Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/765720
Susan Benjamin was given the difficult task of finding working kitchen components, including an oversized griddle, as well as a deep fat fryer that were not only period-correct and very specifically sized, but could also be made practical and retrofitted to the needs of the special effects technicians. Signature items, such as a lazy-susan prep table, spherical orangeade machine and root beer barrel drink dispenser, were all custom fabricated and scaled to fit the very specific layout. Because these exterior sets contained practical and working interiors, both needed to be on the south side of streets that ran in an east-west direction, placing the sets in back light during the shooting day. Working with cinematographer John Schwartzman, a system was crafted that allowed the kitchen action to be shot from outside the restaurant via removable windows. He recalls, "We'd take the windows out of one side, so we could place two cameras out there, and get tighter and wider coverage at the same time. Then we'd do a turnaround—put all the glass back in and take it off on the other side to get the coverage. It was very efficient." Both sets required finding adjoining parking lots that could be made into a single entity, and because food was going to actually be prepared in each kitchen, we needed to go through a building permitting process. constructed set had to stand in for at least eight additional franchises, from Minneapolis to Phoenix. The town of Douglasville, Georgia, offered a more open site, with neutral background and reverse angles. This entailed engineering, mechanical and electrical systems and plan checking from the appropriate municipalities. The location for the San Bernardino McDonald brothers restaurant was found in the town of Newnan, Georgia, which provided the requisite footprint and grading, but also included existing façades that gave a Southern California look. The location for Des Plaines was far more complicated, due to the fact that the single "Signature items, such as a lazy-susan prep table, spherical orangeade machine and root beer barrel drink dispenser, were all custom fabricated and scaled to fit the very specific layout." Right: The SpeeDee Kitchen in operation, as seen through the aperture created by the removal of the set windows. The griddle and vent hood were practical, and air conditioning was brought into the set through the air registers in the ceiling. The lazy- susan bun prep table was custom fabricated, and the multi-spindle milkshake mixer is identical to the model that Kroc was selling when he first met the McDonald brothers. Below, left to right: An archival photo showing the SpeeDee Kitchen in operation. A matching frame showing the kitchen set in operation. The orangeade machine and root beer barrel drink dispenser were custom fabricated and scaled to accommodate shooting angles. The grand opening of another franchise, showing the camera and dolly positioned outside the set when photographing interior scenes.