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Designer trades New Jersey mob for L.A. beat

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Contributed by: Pam Vetter on 8/12/2007

Fresh from working on "The Sopranos," Scott Murphy now finds himself at Universal City working on the other side of the law on a TV show focused on the police. Murphy's ride to the Valley was an adventure by design.

Born and raised in Iowa, Murphy was inspired early in life by his grandmother, Peggy Patrick, who rose to the position of Acting Director at the Des Moines Art Center.

For visitors to Des Moines, the Art Center remains a must-see event, especially to view its architecture. Famous architects Eliel Saarinen, I.M. Pei, and Richard Meier designed the Art Center's three buildings. Each building reflects a different style.

"Culturally, I was exposed to a lot of architecture and art courses in connection with the Des Moines Art Center," said Murphy, who is currently living in Burbank. "In the mid 80's, Richard Meier created his addition to the Art Center. Through my grandmother, I landed an internship with Richard Meier as he was designing the Getty Museum."

It was an opportunity that changed Murphy's life because it led him to another internship with Frank O. Gehry as he was designing the Disney Concert Hall. An interesting connection, especially since Gehry has credited his own beloved grandmother's influence on his creative work.

"I got to see how Meier and Gehry worked and the inner workings of each office," Murphy said. "Each architect had a different creative approach."

After attending graduate school at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, there was a recession and architecture jobs were scarce.

"Landmark Entertainment was looking for designers for theme park projects in Japan, so I went to Japan for a while and worked as a set designer on parts of those theme parks," Murphy said.

When he returned to the states, Murphy quickly gained more work as a Set Designer first with the Soap Opera "Santa Barbara" and later working with a designer on award shows. Film and television opportunities grew out of his building resume.

"With many shows on my resume in a short period of time, I was asked to work on the 1994 film 'The Road to Wellville,'" Murphy said. "As an Assistant Art Director, I worked on many films including ' Die Hard 3,' 'Dead Man Walking,' 'Men in Black,' 'Lolita,' along with the M. Night Shyamalan films ' The Sixth Sense,' ' Unbreakable,' ' Signs,' and ' The Village.' I worked with a supervising art director on the Shyamalan films, which led to my work as the New York Art Director on 'Spiderman' and ' Spiderman 2.' With huge sets, they were very cool projects."

Murphy's attention grew in the industry and in 1999 he was asked to join an HBO show called "The Sopranos."

"While it was critically acclaimed when I joined the show as an Art Director, it was still gaining notoriety among viewers," Murphy explained. "I started working on it in the second season and I loved it. Being a fan of the show as well; it was great to work on something that earned attention. Unlike Network Television, which shoots a one-hour drama in eight days, 'Sopranos' was shot in 15 days. Each episode was like a mini-movie."

As the Production Designer on the new NBC drama, " Life," Murphy credits a team effort for making a show come alive.

"It's a collaborative process with the Director and Cinematographer on each episode. While we are driven by the script, which determines what locations we need and what sets are going to be built, our job in the Art Department is to further the dramatic action," Murphy said. "We need to know when the sets need to be subtle to support the story. Sometimes, the sets are featured characters unto themselves. When it comes to building permanent sets, 50 to 100 people can be involved in the final product from the Production Designer to the Art Director, Set Designers, Set Decorator, Coordinators and Construction Crew. Anything viewers see outside of the actors is calculated and designed. Every element in a set is there for a reason. I love designing because we design something new every day."

While legendary architects and talented designers have influenced Murphy, his biggest influence remains his biggest supporter.

"My grandmother is 84 years old," Murphy said with a smile. "And, she is thrilled to see my success!"

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