Peacemaker Opening Credits: Behind The Scenes

Since the first episode of HBO Max's Peacemaker dropped on January 13, 2022, the opening credits scene has been a top trending topic online as people responded to the retro dance sequence. Live Design talked to the designers responsible for creating the iconic scene.

Production designer and director, Lisa Soper, originally trained in animation in her native Canada and had stints working with Oscar-winning artist and animator, Ryan Larkin, and at Mercury Filmworks, before releasing a film, Stay, in 2007. Since then, she has pursued a career as a production designer. She is now very much in-demand and known for working on shows for Netflix, Sky One, Britain’s ITV, and of course, HBO Max where she was responsible for the look and feel of the first series of Peacemaker. The retro dance sequence, set to 2010’s “Do You Wanna Taste It” by Wig Wam became the talk of the internet and has already been heralded as one of the most memorable TV moments of 2022

Live Design: Where did the inspiration for the dance piece come from?

Lisa Soper: It actually started as something completely different. James had written into the script that it took place in the closed-down video store which acts as a base of operations for the cast. But once our choreographer (Charissa-Lee Barton) had created vignettes with people jumping on tables and dancing and blowing through doors we realized that it didn’t have everyone together in a big number. James (Gunn, the series creator and writer) said I think that needs to be on a stage.

LD: What happened once the initial idea had been refined?

LS: We only had a few days to pull it together after that decision was made. We needed to find a stage and start designing. We had the song, we knew who would be performing in it, and James said he wanted it to have the feel of a 60s or 70s game show so I said I would pull some things together. In the meantime, I was running around Vancouver (where Peacemaker is shot) looking for place for us to shoot that wasn’t closed for Covid. We ended up picking a gymnasium on a property where we were already filming. One challenge—it only had man doors to access the space, no big garage doors to bring in large set pieces.  That meant the set had to be assembled in position. We worked with the departments, lighting, choreography etc trying not to get in each other’s way and everyone came together with a positive attitude. For the type of scenes that James tends to ask for, failure is not an option!

Once the space was determined I went home and drew some ideas. I started with a variety show look with oranges and yellows but as I was drawing it there was something I felt was missing. I also did some big backdrop designs, of woods and wolves with lightning bolts and laser beams coming out of there eyeballs. There was also one with Lamborghinis and a more luxury concept but towards the end of the night things were getting more elaborate and I finally decided to just do one more. I was listening to the music that James gave us, he makes us playlists of the songs for the show, and colors and patterns kept coming through that referenced hair metal bands. It was all about those colors reflecting off mirrors in the space making the cast the focal point. I didn’t think James would go for it, but he chose that one out of about 30 designs.

Opening credits set drawing with additional "twinkly bits" from Todd Lapp
(Opening credits set drawing with additional "twinkly bits" from Todd Lapp)

Dealing with things like mirrors on set is incredibly difficult, so we made a bunch of samples of mylar mounted on to wood and then treated them so they would cascade the light. I went to see the gaffer, Todd lapp, and we looked together at certain levels of distress to the mylar to see what would catch the light but obscure the background the most. it was a fine line to find in a limited amount of time.

After we started to assemble everything, the art department worked from the inside of the stage outwards and the lighting department from the outside in. The lighting would give AC/DC a run for their money!  There were over 100 fixtures on the rig and Todd had one layer of lighting synched to the music, another layer that tracked the cast, and another layering of colors.

LD: Even Eagly, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, gets to be in the ensemble piece.

LS: Yes, we have a hyper-realistic model of an eagle for some shots and a gray, posable stuffed animal with tracking dots on for the cast to follow when we use CGI. But at the beginning of the show we had a real animal on set so we could see how a real one would look in the space. It was huge!

LD: Did you know that the scene would be the hit that it became?

LS: When we were doing it I felt that it was important to the show, but I underestimated how important. I am so happy it was received the way it was. But it says something about the production that the design we ended up with was the last one I did–way out in the left field and away from the direction I was given. It was just to provide a comparison, I did not expect James to go for it. But those unexpected choices are what has made the show so special. We open an endless box of creativity every day.

LD: What’s next for you?

LS: I’m directing five of the 10 episodes of Pretty Little Liars, Original Sin for HBO Max, and an episode of Riverdale. I will continue to be a designer, directing is just opening a different door on the same path. I started directing when I was working on Sabrina and I loved it.

Todd Lapp, veteran gaffer, chief electrician, and lighting designer for Peacemaker is responsible for the retro feel of the lighting, complete with faux lasers, using some personal inspiration and a love of 80s metal for his vision.

LD: What is your approach when designing a live-show look for a TV audience?

Todd Lapp: I have had the good fortune to incorporate live and interactive elements on numerous dance, music, and science fiction projects, as well as drama. The approach I usually take is to provide the director and cinematographer a variety of options, as it’s normal for the actors to do different variations on every take, so to have a focus pallet that’s static doesn’t work.       

When doing effects or sequences, I like to have numerous scenes or looks on subs with different timing and rates that I can utilize. Usually with at least a dozen different focus groups so if an actor decides to perform in a different area than rehearsed I have the tools in my back pocket so I don’t waste a single take or performance. This adds momentum to the shooting day and builds trust with the performers who feel that they can use the entire set and not have to compromise because of strict technical parameters.

LD: Where did the inspiration come from for the lighting on the opening credits?

TL: I know that our production designer, Lisa, presented James (Gunn) with numerous fantastic staging ideas but the 80’s laser scenic theme seemed to resonate the most. It reminded me of a photo background that I had in high school which was super fun. (See the evidence below.)

Todd Lapp took inspiration from this 1988 laser background
(Todd Lapp took inspiration from this 1988 laser background)

​I’m also a big fan of 80s metal, and when I got the track they wanted to use I had a good idea of what it would take to do a great sequence. The production was really full on at that point so there wasn’t a ton of input but that was a great starting point.

LD: Can you talk about the fixtures you chose to get this look, and why you chose them?

TL: The needs are always a bit different for film and TV [than live shows], because we always have to think about exposure and tone as well as making things look cool. If things are too bright, or too frenetic, it’s hard to make the actors look as good as possible in the shot. There is always the subtext in the story to consider as well, and just because someone can do a cool effect doesn’t mean they should if it detracts from the story. It’s not necessarily about putting on a good show as much as drawing you in to the performers so that you want to know more about their stories. Even if sometimes it is ironic.

For the general ambience I used ARRI Sky Panel S60-Cs, the movers were Martin Encore Performance CLDs, we built our own pixel control RGBW LED tubes for the moving laser scenic pieces, and for the twinkly flashes at the end of the sequence I used star strobes. The console was an ETC ION XE with an Arturia Keyboard MIDI control and we also had some Lycian medium-throw follow spots.

LD: How long did you have to design and rig the shoot?

TL: I got the song we were using on a Friday and I created the lighting plot over the weekend. We had a week to build out the staging, build the fixtures and paint the set, but for the lighting my rigging team did the truss work and fixture install in two days.

After the install, my console operator and I had two days to program the looks and dump them onto subs and the  MIDI keyboard. We took the option to control the scenic “laser” LEDs with the keyboard so we could essentially “play” the lights.

LD: What obstacles did you face with this scene?

TL: The biggest obstacle was that I found out just before shooting that the song ("Do You Wanna Taste It" by Wig Wam) had been edited from the version I had. I also never saw the actual dance or dancer placements in rehearsals until we were shooting, so a lot of what made it to the screen was live with one take. Our director moved a bunch of performers around after each take as he wanted to have different ending positions for the episodes—that was challenging to do on the fly but it was fun making it happen.  

LD: What was your favorite part of creating the opening credits?

TL: It was great working with director James Gunn and cinematographer Michael Bonvillain in a way that they were not accustomed to, and watching how much fun they were having.

The whole team did a great job of pulling things together at the 11th hour to make something that was really fun to be a part of.