See Exclusive Behind the Scenes Images of the 1700s-Era Sets From 'The Testament of Ann Lee'

"The challenge of excavating a reality out of a pre-photographic era for film energized me from the outset,"

"I like to ingest as much imagery and text as possible and to sort of catalog it and be very free associative with what I choose,"

"The work of artist William Hogarth became a frequent reference point, his paintings and engravings of 18th-century England informing the earthy color palette."

The Testament of Ann Lee is a period biopic directed by Mona Fastvold and co-written with Brady Corbet, starring Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee, founder of the Shaker movement. Ann Lee led a sect that embraced celibacy, racial and gender equality, pacifism, lively worship through song and dance, and a craft tradition focused on unornamented, functional wooden furniture. Production designer Sam Bader conducted deep archival research, studying texts and the New York Public Library picture collection, and used William Hogarth’s imagery to inform an earthy color palette while reconstructing villages and period furniture for cinematic authenticity.

Read at Architectural Digest