Q&A WITH ZOE LOFTS
Benny: Tell us a bit about yourself.
Zoe: I am a Set Dresser and a buyer for television and a freelance art director for TVCs.
I never really knew what I wanted to do when I left schooI - I started my career by creating stage design for independent theatre and found myself drifting towards the film and television industry. Before that, when I was a child, I would spend countless nights rearranging the furniture to surprise my parents, only for them to ask me to put it back exactly as I had found it - despite me being adamant that I had found a superior configuration. I also used to draw floor plans for the houses I imagined my teddy bears living in. Maybe I started early without realising.
BC: Tell us a bit about your inspiration behind your set.
ZL: It's loosely inspired by the mid 60s - 70s television shows I used to watch... Brady Bunch, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The original Batman TV show. I think (for better or worse) they definitely shaped my a lot of my taste
BC: Why did you decide on a bedroom set?
ZL: As a casualty of the work I do, I constantly find myself bringing the most random things into my bedroom after a long day. Most times it's emptying my pockets full of screws and drill bits into a bowl. Other times, I'll absentmindedly carry in something random like a taxidermied peacock or a toy furby. It ends up being this weird mish mash... constantly changing and rearranging. As a general rule - the busier I am, the busier my room can get.
BC: What’s your favourite piece? Why?
ZL: Every piece of this set has been chosen because it represents a particular aspect of my life and tells a story about who I am. My favourite is the ship lamp. It feels like it should belong in some old library with a rotating bookcase. The piece came from my grandparents house in South London and to me, it has always signified the migration routes of my ancestors to India and Australia.
BC: What items are yours and what is borrowed/rented/bought for the shoot?
ZL: Virtually everything was mine except for the carpet - which I sourced because it was reminiscent of a hideous carpet we briefly had in an old house growing up.
BC: What was your process creating this set and did your initial idea translate through to the finished set? Did you have any other ideas that you wanted to build?
ZL: The process was quick - Monday we locked in the shoot date and Friday I bumped in... whilst working 50 hours in between... This meant that I had to be resourceful with a lot of what I was using and could only fit in a few pickups . My initial plan actually had about 10x more stuff in it -which was refined during the bump in process to help make the image more considered. I had also wanted to make a 70s style wooden panelled county sheriff's office - however making a bedroom seemed more in keeping with the portrait series.
BC: Tell us about your colour pallet choices…
ZL: I'm obsessed with the colour brown. It's often overlooked. It's versatile, yet humble. It's sometimes ugly - but in a "so bad it's good" way. Pattern on pattern on pattern is my motto. The purples and blues were chosen from the pattern on the bedcover. It's an original late 60s piece that I found tucked away in a cupboard at my grandmas.
BC: Being a child of the 90’s myself, I can identify with your set… does this aesthetic carry on into your everyday work?
ZL: I think it's near impossible for your own taste not to follow you into the sets you create... ESPECIALLY when you identify with the characters in the script. That said, it's also very fun to get in the mindset of a character with scripted poor taste. The ultimate get out of jail free card - you can have a lot of fun with it when you have time and resources.
BC: How was it being in front of the camera?
ZL: Benny, you were a delight - I detest being in front of the camera but you really put me at ease. I laughed a lot. Maybe too much.
