How ‘Shirley’s’ Production Design Went Inside the Novelist’s Grim Mind
Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorIn the recent feature “Shirley,” Elisabeth Moss plays novelist Shirley Jackson, who is hard at work on her second novel, “Hangsaman.”She has thrown herself into writing the story, based on the disappearance of a young woman Paula Jean Welden from Bennington College, where her husband teaches. Jackson spends her days and nights working on the novel from home, and her home soon becomes a reflection of the inner workings of her mind.Production designer Sue Chan worked with director Josephine Decker to bring the clutter of Jackson’s mind to life.“Having Sarah Gubbins’ script and Josephine Decker’s imagination as the foundation for my work was an embarrassment of riches,” Chan says.