Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1514626
Since we had to shoot in three different configurations, Rory and I decided to shoot in the reverse order, beginning with the largest build. We built the juke joint first, then refilled the swamp, needing three to four weeks to get to our desired waterline. Then we were able to remove one end and rebuild it to be the finished house using barges from the existing set platform over the water. Lastly, we constructed it to look like the abandoned river shack that Harpo inherited from his grandfather. It was quite a complex bit of logistics to build, and it was overseen by Art Director Andi Crumbley. In Spielberg's film, there was a scene when Harpo was transporting a piano on a cable-driven barge to be installed in his newly built juke joint. In Blitz's film, we wanted a grand entrance for Shug Avery's "Push da Button" arrival, and I employed a similar barge and cleared a path through the dead trees decorated with oil lamps for this. Dan Laustsen created this amazing moonlit scene with low-lying fog, and costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck dressed Shug in an incredible, feathered, red headdress as she emerged like Cleopatra on the Nile. The trick for both Dan and I was how to transition from the exterior swamp location to the stage set where we filmed the majority of the dance numbers and interior scenes. I wanted to keep the beauty of the foggy moonlit swamp as the backdrop through the proscenium on the stage created by the doors to the juke. We couldn't manage all of the shots looking in that direction with a VFX-composited image of the actual swamp, so what we ended up doing was bringing in the same foreground dead trees from the location and creating smaller ones receding with smaller oil lamps to create a similar appearance of depth. Also, we had to add a reflective and rippled black roll-down flooring on the stage floor to simulate the water. It was a conscious choice for Blitz and me to ensure that choreographer Fatima Robinson's amazingly big dance numbers still felt like they were in a realistically scaled space for the story. For both the "Workin'" and "Hell No" musical numbers, we were able to utilize camera barges and the 45-foot Scorpio crane to shoot in the actual swamp, as there were so many indoor/ outdoor connections. A-C. HARPO'S HOUSE. BUILD ON SWAMP LOCATION. SET PHOTO. D. HARPO'S JUKE JOINT. STAGE BUILD AT BLACKHALL STUDIOS, STAGE 8. PRODUCTION STILL. D