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Getting Trauma
Center Up to ‘Code’
TODD LONGWELL
@toddlongwell1
On CBS’ “Code Black,” the hallways and
operating rooms of Angels Memorial
Hospital don’t have the gleaming white
surfaces seen on the typical medical show.
The space is gritty and lived-in, with
layers of wear reflecting the building’s
80-plus-year history, as well as its status
as a chaotic, overtaxed trauma center.
“We wanted a world that felt made
for humans, by humans,” explains creator
and showrunner Michael Seitzman.
“It had to be as analog as we could make
it. We leave tape and Post-its everywhere
to show a world that’s very lived in, even
misspell signs on the walls — anything
that will remind us of the humans that
inhabit this place.”
Inspired by the 2013 documentary
of the same name directed by Dr. Ryan
McGarry (an executive producer on the
show), “Code Black” captures the waning
days of the original Los Angeles County
General Hospital. Built in 1928, it housed
the busiest trauma center in the U.S. The
pilot was shot on location at the now disused
original facility.
For that initial episode, production
designer Richard Toyon took lots of photos
of the hospital . When the show went
to series, he used them to re-create the
facility on the Disney lot in Burbank.
Most of the sets are covered by a corkboard
drop ceiling, which means no
overhead lighting. Thanks to the broader
exposure range of digital cameras, the
crew can make do with practical lights.
“We come in, turn the lights on and
we’re ready to go,” says L.J. Houdyshell,
who was promoted from art director to
production designer when Toyon left to
resume work on HBO’s “Silicon Valley.”
For the show’s trauma room, known
as Center Stage, Toyon found four vintage
overhead operating room lights on eBay
for $1,200. Together, they had enough
usable parts to make one light .
A large portion of the set dressing —
including gurneys, beds, lights, X-ray
holders, clipboards and textbooks from
different eras — were bought as surplus
from L.A. County General , but the slightly
out-of-date health ad posters that paper
the walls were produced in-house.
Toyon and team also built a wallmounted
box that they dubbed the
Code-Black-ometer. It lights up with progressively
urgent status codes, from green
to yellow to red to black. Made with surplus
Chevy taillights and ’60s push-button
consoles, it looks convincingly vintage, but
it’s a fictional device created by Seitzman,
Toyon and exec producer David Semel to
illustrate the codes to the audience.
No detail was spared. “We even spilled
fake blood” on the off-white tile that covers
the floor of the soundstages , says Toyon,
“and wiped it up so the color was
in-between the tiles, and it had that heavily
used sense.”
TRAUMA DRAMA
“Code Black”
designers created
a gritty big-city
ER that reflects
the chaos and
distress of urban
hospitals.
We wanted
a world that
felt made for
humans, by
humans.”
Michael Seitzman
SEITZMAN: ROB LATOUR/REX SHUTTERSTOCK; CODE BLACK: RICHARD CARTWRIGHT/CBS
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