The set designs for Netflix's hit show Squid Game, which were informed by everything from MC Escher engravings to real children's playgrounds, were designed "to look cute and sweet" according to the show's director and art director.
Set in modern-day South Korea, Squid Game depicts a contest that pits down-on-their-luck citizens against each other in a series of deadly children's games, which take place in a hidden arena on a forested island.
An animatronic doll plays an important role in the first game
Here, the contestants compete to the death in six classic kids' games ? including Tug of War and a version of Red Light, Green Light featuring a giant animatronic doll ? to win a final prize of 45.6 billion won (£28.1 million).
Many of the gaming arenas, which were built from scratch with sparing use of CGI, were designed as oversized versions of real playgrounds to make the actors experience the spaces as if they were small children, according to the show's director Hwang Dong-Yuk. "I tried to simulate the atmosphere of real playgrounds," said Hwang in a Netflix interview. "I thought those kinds of sets can give more of a sense of reality to the actors' performance."
The second game takes place in an oversized playground
A more elaborate set was created for the fourth game, called Marbles, which takes place in a recreation of a traditional Korean neighbourhood.
"We put the most effort into that set," said art director Chae Kyoung-Sun...