Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1514626
The Larger White Town Macon, Georgia, stood in for our larger town where we see for the first time the white, more affluent society. Shug Avery takes Celie out of her environment to the moving pictures for her first time to the Capitol Theatre. It is here while watching The Flying Ace that Celie's imagination transports the action onto the screen to become a part of a moderne set piece for the musical number "What About Love," which was drawn by Set Designer Pam Foco. Pam also drew the giant gramophone set for "Dear God—Shug," which was a fun piece with an actual revolving, 22-foot-diameter grooved record. Also, in Macon, I found a wide boulevard that Set Designer Britain Illingworth-Cramer and Assistant Art Director Joshua Wells were able to squeeze in the build of the new filling station, the design of which was a version based on a derelict gas station I came across in Savannah. What was important for Blitz was that this should be the biggest and busiest urban setting in the film, and it required signage, dressing for dozens of stores, as well as period vehicles. This central location gave a sense of exposure and vulnerability for our characters, which was important as this was the setting for a pretty intense scene where Sofia gets beaten by a mob of onlookers and then arrested and thrown in jail. The riveted steel jail set was based on research from two different period jails located near Savannah. A. SMALL AFRICAN AMERICAN TOWN. EXTERIOR HARDWARE STORE AND HOTEL. PRODUCTION STILL. B. SMALL AFRICAN AMERICAN TOWN. MAIN STREET. SET PHOTO. C. SMALL AFRICAN AMERICAN TOWN. BARBERSHOP. SET PHOTO. A B C