Barton Fink is first and foremost a story about writer’s block. As a creative myself, I am aware of what a creative block feels like. Though it is easy to simplify writer’s block as being trapped in a box, my impression of a creative block is more of a void. There are no walls or definition that provides a glimpse of a hint into what may become a storyline; there is only nothingness.
My challenge would be creating a space that is true to the period while accentuating that suffocating nature of an empty space that seems to point to no visible way out.
barton fink
character analysis
characters that inhabi† the world are the ones who drive the story. therefore, I figured out visual mood boards for each character to convey what the characters are like.
identifiying key points for interpretation
identifying the mood that prevails throughout the story is also important to my process, because it determines the colours that I will primarily use in my paintings,
Existential Dread, Uncertainty, Vanity, Isolation
hotel earle research
For the purposes of complementing my portfolio and most importantly my weaknesses, my Barton Fink will be a meticulous period adaptation true to 1940s Downtown Los Angeles.
My main inspiration for the exterior of Hotel Earle will be the Cecil Hotel. Though there are many historic hotel buildings in Los Angeles, most of them are inspired by the Beaux Arts tradition, which I do not believe is suitable to the descriptions of the hotel that the script provides. For the interior, I will take inspiration from the lobby of Hotel Roosevelt, because despite its Spanish Renaissance Revival style, the colonnade structure provides a weird sense of both an open and closed space, which I believe is essential to my design.
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hotel earle, bunker hill Los Angeles
the lobby is a crucial location where barton is introduced to an almost hallucinatory world.
although I usually paint and draft sets after, for this occasion I figured out the ground plan first based on the location and the historical details of the Spanish Renaissance Revival style.
I did a lot of research for to reflect the details even in the beginning stages of concept art.
preliminary drafting done to explore hotel earle’s lobby space
wallpaper inspirations and mood board
wallpaper variations
colour story
the wallpaper at hotel earle is an improtant visual asset that casts an air of mystery and a feeling of suffocation. however, it is important that the design conveys a sense of paradise that failed.
my work is heavily grounded in research. I try to ground my characters in a real world even though it is a fictional story.
“I'm a writer, you monsters! I create!
I create for a living! I'm a creator! I am a creator!”
— Barton Fink