Forging Feudal Japan: Emmy-Winning Production Designer Helen Jarvis Bringing “Shōgun” to Stunning Life
The ride is nearly complete. Four years ago, Helen Jarvis, who resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband, actor Robin Mossley, took on her first project as a production designer on the historical drama Shōgun, set in 1600 feudal Japan. The series went on to become a cultural phenomenon, breaking Emmy records for its intimate character-driven storyline, visual beauty, and moving performances, which gave us the phrases “Why tell a dead man the future,” “Flowers are only flowers because they fall,” and “I don’t control the wind. I study it.” Not to mention the most poignantly poetic fight sequences to ever feature a naginata spear. This month, Jarvis’s viscerally immersive designs will be featured at the 10th annual BC Creative Industries Week, an event hosted in British Columbia to celebrate locally produced films and television series. Shōgun was primarily filmed in and around Vancouver, as well as local soundstages and backlots, with the help of a Canadian crew.
Looking back, Jarvis tells The Credits, “The big thing for all of us making it was to get the authenticity right.” It was a hill she climbed despite not having a prior production design credit nor having ever been to Japan (not that visiting a country is a prerequisite for any role in a production). Since the show aired, she says the response has been overwhelming, with people she hasn’t heard from in over a decade contacting her to share their Shōgun love. “It means a lot to hear from people who hold a special place in my career.”
But Jarvis holds a special love for art, going back to her parents’ involvement in stage plays while she was a child. “I was often taken to wherever a play was going on, and my mother would be painting scenery, my father would be directing, and sometimes they’d bring props home to make. I just loved it. So I started off in theatre, and I still love theatre, but segued out of it 25 years ago.” Before Shōgun, she worked as an art director on a flurry of films and series going back to the mid-90s, with I, Robot, Watchmen, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes being among them.
With Shōgun, she was able to design all ten episodes and share an Emmy with Chris Beach (art director), Lisa Lancaster (set decorator), and Jonathan Lancaster (set decorator). The moment they found out they won was a “real heart flutter.” “I’m not used to speaking in front of everyone other than a production meeting, where I often just speak extemporaneously. But on the night of the Emmys, my husband helped me write a speech, and he printed it on a huge piece of paper, and I said, Look, I can’t take that on stage. So I got a little hotel notepad and I wrote it down in tiny writing. He told me I should rehearse, and I said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ So when our names got called, I started to speak, and I just blew it. When you get on stage, there’s so many people smiling at you, and there’s this wave of warmth and acceptance. I can’t even think if I’ve ever felt that way before. It’s incredibly exciting and wonderful.”
The show’s popularity has had her phone ringing in other ways, too. “When it was airing in Japan, Takashi Murakami, who is an amazing artist and cultural phenomenon, wanted to collaborate on a design of a Yumedono Temple, which is based on a real Hall of Dreams. It was for a show he’s putting on at The Cleveland Museum of Art in mid-May. He views Shōgun as a cultural phenomenon and was completely inspired by it, which is really thrilling.”
Shōgun is now part of Jarvis’s identity, and she happily admits that it’s not a bad thing at all. “For me, it was very exciting because I hadn’t stepped into the role of production design. I’ve done many shows as a supervising art director, which is a fantastic job in itself. But it was amazing to step into the role of a production designer, where suddenly I was the one who could make the choices. It was a great opportunity, and once you’ve stepped into the shoes, you don’t ever go back. At least, I don’t think I can.”
When asked if she’ll be part of Season 2, her response is more political, suggesting that it’s still being worked out. “What I do know from having conversations with the showrunners is that they’re really pushing hard to hire a Japanese designer, which I think makes a lot of sense. I know Hiroyuki Sanada is going to play a very pivotal role in the new version, from what I gather. And if it’s just the meteoric rise of the show and its presence, in order to continue, I think it should be a Japanese voice.”
But Jarvis suggests no one should feel upset about the possibility of her not returning, she has already turned over a new leaf as the production designer on the third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. “The show was designed by a very nice New Zealander, Dan Hennah, who’s gone back home. It was one of the first shows that contacted me after Shōgun. I realized it had all these great people working on it, it’s here in Vancouver, and it’s a very creative, big, prestigious show. It’s a fantasy-based show, and I’ve been on it for about six weeks now. We go to camera in August and I’ve been really enjoying it.” As for saying goodbye to Shōgun, she says, “It will be with me forever.”
Featured image: Eita Okuno as Saeki Nobutatsu, Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko, Hiromoto Ida as Kiyama Ukon Sadanaga. CR: Katie Yu/FX
