The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) is the largest organization of Location Managers and Location Scouts in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries. Their membership plays a vital role in the creativ
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LMGI COMPASS | Spring 2020 • 29 where he wanted to shoot. "For him, it was more about the look," said Lee, who defi nitely had a sense of what might fi t the fi lm and where to fi nd it. Surprisingly though, the principal location in the fi lm was an accidental discovery—and not by Lee. The house at the center of the story is a character in and of itself and without a doubt the single most important element in the fi lm from a location perspective. For reasons we won't spoil here, it had to have a very specifi c look. They would also need a location they could utilize for an extended period of time: Likely several weeks for prep and no less than two weeks of shooting, one of which would be all nights. Finding a homeowner in San Francisco who would be willing to work with them on a limited budget would be no easy task, but doing so in conjunction with fi nding a house that fi t the vision of the fi lm made it even harder. Then there was the fact that the budget only allowed for a full-time staff of three in the Location Department—including Lee. Talbot had spent years looking at houses by then, going as far back as 2015 when they had just the seed of an idea for the fi lm. Invariably, they'd fi nd a house with a beautifully preserved exterior only to discover that the interior had been completely gutted and updated. "All that wonderful detailing would be removed," Talbot said, "and it was a struggle to fi nd an interior and exterior that, in a way, felt like it perhaps could have been built by one man." By the time Lee was onboard, he'd presented dozens and dozens of possibilities, but nothing was jumping out for Talbot. One day, while wandering around the city, Talbot and one of the producers were standing in front of a house at 959 S. Van Ness and the homeowner (a man in his 90s named Jim Tyler), just happened to be standing in front as well. He overheard them talking and approached them. "He'd had an MTV series shoot there once and he was loosely familiar with fi lmmaking," said Lee. Tyler introduced himself, and invited them inside. As soon as Talbot saw the interior, he knew it was the house he wanted. Jim Tyler had moved into the house in the '60s and had spent his life restoring it. The history was practically oozing out of the walls even before the art department began working on it. It was, in a word, perfect. Originally built in 1889, Tyler's Queen Anne-style Victorian home featured architectural details that seemed destined to be a part of this story; from its conical "witch's hat" detail to its beautiful stained glass and, inside the foyer, a stunning built-in organ, which ended up infl uencing other aspects of the fi lm, not least of which was the fi lm's score. Art director Olivia Kanz, who had worked with Lee before, noted that despite Tyler's excitement about having the company shoot in his home, it was still a sensitive location. "It was a big deal. We were prepping it for three weeks prior to shooting," Kanz said, "and there are actually multiple tenants who live there. Thankfully, we had a great LM in Daniel and he was able to make that communication cordial despite all aspects of overtaking someone's home for shoot." Though the house was nearly perfect, a number of changes would need to be made both to the interior and exterior. "We completely repainted every room we shot in," said Kanz, "then aged it all, and then painted it back for a scene at the end." Ultimately, the house goes through about four stages in the fi lm. Among the changes made to the exterior was the addition of a facade to cover two garages at street level making it look like a wall on either side of the stairwell which leads up to the house. The wall was aged and dressed with ivy which went up and over it, then up the stairs. More ivy and plants were added to the front yard as well, to tie it all together. Slightly complicating matters was the fact that Tyler and his tenants had no intention of leaving during the prep and shoot. Even if they had been open to it, there was no budget to put them