Friday, December 07, 2018
How 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' brought New York City back to the 1950s
nypost.com: Recreating the New York City of the late 1950s for Emmy-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is a process of elimination, imagination and transformation. It takes a lot to make pesky Soul Cycle signs vanish and turn a library into a bustling department store.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
It’s insane the amount of work a movie and tv shows must do when shooting on location. Living in one of the few neighborhoods with alleys in New York City, we had to get used to weird changes out our own backdoor. One time Men in Black III paid all the building superintendents on the block to just turn off lights and black out windows for a night. My father tells us a story of how he came home one day (several decades ago) and the block before his was set up like the 1920s with fake facades placed right in front of the current ones. It’s incredible what they build for a single shot of a single scene and how fast it has to be done. Theater work is often thought of as imperminent, but even a single week tech with a weekend show if up for longer than the day or two movies shoot on location.
I love watching Mrs. Maisel and the set and the costumes are a huge part of why. I did not know that they built the facades of the building out eight feet to create the look of the period. The Christmas windows are an iconic part of B. Altman's and are an important part in setting scene. Not only did they have to build the windows out, but they also had to design the windows displays. I found the process of how they chose the location really fascinating. I was surprised that they evaluate locations for structural integrity, but it is not a deciding factor. As they did for the tattoo parlor, they would prefer to alter the structure to make it safe rather than picking a location that would be safe. Nevertheless, the show looks stunning so all the hard work in making the locations look period is worth it.
I think it is quite impressive that a simple show can reignite peoples love for the city of New York. It is odd to think about parts of the city falling off peoples radar. New York is so steeped in history and culture, and it is a constant ebb and flow of change and progress that I guess things can be forgotten about. I was impressed that in order to achieve their goals of making the city look like the times they had to do some crazy things. Turning back the clock 60 years meant rerouting the M8 bus line and paying locals to put up Christmas lights and remove their air conditioners in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record. After reading this article, I had to give the show a chance and started to watch an episode which turned into two and now it is very late because of how good it is. I think all the effort that they went through to use the realy city only helps make the show better in what I have seen so far
I have always been impressed by the degree to which film and television makers will modify a location. When I was a teenager, the latest Indiana Jones movie had New Haven in old-timey attire for weeks. I remember it particularly because I have no memory whatsoever of a street scene from that movie. Sometimes, films will spend thousands and thousands of dollars on scenery that barely gets a moment of screentime. It was not so long ago that everything was filmed on a soundstage (and with the advent of impressive CGI capabilities, we are coming back around to that). I suppose there must be plenty of times when modifying and restoring an existing building or street is cheaper than building a set in a studio (or, again, on a computer). I also wonder, though, if it might have something to do with the provenance of the show and the preference of the director. To me at least, it is much more appealing to think about a show like Mrs. Maisel as being filmed on the streets of the real New York.
I absolutely love this show. I am so excited to watch the second season but I am waiting til I get home so I can watch it with my mom. Having grown up in and around New York it is amazing for me to see what the production designers of this show have been able to do. I was watching it with my grandma who actually was in her teens and 20's in the 50's and she kept saying things like "that restaurant looked so much like that" or "I have been in that club before" and I think that that is such an incredible compliment for the people who designed that set. It is impossible to film on the real streets of New York for all of this but I really do have a hard time distinguishing what is real and what is a set. Mrs. Maisel is an excellent show and it consistently reignites my love for New York, for women and for art that pushes boundaries and is just beautiful.
It’s always interesting to hear about how on-location shoots happen. Especially in one of the busiest cities in the country. I imagine it’s very different going out into the middle of the woods, or the desert, or to some millionaire’s secluded mansion. But in the streets of NYC? You have a lot more to contend with. I didn’t realize that shooting time was so hard to come by, I can’t even imagine trying to fit a whole season’s worth of shots into a couple of days. It’s also kind of cool to hear that sometimes movie crews will fix up the locations they shoot, leaving them better than they found them. I wish this article went into more detail about the production design and fabrication of these exteriors, but the location scouting info is cool to learn about too. I haven’t watched Marvelous Ms. Maisel yet, but it’s certainly on my list.
I'm always very inspired by the shows that dress parts of real cities rather than just building a facade on a lot. I am also a huge fan of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I think the show is witty and charming, but I really love it for the production design. The costumes and environments are so picturesque. I do wonder how these on site filmings work though. I'm sure there must be a big ordeal to get city permits and then also to compensate all of the building owners in which you are filming at. I have a friend who actually did the exterior dressing for an entire block of houses here in Pittsburgh during a film shoot. He always said that it was a lot of fun to take something back in time. It is nice to know that they respect the locations and restore them back, sometimes even better than before. I can't wait to see this new season and what new environments lie ahead.
I have only seen the first episode of the first season of this show. While I am not totally against the show, it was not my favorite. However, the production design of this show is incredible. They are able to take current very popular New York city locations and transform it to look like the 1950’s. what is so unique about this show is the time period they are in. the show works so well because the production design is working so well with the script. One thing I learned from this article is that they had to quickly shoot a lot of the outdoor scenes. The mayor’s office only gave them two days in the upper west side since it is such a popular filming location. I think they used their time wisely and was able to get some really great shots in such a short amount of time. I think after reading this I am going to watch more of the show!
Post a Comment