Tamara Deverell: Building Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein – Ship, Tower, and Monster Lab

Nov 18, 2025

Tamara Deverell, an award-winning production designer known for long collaborations with Guillermo del Toro, talks set-building for del Toro’s Frankenstein. She discusses a 135-foot ship on a gimbal surrounded by hand-sculpted ice, a towering Medusa-watched lab with massive battery columns, a mossy vaulted crypt, Victor’s crooked Edinburgh flat, and scouting Arctic doubles in Canada and Scotland.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Symbolic Architecture Shapes Theme

Guillermo del Toro uses recurring symbols (Medusa, circular window) to deepen thematic meaning across sets.
Tamara Deverell enlarged and literalized those symbols to serve lighting and emotional focus without overwhelming actors.

INSIGHT

Design For Practical Film Use

Large practical set elements (15-ft battery columns) demand integrated solutions across art, SFX, lighting and VFX.
Making pieces mobile on hidden casters allowed camera blocking without losing the visual heft of the towers.

ADVICE

Align Miniatures With Full-Size Scenic Work

When planning miniatures, share blueprints and scenic treatments so the scale model matches the full-size set.
Schedule miniature photography late so teams can copy real scenic aging and textures.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

👉 Get the FREE Quick Reference Set Decorating Template: www.decoratingpagespodcast.com

Award winning Production Designer Tamara Deverell joins me to unpack the production design of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein with Oscar Isaac as Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the creature for Netflix—from an Arctic ship frozen in ice to a vaulted tiled crypt and a towering Medusa-watched lab.

Tamara has been collaborating with Guillermo for more than two decades, starting with Mimic and continuing through The Strain, Star Trek: Discovery, Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, and Priscilla. In 2023 she won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Production Design for Cabinet of Curiosities, and her latest work on Frankenstein pushes that world-building even further. (tamaradeverell.com)

In this episode we talk about:

Designing 119 sets across Canada and the UK
Building a 135-foot ship on a gimbal and surrounding it with a hand-sculpted ice field
Creating the tower lab with its Medusa wall, circular window, and massive battery columns
Victor’s crooked Edinburgh apartment and the influence of Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein art
The white, vaulted, moss-covered crypt where the creature is held
Scouting Scotland, turning Lake Nipissing into the Arctic, and balancing practical builds with VFX

If you love production design, set decoration, and deep dives into how films are built from the ground up, this episode is for you.

Discover the Art of TV & Film Design with Decorating Pages Podcast

Hosted by Emmy-winning Set Decorator Kim Wannop, this podcast takes you behind the scenes of your favorite shows and movies. Each episode features in-depth conversations with the industry’s top production designers, set decorators, prop masters, and art department professionals, offering rare insight into the creative process of visual storytelling.

Whether you’re a film and TV fan, aspiring designer, or entertainment industry pro, Decorating Pages Podcast is your backstage pass to the world of production design. Learn how sets are built, stories are shaped visually, and characters come to life—one episode at a time.

🔔 Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio so you never miss an episode.

📲 Follow for daily design contentInstagram: @decoratingpagesTikTok: @decoratingpagespodcastYouTube: Decorating Pages Podcast

🎬 Explore More from Decorating PagesLove the behind-the-scenes world of TV + film design? Check out these exclusive resources curated by Kim Wannop, Emmy-winning Set Decorator and host of Decorating Pages Podcast:

🎓 Learn Set DecoratingTake my Set Decorating Masterclass—15 audio lessons packed with insider tips for breaking into the film & TV industry. Includes FREE Quick Reference Template. Start here: https://www.decoratingpagespodcast.com/masterclass