Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Felipe Aguilar D., Netflix’s ‘Final Project,’ or ‘Proyecto Final’ in Spanish, begins with Tamara moving into a new school, Campos Academy. As the hub of elites, the school emerges as a rather unique place, where one can peek into the minds of teens who have lived most of their lives in luxury. Tamara, however, isn’t quite like them and has years of trauma informing everything she does in life. Hoping to escape online bullying, she befriends the star of Campos Academy, Xavi, not knowing that this dynamic is going to pull her life in the most unpredictable of directions. Throughout the Mexican teen psychological thriller series, the school remains our constant companion, shaping the backdrop to every scene and tied to the themes of coming of age.
Campos Academy is a Fictional School Set in Mexico
Campos Academy, the main setting of ‘Final Project,’ is a fictional location created by Bernardo Izaza Capdevielle and his writing team specifically for this world. Given that the entire story is framed around a group of characters in their final year of high school education, it makes sense for the creators to focus so much on Campos Academy as a living, breathing space. While it may not be based on any real school buildings in Mexico, the school is nonetheless infused with details and almost feels like a character by the time we make it to the final episodes of the season. That said, its nature as an invented construct also allows for a lot of creative freedom, enabling writers to come up with complicated plotlines without inviting too many production hurdles.
Mexico is home to a number of prestigious academic institutions, making it entirely possible that the writing team drew broader references from real-life fixtures when designing Campos Academy. Some examples of popular schools in the region are Greengates School, located at Avenida Circunvalación Poniente 102, Balcones de San Mateo, in Naucalpan de Juárez, and Eton School, situated at Calle Domingo García Ramos sin número, Prados de la Montaña, Santa Fe, New Mexico. While it is possible that these institutions serve as loose inspirations for the general aesthetic of Campos Academy, the similarities end on a superficial level.
What brings the fictional institute to life is its filming location, which is likely a collection of real-life schools in New Mexico and other sites of production. The next step is to transform the building with a blend of custom-made signs, naming boards, and other pieces of decor, which truly make Campos Academy look like a real location, with distinctive nooks and crannies. Lensing sequences in a practical fashion likely makes the process more organic for actors as well, as they get to feel like real students, rather than coming up with the right atmosphere on a soundstage.
Read More: Final Project Ending Explained: Do Tamara and Xavi End up Together?
