dress multiple locations at once, with everyone knowing exactly where the furniture would be placed before it even got to set.
When all of these visual elements come together, “the payoff is watching it all come to life.”
Once the entire set is dressed, Claire knows her job is finished. “I have a director or actors walk in, totally immersed in the space, and they believe the space they are in, whether it’s a built set or location” she says. “For me, it is fine-tuned details... little touches that you may not ever notice in the grand scheme of things. Those small details are what makes the scene come to life."
The special details that make spaces feel lived in are what Claire affectionately describes as “things that you may not see, but make a big difference.” Things like the faded coffee rings on the calendar desk pad in Oppenheimer’s office, or the worn legs on a piece of furniture in the March attic that deftly communicate the day-to-day realism of those character’s lives. Set Decorators are storytellers who not only dress the space for a particular moment, but are masters of immersing an audience, subconsciously reminding them about the history that has gone before the moment they see on screen.
While working to make a scene realistic, it’s also equally important to Claire that she finds the appropriate style for the project. As she explains, for fictional projects like Little Woman, “I’m not making a documentary, so I do like to push the envelope.”
Oppenheimer was Claire’s first historical, film based on a real character and true events. Recounting that experience, she admits, “I felt a great sense of responsibility, getting the details just right.”
To ensure the rooms were historically accurate, down to the smallest details, Claire worked closely with Oppenheimer’s researcher, Lauren Sandoval, who was her constant consultant and reference point. Claire also stayed in sync with Oppenheimer’s Cinematographer, Hoyte Van Hoytema. Much of the film was notably filmed in black and white, and Van Hoytema requested the walls of the set to be kept white to maintain the highest level of historical accuracy.
Such artistic choices can be challenging to dress because every single detail pops in contrast to white walls; the slightest inaccuracy is noticeable, leaving no room for error. Claire, however, being a seasoned set dresser, used the limitation as an opportunity to meticulously curate every item and went with a “less is more” philosophy, delivering authentic design for the time period.
She also leveraged her iPhone’s camera settings to “see” how the set would look filmed in black and white, making design boards in black and white. This allowed her to adjust and choose elements that would showcase best on camera prior to shooting.
The Set Dec team and their collaborators
Claire relies heavily on her two main team players within the set dec department:
- Lead Man: Handles the scheduling and problem solving, ensuring that Claire has the right amount of people to dress sets and get decor and furniture there on time.
- Buyer/Shopper: Assists Claire with sourcing and purchasing fabrics, paints, furniture, lights, wallpaper, and any of the set elements.
Beyond her immediate department, Claire also works closely with the Production Designer, Art Director, and Gaffer.
Lighting, as Claire explains, is crucial to her work as a set decorator: “Lighting makes or breaks me. I rely heavily on a lot of practicals to help light the set.” While working on the sitcom Great News, she recounts “we did a big television station, and sat for days with the Director of Photography and the Gaffer because it was a giant enclosed set. We discussed everything about the lights, from where they should go to what kind of bulbs they would be.”
Another key relationship on set is that of the set decorator and the Production Designers. Claire believes it’s crucial that the two work in close unison together, saying “It’s such a collaborative relationship that I find it lucky to have.” She continues, “I like to bring a lot of stuff to the table for them. Their world and my world come together to make one world that the actors play in—it’s the architecture, the paint, the wallpaper, flooring. All of it working together is what makes it all come to life."
While working for Christopher Nolan and his wife, Emma, on Oppenheimer, Clare explains how the collaboration was key for the film’s beautiful storytelling: “He [Nolan] surrounds himself with the best and it was an honor to be a part of that team where everyone was connected. There wasn’t separation of the props department over here, and production design over here, and costumes over there. It was a great collaboration, making sure that all of our visions worked seamlessly together by sharing boards with each other and talking color palettes.”
The many skills of a Set Decorator
On a typical day of dressing a set, Claire utilizes numerous skills that she has honed over the years, most importantly paying meticulous attention to planning, organization, budget-making, research, and clearance. To be successful, Claire offers the following advice:
- Have a Plan: There are so many moving parts during production, and you can’t be everywhere at all once. Claire prepares for each project with a plan that includes how to delegate specific tasks to her team. For example, if the shoot requires a big set dress on a particular day and she also has to tech scout, she will hand off a floor plan with detailed instruction so her crew can begin moving all the big elements into place.
- Stay Organized: Knowing the who, what, when and where of outstanding filming elements yet to be addressed is key for Claire. A big part of the job is being organized. Things can move swiftly, with a variety of projects happening under the umbrella of the Set Dec department—from manufacturing custom drapery to sourcing rugs—so she has to stay ahead or else it can get overwhelming.
- Stay on Budget: Successfully managing a large budget is crucial to the job of the set decorator. With so many pieces being purchased and manufactured, sticking with a budget gives Claire the freedom to make informed creative decisions. Sometimes getting it all done and visually on point means she has to make adjustments to her original ideas along the way, but as she points out, it’s all about working within parameters.
- Do Your Research: Every project begins with getting to know all the different styles of the period you’re dressing for. What kinds of furniture were in fashion? Or what fabrics were used to make drapery compared to upholstery? Understanding color theory and how different colors work together also helps Claire find unique ways to style, even in period projects.
- Always Get Clearance: Every item on a set, even down the smallest of things, can be subject to clearance by the legal department. If Claire is creating a scene in a grocery store, for example, she’ll need to spend a lot of time clearing different items from signage to soup cans; anything that may be shown on camera must be cleared to ensure a production isn’t sued by the trademark holder.
Balancing all of these logistical elements in tandem with the visual elements takes finesse during long prep days leading up to production. From one-day commercials to feature films, Claire is constantly fighting the clock to bring as much realism to her projects as she can, while still finding the perfect pieces that will add to the story.
If she’s not in her hometown of Los Angeles with easy access to prop houses, she creates her own. This level of detail on location involves a lot of shopping, but Claire enjoys the hunt, adding, “I love finding pieces I know you haven't seen in other films.”
When filming in New Mexico for Oppenheimer, Claire went antiquing at many of the local specialty shops and curated almost the entire trial scene featuring Robert Downey Jr.
While antique shopping is one of the many avenues for sourcing historically accurate pieces, the findings can be limited. “Trying to get the history just right is always challenging when you're doing an historical project,” says Claire, “because you often need to find things in multiples. If you can’t, then sometimes you have to manufacture it. We actually manufactured quite a few things for Oppenheimer, like the wooden ladders. I also took the time to have all the lamps redone with cloth wiring from that period. Every location we went to, we changed all the plugs, all the light switches, and all the lighting fixtures. As viewers, you may not see it, but for me, it was important when Chris (Christopher Nolan - Director) or Ruth (De Jong - Production Designer) or the cast walked in and really believed that they were in these spaces down to the finest details.”
While sourcing can bring its own fair share of challenges, Claire sometimes faces others that are often unexpected and require flexibility and quick-thinking: the weather. She recalls from a scene in Oppenheimer, “We had just put the final touches on the sets and completed the tower. Suddenly, a windstorm blew through at 5PM the night before we were going to shoot. The wind blew over the windmill we had just created, and it just disintegrated! We immediately started looking for farms throughout the state of New Mexico to find another windmill. We ended up sending a truck to drive two hours away to a farm, and they literally showed up with a brand-new windmill just as the crew was rolling into the set the next morning!”
Regardless of the hustle, Claire ultimately finds reward at the end of the creative marathon, saying, “I love my job and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I learn something on every set that I decorate.” Over time, she says, “You just start to have a sense of how much dressing it is going to take to fill a space. And it feels great when you can do that without even really thinking about it.”