Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541514
People often ask if we included any Easter eggs or nods to Terrence Malick's, Badlands, the film that inspired Bruce's writing on Nebraska. We didn't approach it that overtly. There are no hidden props or pieces of set dressing. Thematically, its influence runs through everything. You can see it literally in the projections, and feel it more subtly in the landscapes, environments, moments of silence, and in the sense of characters fleeing both society and themselves. That said, what we did incorporate were homages that ground the story firmly in Bruce's own world. In the Colt's Neck house, the wallpaper is a deliberate nod to Frank Stefanko's photograph for the cover of Darkness on the Edge of Town. Bruce once said that image captured "the guy in the songs", stripped of celebrity and distilled down. That spirit moves forward into the Nebraska era. One of the most emotional recreations was Bruce's childhood home on Randolph Street. We based it on descriptions from Born to Run and a couple of old photographs, and when Bruce came to set, he was visibly moved. That told me we'd gotten it right, not just in accuracy, but in spirit. COLT'S NECK HOUSE - SET PHOTO COLT'S NECK HOUSE - PROJECTION CONCEPT ART RANDOLF STREET HOUSE - PLAN RANDOLF STREET HOUSE - SET PHOTO RANDOLF STREET HOUSE - SET PHOTO RANDOLF STREET HOUSE - SET PHOTO