For All Mankind is one of the hit shows on Apple TV+ and it does a great job of creating two worlds between outer space and at home.
For All Mankind is a show about an alternate history, where things have happened a bit differently in the space race, causing the moon to become a very valuable resource. The artisans behind the show did a press day where they discussed the behind the scenes of the show, how most of it was created, and the importance of the contrast between home and NASA.
Participating Talent
- Stephen McNutt (Cinematographer)
- Jill Ohanneson (Costume Designer)
- Dianna Freas (Set Decorator)
- Jay Redd (VFX Supervisor)
- Mike Halloran (Supervising Picture Editor)
- Vince Balunas (Supervising Sound Editor)
- John Milo Train (Re-Recording Mixer)
The Contrast Between Home & NASA
Jill Ohanneson, the Costume Designer, explains that she had two different teams working all of the time — a civilian period team and a space and military team. From the very beginning her plan was to have totally different color palates for the NASA world versus the world of the astronauts and their families.
The NASA world has a much cooler and sleeker color palate with blues, greys, forest greens, and a lot of black. For the astronauts and their families, a much warmer color palate, with earth tones like browns, yellows, oranges and lime greens.
“That separated the worlds and gave viewers the idea that NASA has it’s own feeling to it. I think that worked pretty well.” – Jill Ohanneson
Creating Space Vehicles
The rovers are very realistic looking in the way that they move, and it turns out that they were a combination of real live action shooting, and also some CG as well. Some shots are of a real rover moving about 60 or 70 feet, but the areal shots are mostly CG.
They even used real Marines while filming the scenes with the L-SAM that flies along the surface of the moon. That was shot with a crane and then VFX replaced all the background to make it look like it was actually moving. Jay Redd, the VFX Supervisor, jokes that it looks ridiculous on set, because you are just filming some people standing on a platform.
John Train, the re-recording mixer, adds in that they don’t have a lot of records of what these things all sounded like. Not just the vehicles, but the communication equipment as well, and everything had to be built from scratch. They needed to discuss what technical things needed to happen — astronauts would need things like air and power. “All of that has to be built on a conversation of what do they need and what are we going to do.”
Basically Real Spacesuits
Considering that part of this show takes place in space, there needs to be some realistic looking spacesuits involved. These come from a third party vendor, and they are specialists in spacesuits. The thing is spacesuits are not like a regular costume because there are a lot of working parts to them. The actors in For All Mankind actually wear real suits, and there are technicians that come to the set along with them.
“It’s literally like the actor or the stunt person is putting on a machine. It has to protect you from the elements. It also has to have a breathing apparatus, and a cooling apparatus. They are extremely heavy, very stiff, and hard to move around. And they break down A LOT.” – Jill Ohanneson
Going into season 3, there are going to be new spacesuits made, so that will be really interesting for everybody involved.
About For All Mankind Season 2
“For All Mankind” season two picks up a decade later in 1983. It’s the height of the Cold War and tensions between the United States and the USSR are at their peak. Ronald Reagan is president and the greater ambitions of science and space exploration are at threat of being squandered as the US and Soviets go head-to-head to control sites rich in resources on the moon.
The Department of Defense has moved into Mission Control, and the militarization of NASA becomes central to several characters’ stories: some fight it, some use it as an opportunity to advance their own interests, and some find themselves at the height of a conflict that may lead to nuclear war.
For All Mankind Seasons 1 & 2 are now available to watch on Apple TV+.
