House of Illusions

I have always thought of Hollywood as one big circus, not because of the craziness that goes on, but more as a Fun House amusement feature. More specifically I look at it as the Hall of Mirrors. I say this not because it is always changing or because the same street looks completely different from day to night, but because Hollywood is a city of illusions. If we did not have Penn and Teller, Chris Angel, Houdini and other amazing illusionists and magicians I would say that the city of Hollywood is one of the oldest and greatest magicians ever.

Hollywood has always been known for its ability to create anything it wants through the magic of smoke and mirrors. The director finds the most talented magicians in the arts and skills required to accomplish the desired look and effects needed to achieve their vision. For example, when the latest TRL (MTV Total Request Live) set was built the set designer was asked to create colorful light panels on the smallest budget possible. After doing some research they found that they could create the desired effect by painting metal pasta strainers bright colors, drill a whole through the bottom of the base large enough to fit a light bulb through to screw into a power source that would be attached to set structures. If you were to attend a taping of TRL or catch one of the final episodes before the show ends in November, you will see the bright lights lining the entrances to the main studio and they look as though they are amazingly bright color fixtures, not the smoke and mirrors that truly make up the visual appearance you are seeing.

These are common practices throughout the industry. Former sets are restructured and painted so that they do not appear to be the same house, street, car, or room show after show. The Munsters’ house has been seen in multiple films and television shows throughout the years, yet you would never know it was the same house unless you were made aware of the tricks used by the set designers. Even more impressive is the fact that the most elaborate sets could in fact be nothing more than large amounts of Styrofoam sculpted into whatever furniture, technological equipment, or fictitious shape needed to create the world of film and television. Nip/Tuck is one such set.

Walking around the Paramount Studios lot, you will pass several sound stages that are currently used for multiple scenes including the operating rooms used for some of the shows more graphic scenes. The unusual thing about the set is that each piece of equipment is nothing more than huge pieces of styrofoam that have been sculpted by the art team, which are full sized replications of an x-ray machine, CAT scan machine, and other large medical equipment they did not have budget for renting or a location with the equipment in the room, so they did the next best thing and created it in a cheap and effective way.

Dirty Sexy Money is another set that using magic tricks to create the elaborate sets that are seen in each and every episode. The limousine that the Darling’s are seen riding in is actually only half of a limousine. If you were to see it in person, it would look like a vehicle that had been ripped open by the jaws of life but the effect this trick has is that it allows for a camera operator and audio technician to be in the vehicle with the cast while shooting the scene. The trick is used to make the appearance that they are seen riding in the vehicle without limiting camera movement and acting limitations due to minimal space. Even their Manhattan penthouse is a façade with a window that opens to a cement wall. During an actual shoot when the window is in the frame, a canvas is placed in front of the wall that is a scaled painting of the New York skyline. Matte paintings and canvas are used all the time to complete a set when the actual location is not available or non-existent in the real world. Scaled models and matte paintings complete the façade that is sometimes needed with all of the fantasy worlds that Hollywood creates for us to escape in, yet little hints of the real world like a vase of flowers or fresh fruit in a kitchen make all the smoke and mirrors feel a little more realistic for the actors, as well as the audience.

Sets design is not the only use of magicians that Hollywood has been using since the first moving picture was released. Make-up, visual effects, scaled models of all sizes and animatronics are all tricks of the trade. Hollywood can turn the most beautiful actor into one of the most hideous monsters, which we hope not to encounter in our dreams. It can animate a metal skeletal structure covered with dark fur into a creature we know as King Kong. It can transform a Ford Mustang into a an outer space being we know as the autobot Bumblebee in a seamless visual effect that makes Transformer fans mouths’ water. It can also create worlds we only dream of from some of the greatest pieces of fantasy and science fiction literature, such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Interview with the Vampire, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the upcoming release Twilight, and many others. But Hollywood is learning to adapt in many other ways.

Hollywood has adapted with the always-improving technology advances. Action films have bigger bigger explosions, more impressive fight sequences and amazing visual effects. Horror films have scarier villains, more graphic gore and the storylines are more twisted than ever. Drama films have more elaborate sets and wardrobes to fit the elegance of the period in which the stories are set in. Romantic–comedies are a little more physical in the humor and the dialogue and courting methods are changing with what it is like to date today in the real world like in Kate Hudson’s latest film, My Best Friend’s Girl. The language was harsher, the physical action more obviously sexual and frequent. All this would have embarrassed my Grandmother’s sensibilities and her era of the romantic comedy, such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Top Hat or Jack Lemon and Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment, but all this said, the essence of the Hollywood Romantic Comedy is delightfully the same. All of these adaptations are needed for Hollywood to stay up-to-date with its story telling so that audiences continue to enjoy and love what the magicians come up with.

Down the Rabbit Hole and Into Hollywood

September 1 - I walked off the plane and into a world I know little about. My last trip to Hollywood was for a 3-day shoot, which left very little time to see any sights. I arrived on a Saturday and spent Sunday night driving around at 3am because I wasn’t sure when I would be able to make a trip back to Hollywood. I remember feeling like a criminal driving up and down Hollywood Blvd, passing police vehicles patrolling the streets for prostitutes and illicit drug deals. I made sure to keep my windows up as I repeatedly drove back and forth in hopes of finding the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater, which is now used for the Oscar ceremonies, and a glimpse of that historic sign that watches over the city of Hollywood. . . But this trip was completely different.

I flew in on Labor Day, picked up my car and drove straight to the Paramount Studio lot to begin working in preparation for the VMAs, which were to take place the following Sunday. But when I called my supervisor I was told to take the day off and enjoy the city before showing up on site for a 5:45am call time the following morning. I was ecstatic with the news and jumped on the 405 freeway heading straight for the Hollywood hills. I made a full day of sight seeing in only a few hours, including a trip to Universal Studios.

During the studio tour that Universal gives at their theme park, I was able to see some of the back lots, sound stages, props and vehicles that have been and still are being used in various Universal films and ABC television shows. I was able to take a drive down Wisteria Lane since the ladies of Desperate Housewives had the day off. I was blown away by the history that filled the streets at Universal studios and all that it has to offer visitors. For example, I found it very interesting that the house Betty Applewhite lived in is the same house that the Munsters used back in the mid-60s. The Youngs’ lived in the Leave It To Beaver house used from the late 50s and early 60s. Even Jimmy Stewart’s house from Harvey is now used as Gabie and Carlos Solis’ residence. The only thing I was disappointed with was not being able to see the famous Courthouse Square from Back to the Future and the King Kong set that was lost during the horrible Los Angeles fire back in June.

Other than Universal I was able to get a very intimate tour of Paramount Studios. This was something I never dreamed of experiencing, and it made me feel like Alice when she fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. I was able to enjoy a tea party with many Mad Hatters which I know as the MTV crew, for we were all a little crazy for taking on such a huge endeavor and putting on a show from the back lots of Paramount Studios. Our production offices were set up in the Crosby Building and I was able to work every day just upstairs from the orchestra room where Bing Crosby recorded famous songs like those sung in White Christmas. The experience was straight out of a fairy tale and every day I walked by something new.

I was able to see the sets of Everybody Hates Chris where the locker room scenes are shot, and where shows like Dirty Sexy Money and Nip/Tuck are shot in various sound stages around the property. With over 30 sound stages and the ability to shoot anything on the back lot due to the magic of film I was able to walk down a street in New York City, turn the corner and end up in the middle of Chicago, and then walk down a side street and bump into a military platoon in full traditional gear who appeared to be in the middle of shooting a new film. I even got to walk down the old streets that were known as Desi Productions, where Ricky and Lucy shot ‘I Love Lucy’ in the 50s, which included their bungalows on the left and little Ricky’s park which is now used as the studio lot's daycare center on the right. The history is still standing, but it has been expanded though the original structures and landmarks still remain. In addition to all of these sights, I am such a film geek that I had my picture taken with Bumblebee from Transformers before he was driven down the lot to continue filming Transformers 2; and all this during the day.

At night Hollywood comes alive with the famous characters wondering the streets for visiting tourists who want to have a moment with their favorites, but with the VMAs in town it wasn't just characters but the actual actors known for such characters that were wondering the streets. The VMAs was a day that will be my poison. I am fully addicted to the stress and strain, with the physical and mental exhaustion that comes from working such an intense show. Being able to work the red carpet as crew and assist casting with the shuttling of audience participants for the closing performance that was truly a show to remember. It is something that I dragged myself out of bed for with a smile and I know that there will never be anything like it ever again. Even future VMA shows will differ and I can say that I was part of the walking dead that survived the 2008 show. I have survived and I cannot wait for more. Although I was only a very small piece in a very large production, I am very happy to say that I have contributed a piece that allowed MTV viewers a behind the scenes glimpse of the red carpet build.

If you log onto the MTV website and look up behind the scenes coverage of the VMAs you will find a time lapse video of the red carpet being build, the pre-show rehearsal, the pre-show and even the beginning of the carpet tear down, which spans 5 days into a total of 90 seconds. That video was part of my many projects and the experience of coordinating the project was something that took over 2 weeks to put together. But if you had logged on during the first week of September you would have seen the video streaming live, in real time, and would have been able to see us working in Los Angeles and the Paramount lot crew building the pre-show set. All that remains now is a small imprint of my work, a 90 second clip of the entire week’s activity.
In Hollywood everyone wants to leave a mark. Julia Roberts left hers on the famous motel that was used in Pretty Woman and can be seen driving down Las Palmas. Studio lots have famous stars marks all over them. Lucy and Ricky left Desi Productions to Paramount and yet their mark still remains visible for everyone who is interested to stop by the studio entrance on Grower Street. Hollywood Blvd has their hand and foot prints right out in front for us to see. The VMA’s clip is the beginning of making my mark and I am looking for my next mark when it hits theaters on September 19 during the prom scene in My Best Friend's Girl. But as I drink my medicine and return to the world of reality from Wonderland I can only wait for and dream of what my next adventure will be, and if I will be able to follow the white rabbit back to Hollywood.

So find your nitch and leave your marks, and if you have to take a fall down the rabbit hole do it. Free fall down that long hole and then run after the rabbit. But if you get time stop by the Mad Hatter's tea party, come and say hi.