Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1184216
G other partial fi lms in Boston and one in its entirety, The Crucible. I was the construction foreman on the fi lm and really loved being in New England, so now I was going back to that same area! A couple things I knew had to be done right off the bat was to fi nd a place to build the March home and somewhere to create a bustling late 19th century New York City scene. The other fi fty or so locations I knew could be found in that area of Massachusetts —it really is nicely preserved. It was important for Greta to build the March family home in a spot where you could see the neighbors' home, the Laurence house. There's so much action that takes place on the common ground between the homes. She wanted the actors to have that reality, and it hadn't been done in all the previous versions of this story, so this would be the fi rst. After weeks of scouting, the production landed on a spot right in Concord about a mile from the Alcott home. It was a large Colonial-style house on a big piece of property large enough to use the exterior of the house as the Laurence home and build the March home on the grounds nearby. And it had all the woods and a pond needed for ice-skating as well. It was recently sold and the new owner was not moving in for another year, so the fi lm company had complete run of the house and property. As I mentioned, the real Louisa May Alcott home was nearby, and the production had complete access to visit it for whatever was needed. Greta and I decided we really didn't want to change the look of the exterior of the house—everyone who knows the book and fi lms knows what it looks like, so why change it? But we could embellish it. Greta really wanted her version of the fi lm to seem bigger, not just in scale, but that the women traveled, worked and went places, they didn't just stay in the house all day. In fact, she gave me this quote from the author: "…I think I shall come out right, and prove that though an Alcott I can support myself. I like the independent feeling; and though not an easy life, it is a free one, and I enjoy it. I can't do much with my hands; so I will make a battering-ram of my head and make my way through this rough- and-tumble world." –Louisa May Alcott, 1856 E. MARCH HOUSE STAGE SET, FIRST FLOOR BY LORRIE CAMPBELL, USING SKETCHUP. THE DARKER LINES SHOW THE FOOTPRINT OF WHAT WAS BUILT ON STAGE. THE FADED LINES SHOW THE EXTERIOR FOOTPRINT BUILT ON LOCATION. F. MARCH HOUSE STAGE SET, 2ND FLOOR BY LORRIE CAMPBELL, BUILT ON A 4' PLATFORM SO THAT PAINTED BACKINGS, COULD BE USED. G. MARCH ATTIC MOOD BOARD. CREATED BY SET DECORATOR CLAIRE KAUFMAN. H. MARCH HOUSE PARLOR. BUILT ON LOCATION AND DUPLICATED ON STAGE. SET PHOTO. E F H