LMGI COMPASS
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Winter 2024
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43
memory sifted through magical realism. "Scouting with a visually
graphic director like Tim was exciting. He joined us on the initial
scouts, where we traveled for many weeks throughout the South
and found the perfect environment in and around Montgomery,
Alabama. At scout meals, Tim would often draw what he was
looking for on a napkin. We'd then rush to grab his 'doodles' before
they were cleared off the table and use them as our reference.
"It was a potpourri of locations, each one more imaginative than
the next. We made use of small towns, rivers, churches, town halls,
woods. We created a circus, staged a parade and built a fantasy
town on a small island. Big Fish was a fantasy, so it added to the joy
of it all. You're creating this world and finding these zany locations,
and all those elements made it fun."
Citrin also worked with legendary production designer Dante
Ferretti, a longtime creative partner to Martin Scorsese, to situate
a sense of isolation and paranoia in Scorsese's 2008 psychological
drama Shutter Island. The suspense-driven storyline rose and fell
like waves against the battered shores of its namesake island.
"Marty Scorsese relies on the input of his designer, and Dante is a
star in his own right. Between the two of them, I felt like I struck
gold. Both have grand operatic styles and finding what the film
needed was a tremendous challenge for me and my team.
"Dante would draw these enormous murals of what he thought
the locations would look like and then hand them to me and the
art director saying, 'This is what I want.' For Shutter Island, Dante
and I spent months searching for the perfect Asheville hospital,
"What excites me the most as a location
manager is to read the script and then, with
the production designer, weave together
the locations that fit the story. That period
of exploration is the most fun and that
relationship is invaluable."
–Robin Citrin/LMGI
