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American Dreamz Picture 6
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American Dreamz Production Notes "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." - Andy Warhol
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 Designing Dreamz: Costumes and Sets of the Film“I kinda remember it. I was pretty toasted.” -American President Joe Staton
Like many of the cast members, the majority of the creative team gathered by the filmmakers were veterans of at least one previous Weitz project. “Paul is extremely loyal,” explains Liber. “And he also has a comfort level with familiar, creative people. So the first thing I did was to go to people who had worked on In Good Company, and I tried to establish who was available.”
“It's always good to get a repeat call,” begins production designer William Arnold, “I had a very good experience on In Good Company and just expected the same sort of thing on this one-and it was. I think Paul likes to have a comfort level on his sets; when he finds people who do that, he tries to keep them all together.”
Production was based at the Los Angeles Center Stages in downtown Los Angeles, where several sets were built-including the game-show set of “American Dreamz” as well as the President's bedroom. Other location work in and around Los Angeles was completed in Sierra Madre, Thousand Oaks, West Hills and at The Ritz Carlton hotel in Pasadena.
Before launching into action, each department head met with Weitz. The comprehensive discussions clarified the production values he wished to create as the backdrop for the story. As costumer Molly Maginnis explains, “We talked about each character in-depth-where they're from, what their desires are, what they want to put across.”
The “American Dreamz” show set and the costumes worn by each of the contestants was one of the most challenging elements of the film. The set was “all played a little over the top, a little past reality,” explains Arnold.
Gathering inspiration from “American Idol,” Arnold looked not so much to copy the sets, but to draw elements from the show that would translate well into film. “These shows are seen through the television set, and they're manipulated just from that point of view. To just repeat that on film would not work. We saw what tricks they used and tried to utilize and adjust a few of them to our medium.”
The set of “American Dreamz” was designed with large, dramatic, freestanding geometric figures that could be lighted in a myriad of ways. It also included several video monitors of various sizes, on which images and colors could be constantly manipulated and adjusted.
The other major set designed and built was the President's bedroom. This too was built at the Los Angeles Center Studios and was the scene of many of the most important exchanges among Dennis Quaid, Marcia Gay Harden and Willem Dafoe.
The production designer found it quite difficult to get accurate information about the private residence areas of the White House. “But I knew that I wanted it to feel like the room could be in the White House and yet still convey that we are in a different reality,” he remarks. “Everything in it-the moldings, the furniture-is a little over-scale. This way the actors look a little smaller, a little more childlike in that set.”
Costumer Maginnis not only worked in conjunction with Arnold and his team to make sure that the color palettes were compatible with the costumes she designed, but she had to be very aware of the lighting components that cinematographer Robert Elswit was planning to use to highlight the elements of each scene. Working as part of this creative team, Maginnis met constantly with the others to ensure that each costume would work in sync with the other visual elements.
“We would go through the sets and the colors just to make sure that the contestants were not in the same, exact colors. We had technical rehearsals where we did the show within the show. During this time, we brought costumes in so that DP Robert Elswit could look at the clothes with Paul and they could decide if the colors were going to work. It also gave Robert a chance to work with his crew to adjust the lights, as needed.”
Dressing Mandy Moore as Sally was the most fun for Maginnis. “We wanted Mandy to look as adorable as she always does. But at the same time, we wanted to show that Sally is reading People and In Style, she's looking at all these things she's trying to work into her act. After all, Sally is a very savvy girl about where she wants to be; but where she's come from-that has some limitations for her.”
Typical of the “American Idol” contestants, as each singer moves up the ranks and to the next level within the contest, their appearances so change. The production team felt this would also be important for the film's hopefuls.
“As they move along, stylists start working with the contestants,” observes Maginnis. “I'd look at what some of these kids would wear. Basically, they are in jeans and a t-shirt when they start. By the end, they're wearing chiffon gowns with tiaras and rhinestone shoes. It's pretty hilarious-so we couldn't go too far.”
Working with Moore to create a progressive look for Sally was gratifying for both the costumer and the actor. “Mandy was willing to have fun with it. She would say, `Let's go. Let's make it even more funny.'”
Moore reflects, “I think Sally was reeled into the whole experience. Someone was leading her around, letting her shop and helping her pick out clothes. They were telling her what lip gloss looked best…how to wear her hair so that it looked the best for TV. By the end of it, she's so polished, and she knows exactly what she's doing and what to wear-a dangly earring, or a rhinestone cuff or some sort of bejeweled necklace.”
Planning out what the bumbling, would-be terrorist Omer would wear as he climbed the “American Dreamz” ladder into the finals was equally challenging for Maginnis. Omer is heavily influenced by his cousins Shazzy and Iqbal and their love of all things MTV-ish. Keeping this in mind, Maginnis had an open canvas to create his look utilizing bright colors and surprising textures. Again, the more exaggerated his look, the better to represent his Orange County influences.
“When his cousins get a hold of him, they just completely subvert his plain style and give him some flash. For his song, “Impossible Dream” we used a corny-looking spandex jacket with the epaulets, so it has kind of a military feel to match the marching sound of the music. It is almost like a marching band uniform.”
With the reality show players dressed, choreographed and as “well” tuned as possible, Weitz knew it was time for his season of “American Dreamz” to commence-and some of his characters' to prepare for their nasty swan song. The filmmaker closes with his summation of President Staton's final revelation of the film: “Staton finally realizes, `I think that we are all looking for solutions to these problems, but maybe there aren't gonna be any. Maybe, we need to address how to keep the elements down. Maybe it's gonna be the kind of thing where the problem needs to be contained as opposed to solved.'”
Until then, it seems we'll just keep singing and dancing our hearts out…Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
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