‘Frankenstein’ team reveals techniques to create Victorian Edinburgh

By Ibtisam Fatima November 25, 2025

As Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein preproduction started, production designer Tamara Deverell started deep research to style the 1850s Edinburgh that frames Victor Frankenstein’s dark journey.

Visiting museums, she studied period tools and scientific equipment to authentically recreate the city’s atmosphere.

“One of the first opportunities I had with Guillermo was during scouting. We went to museums like the Ontarian to see the real Evelyn tables,” Deverell told Variety.

“We needed our own version for the film, studying the tools and trade of scientists and doctors of that period,” she added.

Deverell collaborated closely with costume designer Kate Hawley to translate this historical accuracy into a visual color palette.

The streets of Edinburgh are depicted as cold and foreboding, reflecting Victor’s expulsion from the Royal College of Surgeons, with small touches of color threaded through the costumes of characters like Lady Elizabeth Harlander (Mia Goth).

“Edinburgh is the color of wet cobblestones and grand stone buildings,” Deverell explained. “We worked with marble and cream tones in our locations to bring these period colors to life.”

Hawley added that color was integral to mood, stating, “The background becomes part of the world itself. Every tone, even in extras’ costumes, reflects melancholy and atmosphere, a language of color that guides the story.”