Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1438629
s mentioned, ew ork has changed a lot. e couldnt shoot est Street and have it look anything like it did in the late s. There were a few spots in Hell's Kitchen that broke our hearts…there were several blocks with terrific suriing details but the avenue intersections were just too busy and developed to work for any of the larger seuences. So, we branched outlooking in all fie boroughs. n the end, we found pieces eerywhere. There were individual blocks and intersections in arlem, ashington Heights and the Bronx that became part of our Sharks neighborhood, our eterior school playground, basketball court and elements of the ets territory. n preproduction, rt irector yan Heck came aboard and began a layout of what would be our largest set—the demolition site that would become Lincoln Center. Behind West Side Story is a real story of community displacement—the construction of Lincoln Center destroyed the neighborhood known as San uan Hill. Ethnic enclaves were forcibly broken up and shoed into each other, creating conict and ery real gang wars. While this actual construction can be seen a bit in the background of the original films opening seuence, Steen and Tony wanted to bring it to the forefront. The ets territory would be the Lincoln Center site—now a pile of rubble. We found a pair of parking lots in aterson, , with a great period-feeling road running between. We would use both lots and the road to make a composite set. y thought was to put the exterior of Doc's right on the edge—as the last building standing in front of the rubble. ed use a real building. eb figured out how to completely remove the existing storefront and add our own to match the interior built stage set. s the design deeloped, yans early models transitioned to S a and the work of leios and myself as we sculpted and sketched on the demolition site and Doc's. We developed this whole set layerbylayer, moing from models to painted sketches to physical models to actual ag markings and mockups on site. C. & D. WESTSIDE PIER. ROUGH SECTION AND ELEVATION AND SKETCH OVER LOCATION PHOTO BY ADAM STOCKHAUSEN. THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST SCRIBBLE OF THE IDEA, TO COMMUNICATE THE IDEA TO THE ILLUSTRATOR AND MODELER. E. "COOL" ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXIOS CHRYSIKOS. THIS WAS PAINTED OVER A DIGITAL MODEL BY ART DIRECTOR RYAN HECK. F. "COOL" PRODUCTION STILL. G. WRECKED TENEMENT/ DEMOLITION LOT ILLUSTRATION BY HUGH SICOTTE. THIS IS THE CLIMACTIC MOMENT OF "JET SONG" AS THE JETS RUN UP A MOUNTAIN OF BRICKS AND RUBBLE. E F G