Go Behind the Scenes at the Making of GH’s Greenland Set!
To film the outdoor scenes on the shores of Greenland, GENERAL HOSPITAL certainly couldn’t send their actors to the Arctic island. So instead, the soap brought the ice sheet to a sound stage in Southern California thanks to some handiwork by GH’s Emmy-winning art department!
In a behind-the-scenes video shared on the soap’s social media channels, Art Director Andrew Evashchen and Scenic Artist Rob Houghtaling lifted the veil to show viewers how they created the icy-looking polar region within the walls of the GH studio in Los Angeles. And it all started with poring over lots and lots of pictures of the real-life area! “It’s research, followed by resources,” explained Evashchen. “We did a lot of research on Greenland and what the rocks look like.”
When it came to creating the large boulders — like the one that Laura, Curtis, Drew, and Valentin were hiding behind before they were caught by Victor’s guards — Houghtaling added that the overall request from the soap’s executives was to make the formations resemble volcanic rocks. “We laid in the dark color, the stone color, and we’ll mimic snow with a lighter white paint,” he explained. “Spray it on. And then added details with a brush.”
With a bit more of that white paint, the art department gave the entire landscape a glazed, icy appearance. “We’ll lay in some really good, fine artificial snow,” shared Evashchen. “Do some frost… do a tundra and hopefully it will all come together nicely.”
Making Greenland come to life for the storyline resulted from hours of hard work by several different departments. “A lot of talented people work on it from every step of the way,” said Houghtaling. “It’s always a lot of fun to look at it because after it’s painted, there’s still a bunch of people that are going to make it look even better with the props, drapery, all the fun stuff.”
According to Evashchen, the opportunity to create something outside of the typical soap opera sets was a welcome opportunity. “It’s been super fun because it’s been a real departure for us,” confessed the art director. “That’s always cool.”
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