On Location: For 'Les Miserables,' fake elephants, real mud and airborne furniture

"Les Misérables" production designer Eve Stewart went straight to the source: Victor Hugo's 1,200-page novel. She didn't just read the book, she channeled it by transcribing key descriptive passages, word for word, onto crib sheets that would inform the look for the musical's film adaptation from director Tom Hooper. Thanks to London-born Stewart's visceral designs, Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean gets a mud bath, Anne Hathaway's Fantine has a run-in with rotting fish and scores of revolutionary Parisians lose their furniture.

By Cristy Lytal

February 7, 2013