Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/891583
64 P E R S P E C T I V E | N OV E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 The 1920s were a time of optimism, and that was an important element of the story. Todd and I crossed paths many years ago as students at Brown, where I was an American history major. Todd is someone who is very attuned to history as part of the story. He is an artist, an historian, and a thinking person who does not just obsessively study different periods of history, but looks through one period to see another, often with the intention to better understand the present. The 1920s were right before the stock market crash. Things were growing skyward; it was a pretty heady time. Cut to 1977 and Ben's story, which happens to be when I was just about Ben's age in almost the same exact neighborhood where the movie is set (but not where it was shot), the Upper West Side of Manhattan. New York City at that time was a disaster. A glorious, inspiring disaster—but it was the low point in the history of the city in terms of functionality. It went bankrupt. There were riots. The promise of the 1960s didn't happen, people were poor, killing each other, things were falling apart. Todd and I were both looking at 1977 as a time of extreme pessimism, in fact, that was one the hardest years in New York's history, from the blackout to gas lines to bankruptcy, it felt like it was all crumbling. The Bronx was burning, but those embers gave birth to a new city full of new possibilities, and I was one of them. Overexuberance and beautiful decay were the two contrasts being explored, and these contrasts are reflected in the filmmaking styles of the eras. In the 1920s, filmmaking was more formal and in many ways, very cool and modern. In the 1970s, filmmaking was visceral and naturalistic. The 1970s palette was a lot of orange and brown; I had fun with orange…Orange Julius! The biggest work on stage was the Cabinets of Wonder. The set had to match the Museum of Natural History, so some elements of the museum had to be built. The Meteorite Room was made twice, reflecting the different time periods. The Cabinets of Wonder also had to change from being an exhibit in the 1920s to a storeroom where the boys end up squatting in the 1970s. Ben arrives in NYC at The Port Authority, and then moves to the streets of Times Square, which is when composer Carter Burwell's bass kicks in. That was the other big 1970s set: the long walk Ben takes. I've never seen the period done that right—and that wrong! Costume designer Sandy Powell's people were wild. She and Todd were so careful about choosing those extras; they were really detailed about the way they staged that scene. Three long blocks in Flatbush were used, which had the last little bit of Brooklyn's 1970s stuff remaining. Some things were covered up, other things taken down, period details were dressed in, but those last bones of the 1970s were there underneath. The bookstore that Ben is searching for in New York is real, Westsider Books. It's teeny. You can almost touch both walls if you stretch your arms across it. Most people wouldn't want to shoot a few days in a place like that, and I thought a set would probably need to be built. I mentioned my concerns to Todd and it turns out that Westsider was the bookstore that Brian wrote it for, so we three were all on the same page and Todd was game to shoot there. Many of the books of that era had to be custom-made. Those choices are really fun on a Todd Haynes movie because they allow many layers of detail. Every item is carefully considered and chosen. A prime example is a catalog from the film's 1927 Cabinets of Wonder show, a real book that was written and bound for the sequence; you could have shot any page of that book. The Cabinets of Wonder were not faked; we really made them. A group of weirdos and skull collectors who obsess in obscurity about Cabinets of Wonder were brought in to help us, and they were so cool. A. 1977 Midtown Streets, built on location on Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn. B. 1927 Cabinets of Wonder, built on stage. The Cabinets of Wonder was the central set in the story. Not only was the exhibition hall and the exhibit built, but also an entire catalog, which is the key prop in the film, was written and illustrated. C. 1977 Cabinets of Wonder, built on stage. The same room as the 1927 display, now used for storage. D. 1977 Ben & Elaine's house dioramas, built by George DuPont and Emma Mendelson. Ben's obsession with nature and making dioramas is what compels him on his journey toward the museum. He will later realize that it's his birthright. E. 1927 Cabinets of Wonder, hand-drawn illustration by I. Javier Ameijeiras. This illustration is the basis for the Cabinets of Wonder catalog and key to the story. A