Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1514626
Harpo's House and the Juke Joint This location build was perhaps one of my favorites, yet also one of the most challenging to achieve. The production had originally been scouting real swamps near Savannah, where we were planning to shoot for a couple of weeks. However, there were two big challenges with this plan. First, we needed to see this location in three different iterations. This would mean shooting and returning multiple times to this distant location, which, with our short shoot time at the coast, was not practical and quite costly. Secondly, once again, we would be at the mercy of the weather and risks of natural flooding, so we couldn't depend on the height of the water. John Latenser's location team came up with an option of a former plantation near Covington that had been reborn as a hunting and fishing property complete with multiple fishponds, which resulted in small lakes that had been artificially dammed. What we were then able to do once we determined the best lake and location for the river shack/house/ juke joint set was to drain it and remove any trees that would interfere before setting out to construct our set. Construction coordinator Marlow Sanchez laid swamp mats and started to drive all the piles we needed to begin construction. With the help of key greensman Jerry West, we were able to achieve the appearance of a natural swamp, complete with dead trees and Spanish moss in the shallows. A B C