Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542693
Recreating the life-sized Stonehenge was a monumental task! The construction team did several tests to figure out the appropriate materials and methods to keep it as light as possible to accommodate the load restrictions of the location. The rigging of special effects, led by Donnie Dean of Spectrum FX, would also add a considerable load. Using cardboard, wood and foam, the three large pieces of the monument required a lot of time with the scenics to sculpt, carve and paint before they could be sent to special effects to be rigged and tested. It came down to the wire for full assembly and test approvals and it was a stressful process to make sure the monument would fall in the proper order of logistics scheduling for stage rigging. Thankfully, it all came together with long nights by special effects to not only execute the lowering of the monument, but also to have it fall down (and lift back up for resets), with control, after the bottom of it landed halfway on the drummer's platform. It was a relief to watch it all come together during a live concert with Spinal Tap and Elton John, another "pinch me" moment. The filming process was tedious, of course, with multiple takes of getting musical timing right and swapping out actors, stuntmen and a breakaway piano by the Art Department for Elton. It was a relief to accomplish the successful creation of a full-on rock-and-roll concert on an early Day 6 of the initial 24-day shooting schedule. It should be noted that, with the veteran experience of Rob and the band, most of the shooting days were pretty short. They had a solid idea of what they needed to do and were able to execute several hilarious takes for every "scene" on the schedule; sometimes within an 8-hour day. There was no scrambling to find something else to add to the day and the entire shooting schedule ended short of the twenty- four days. Regardless, the Art Department had to deliver several other sets, from the French Quarter house where the band stayed, a mariachi band themed gazebo, a used car lot, a London loft, a talent agency office, a hospital and more. There was a welcome freedom in not being bound to an aesthetic structure that every set had to follow. Each set was isolated within itself to the individual piece of the story that laid out the band's final journey of making music together, peppered with flashbacks from the first film and past concerts. I did not have to refer to an overall color palette or concept to ensure a traditional cohesiveness within the narrative. This is what I learned as the key to making a mockumentary. No aspect of the sets should be forced. They are purely driven by what that moment in that perceived reality calls for. For Spinal Tap II, the experience of that process was full of design challenges, confusion on what we were doing on a daily basis, old stories shared by Rob and the band, along with countless laughs. ADG A. SPINAL TAP ON CONCERT STAGE. PRODUCTION STILL. BLEECKER STREET/KYLE KAPLAN. Michelle C. Harmon, Production Designer Mark A. Terr y, Art Director Michelle Belfield, Assistant Art Director Jonathan House, Set Designer Alexa Holland, Graphic Artist Kimberly Murphy, Set Decorator Mike Baldassari, Concert Lighting Designer A