
Ryan Murphy’s hugely popular and acclaimed Netflix series Monsters recently returned with its second season Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. It explores the infamous crime and trial of the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of killing their parents resulting in a media frenzy in the early 90s. Matthew Flood Ferguson has worked with Murphy several times including Hollywood for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. He recently spoke with Immersive via email about his experience with the project.
Where did your work on the Menendez family home begin? Which materials were your main sources of inspiration?
I start every job with research. It is a big part of the design process. Besides the internet, I enjoy searching out bookstores for history and inspiration. I want the hunt. I sourced and looked at many history and photography books from the ’70s and ’80s and even purchased old Los Angeles magazines.
The covers alone were filled with great reference and inspiration from the use of color, style, and even the graphics. I sourced old vintage fabric for curtains, which is a great starting point for design. I also draw from life experience. Since I grew up in the ’80s, I remember the period, my parents’ friends’ homes, the styles and trends, and even my old record albums with their graphic covers like Devo, The Human League, and Toni Basil—all great references for color and tone.
How did you envision the house defining Jose and Kitty Menendez?
Since Jose Menendez was a self-made man, the house needed to show a certain style of “new money” and lacked the history that comes with generational wealth. We wanted the furniture and decor to appear as if it had all been purchased at the same time. It shows more of a focus on outward appearance and stylistic trends of the time rather than a warm, comfortable family environment with items that had been passed down through the generations.
In first approaching the design and build of the Menendez home, I sourced the crime scene photos taken the night of the murder. Most of the images were focused in one room and in one direction – the TV room where Jose & Kitty were murdered. That was a space we wanted to match as closely as possible. Set Designer Kristen Davis and I worked together, translating dimensions from fuzzy old black-and-white crime scene photographs to construction plans.
From the oversized built-in bookcase that anchored the back wall to the vaulted beamed ceiling and even to the small distance from the open French doors to the back of the sofa. All these little details needed to be both historically accurate and still functional for filming. Set Decorator Melissa Licht and I worked together to recreate and custom-build the oversized sectional sofa. And she was even able to find the exact TV that Kitty and Jose were watching the night of their murder.
We matched the built-in bookcase that anchored the back wall. I researched many designers from the 1980s, including Steve Chase, a famous Palm Springs interior & furniture designer. We used oversized white silk sofas and side chairs in the formal living room inspired by his designs.
What about Erik and Lyle’s bedrooms? What story did you want those spaces to tell?
Bedrooms are a real window into each character’s personality. For me, with every set, I start with color to set the tone of the space. Color also helps reveal the character’s inner life and helps tell the story visually. Both Eric and Lyle’s bedrooms were dark with grays and blues with black accents. The colors and tone lent themselves to a depressing, lonely feeling for both spaces.
Conversely, the parents’ room had light peach walls with a bold red contrasting carpet, creating a feeling of dominance and power. The set dressing for each space was also crucial because it added the final layer of the characters’ lives and what they held close to them.
Why was blue chosen as the color theme for this season of Monsters?
With every show I have done with Ryan, there is a defining color, and it’s one of the first things we discussed during our initial prep. For instance, with Ratched, it was green. Hollywood was mustard and golden tones. Dahmer was a dingy, depressing yellow, and Monsters was blue.
Having a color theme is instrumental to the design process and provides a track for everything to build off. Blue was one of the more popular colors used in the late 80s, so it seemed appropriate to use it. As I start building the look, I find places to incorporate the color into the story and then bring other complementary colors into the design to help accentuate it.
What were some defining elements of Los Angeles at this time that you wanted to capture?
The 80s were a decade of decadence and grandeur, and it was certainly true in LA during that time. Beverly Hills exemplified many of the trends and stereotypes. It was the rise of consumerism and materialism with shows like Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. Excess, flashy cars, Rodeo Drive, and status symbols like Rolex’s and Porche’s were certainly integrated in Los Angeles during the 1980s.
What are some unexpected challenges in working on a period piece?
Maintaining a look is always a challenge, especially when working on location. It makes you see how much technology has infiltrated our lives and how much of it I need to get rid of and hide. Signs are another example; we need to cover modern signs that didn’t exist in the past. You need to be extremely strict about what makes it into the shot, and on location, that becomes incredibly hard. With social media and high-definition TVs, you are guaranteed that the audience will notice any period slip-up, so you need to be very vigilant about making sure only period-appropriate things make it into the shot.
You’ve worked with Ryan Murphy many times now. How do you both relate as artists? In terms of production design, what aligns with your tastes, and what does not?
Ryan is incredibly visual and knowledgeable about styles and trends over the decades and that is really helpful. Sometimes, we will describe something through a painting or a scene in the film, and we will always know what each other is talking about. We have a good shorthand and we are very aligned visually. Both of us being fluid and open to people’s ideas while still having a strong vision makes the workflow with the rest of the team easy.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is available to stream on Netflix.