MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: SIOBHAN O’KEEFE
It took months to create and then flashed across the screen in a matter of minutes. For Set Decorator and Buyer Siobhan O’Keefe, however, the market scene she helped bring to life in the production See starring Jason Momoa imprinted a lasting impression.
That’s how it often goes for the many artists and technicians who pour their hearts into crafting a perfect moment of motion picture magic. The journey behind what you see on screen is often where the magic really happens.
“See is a world in the future, so we had to fabricate a lot of things,” says Siobhan, who used her experience in Set Decorating, Art, Construction and Props to help create the futuristic science fiction world of See where people have lost the sense of sight.
“I love backstory and of course, this is a world in the future, so you have to ask: what do they have that's from 200 years ago? What do they have that's recent? How do they make things? Everybody's blind, so how would they make them? We worked on this market scene and asked: how do you display things if no one can see them? It was such an immersive experience.”
Siobhan credits her time working as a Set Decoration Buyer on See as one of her career highlights for the creativity and collaboration involved.
“Everything we got had to be changed, manipulated, built. There's a huge building crew we had to work with, you know, working out concepts. It really pushed me.”
Each tribe brought to life on screen had a specific attribute. One tribe was shaped by the ocean, for example, so Siobhan spent time at the beach picking seaweed and drying it. She scoured thrift stores for blown glass vases from the '70s to make large pieces of beach glass from scratch in a cement mixer the Props department used to make items look aged.
When the show’s designer wanted the perfect shade of blue shells for the “Indigo tribe”, Siobhan recalled an acrylic ink she used in art school that didn’t rub off.
“I had to go wherever I could to get one or two bottles of that ink from each art store and collect them all to colour all of the shells,” she recalls.
“I still have one of those blue shells on my desk every time I open my art kit when I start a new job, because it was just like, yes, we can make anything happen. That's the fun thing about the movies.”
Siobhan was one of several Set Decoration Buyers who collaborated with the Props, Paint, and Construction departments to create the market scene for the production “See”.
Siobhan began her career in film in Vancouver after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Concordia University. She started working in the music industry, directing music videos, and art directing shows. As she started making more connections with people in the film world, she ended up doing costumes for a Sarah McLachlan music video, but it was her work doing set decoration on independent films that she really fell in love with.
“I really liked storytelling, character, backstory and I think you can do all that with set decoration. You can free up the script by putting the backstory of the character in the room.”
With decades of experience in the motion picture industry and a 25-year IATSE pin to commemorate her career, Siobhan took a few years off from working on sets to teach at the Vancouver Film School and then abroad. She did a Master’s degree in Art Education and Curriculum Pedagogy and taught film in China before returning to work full-time in the motion picture industry in BC.
“I still love it. I still think it's amazing,” she says about working in the motion picture industry.
In addition to working on film and television shows, Siobhan has worked as a Costume Designer for music videos and dance films. Here she is working on a costume for the dance film “A Full Circle, Movement #2” in 2015.
In her spare time, Siobhan and her friend Hilary Moses, an IATSE 891 permittee, have been drawing orange shoes as part of their ongoing online campaign to raise money for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. Some of their drawings were featured on a special banner for the Union’s Orange Shirt drive-thru fundraiser for the same organization.
Being a part of the Union provides people working in the industry a sense of protection and support when it comes to health, safety, and pay rates, she says.
“Because we work so hard, I think it's important to have that. We don't have time to go lobby, but it's good to know that there are mechanisms so that if there's an issue, you can go to the Union.”
She commends the Union’s work to combat workplace discrimination. Members can report workplace discrimination directly to the Senior Steward’s Office, for example. While acknowledging there’s still a lot more work needed to make the industry more equitable and inclusive, Siobhan is noticing some positive changes, like seeing more women in leadership roles.
“The last show I worked on in set decoration, it was all women at the top. I never used to see that. The decorator, the assistant decorator, the coordinator, the buyers were all women.”
That’s not the only change she’s noticing – the growth of the industry has also brought in a lot of new members. One show she worked on was made up almost entirely of people new to the motion picture industry and Siobhan ended up training them.
“Some people find that frustrating and stressful, but I found if you have the desire to learn, and if you ask the question, I'm happy to help. We all make mistakes. There's no reason to freak out.”
“We need new people. We're always going to have new people. If you come down on them, they don't engage. They don't learn.”
She encourages anyone starting out in the industry and new to the Union to recognize that members come from all kinds of backgrounds. She remembers working with a man who used to work for Telus.
“It's really about exposing yourself and trying different things when you're starting out to see which department you want to be in.”
A great place to start is the OurWork.ca skills calculator or taking the time to learn about an IATSE 891 department that seems intriguing.
Want to be an Ourwork.ca Member Spotlight subject and share your 891 stories? Email communications@iatse.com
