Hamlet is usually done in a dark, shadowy, depressing setting, but not this time.Production designer Tim Harvey built the largest single set in all of England, over 250 feet in length, which housed the interior to ΓÇ£Elsinore CastleΓÇ¥, where much of the play/movie takes place. The floors of the set were patiently and perfectly leveled so that director/star Kenneth Branagh could move his camera smoothly all over the massive set. One half of the set is the ΓÇ£State HallΓÇ¥, the floor of which is covered by 7,500 hand-made black and white tiles, each individually ΓÇ£marbledΓÇ¥, a process that involves dipping them into oil paint floating on water. In addition, all four walls are covered with thirty mirrors, half of which are actually doors that lead to other areas of the castle. Harvey had to build all the mirrors on hinges, because they needed to be fully adjustable so that they would never catch the reflection of any cast or crew member during the actual filming.
