Posted on 12th September 2023

How The Peasants used cardboard to create its large-scale sets

The Peasants is the latest animated film from the Oscar-nominated team behind 'Loving Vincent', Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Władysław Reymont. Find out how production designer and British Film Designers Guild member, Elwira Pluta managed to minimise waste when it came to constructing the sets used in the film.

Case Study, Sustainable Production

The Peasants is the latest animated film from the Oscar-nominated team behind 2017’s Loving Vincent, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Władysław Reymont.

In this case study, we’ll find out how production designer and British Film Designers Guild member, Elwira Pluta managed to minimise waste when it came to constructing the sets used in the film.

You may be wondering why an animated film required real sets, this is because the film was shot first in live action and subsequently rotoscoped*, using the same oil-painting technique as Loving Vincent.

*rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action

The film takes place in early 20th Century Poland in the rural countryside, and was shot at a studio in Warsaw.

The sets were representative of rural locations such as farms with houses, barns, cowsheds, gardens and orchards. Typically, these structures would have been constructed using wood, with beams and heavy planks, topped with thatched roofs. Elwira thought it would have been a huge waste to construct such large sets with real material, consuming time, money (as well as leaving a large carbon footprint!).

The production needed to replace real wood with a lookalike, which would be easy to work with and not end up filling up skips after shooting.

“

My main concern was to avoid waste at the end of production, and I started looking for a sustainable, environmentally friendly material for construction. I remember laughing to myself in a pre-production meeting when I said that I'd construct these sets using paper!

”

— Elwira Pluta - Production Designer, The Peasants

Elwira chose reinforced, multilayered cardboard as she liked the simplicity of the material. To construct buildings with cardboard, she needed to turn the cardboard into a 3D building block, so she came up with the idea of turning the cardboard into a brick.

The brick needed to be as large as possible, strong, and uniform so it could be used in any of the planned sets. The brick was also designed with holes so it could be threaded with steel forks to improve the strength of the designs This simple system became the building block, or brick for all set construction.

To achieve the right finish for the sets made out of these cardboard bricks, the team printed the texture of old wooden beams and boards in a variety of designs and colours on canvas. The printed canvas was then distressed and attached to the bricks.

All sets constructed for The Peasants’ early in the shoot were reused to make all other sets later in the shoot, thanks to very careful calculation by the team. The cardboard bricks proved to be very versatile, and ended up being used in background arrangements, hay stacks, high church walls and a blacksmith’s shop.

“

I consider the issue of waste early on in any design process. In all my years in film, I have always tried to reduce waste and reuse materials where possible. With The Peasants, I had the opportunity and creative freedom to go further in my search for a more eco-friendly design process.

”

— Elwira Pluta - Production Designer, The Peasants

Teamwork & Greenery

The team was very supportive of Elwira’s goals and were fully on board with the idea of using an alternative construction method.

They also incorporated many natural elements and greenery into the sets, with the aim of avoiding any plastic use. These elements were found by skilful gathering and careful preparation of wild plants, grass, meadow flowers and fallen trees, all of which were fully compostable.

“

The Peasants was highly commended at the 12th BFDG Production Design Awards within the new Planet Positive Award category. The Guild worked with Albert and sustainability experts to create and judge the new award which aims to highlight the need to consider environmental impact in all aspects of set design, construction and dressing. Our designers are leading the way and we want to showcase and recognise their work, and encourage the rest of the industry to follow suit.

”

— Bimla Jackson, Operations Directors, BFDG

Advantages of the cardboard construction system

All elements are lightweight
Assembly is fully manual and time-efficient
No need for power tools, so no electricity cost nor noise pollution
Construction and disassembly is possible during filming
All elements are reusable and durable
The material is compact if it needs to be stored
The materials are 100% recyclable (cardboard, steel, canvas) and partially compostable (cardboard, canvas) when they’re no longer of use

We thank the British Film Designers Guild (BFDG) for their help with this case study.

Entries are open for next year’s BFDG awards on Tuesday 12^th September, including the Planet Positive Award.

Find out how to enter this year’s awards.

Find out about last year’s winners and finalists.