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Lively and Entertaining PeopleAn interview with Mark Ricker, Production Designer, Julie & Juliaby Patricia Shackelford
Clearly, Julia’s kitchen from the show was available for reproduction. Howmuch information did you have about her homes? Do you try to researchthis and how closely do you feel you need to stay to “the real thing” whenyou are creating a set? Is Julie’s home reminiscent of her apartment or was it created to reflect the character on screen?
I had access to a wealth of information. Julia's Cambridge Kitchen was welldocumented, and so well known, that we basically did a museum recreation.(The Smithsonian exhibit was, unfortunately, dismantled for renovation duringmy preparation for the film - so I was never able to visit it in person, though thecuratorial staff there was hugely helpful answering any questions we put their way). The exterior of her Cambridge home was quite different from the one inthe film; Nora wanted a wide front porch for the scene where Julia findsacceptance from Knopf.For further research, I visited the Schlesinger Library at Harvard, where Julia lefther archives. There I discovered a packet of photos documenting her Pariskitchen. They looked as if they were some sort of publicity stills (I assume takenby Paul) of Les Trois Gourmandes. I did make some enhancements for thepurposes of making it even better than it truly was - but it was in reality a richlytextured kitchen. There were a couple of photos of the Paris apartment. Detailsreally, except for one much published photo of Julia leaning out her bedroomwindow - showing the wonderful leaded glass "atrium" that I replicated for thefilm. I was able to visit the house in Paris where Julia and Paul lived during theperiod in the film, but it had been so renovated and re-imagined that I used thisinformation only as a foundation to build upon in designing the apartment set.The Paris film location for the exterior of the house is very different from theactual "Roo de Loo". I also met with Julie Powell and went to the apartment where she lived whenblogging about Mastering the Art....Before I met Julie, I actually happened upon the real apartment in Long IslandCity when strolling around looking for examples for what I thought the location
could 
be - but I thought this place was too depressing. Only later did I find out itwas her real apartment. It was truly a slum, so we needed to make it a bit morepalatable for a movie audience to want to spend some time there. The kitchenwas pretty unattractive, though not quite as small as the one we built for the film.Usually, one builds sets bigger than real life, so that the camera can movearound and such, but in this case Nora wanted the smallest kitchen imaginable. Idesigned it so that Julie couldn't open the refrigerator and the oven doors at thesame time. I did discover details in Julie's apartment that I incorporated into theset, most notably a tin design in the wainscot leading up the stairs that was
 
stamped with Fleur de Lis. Bringing French details into Julie's world was a smallelement we floated throughout the film. When designing sets for a film based on a real person, events and places, Ialways like to start from the facts. Its immensely helpful to know what existed,and then leap off from there. There are always details I find that I like to buildupon, but after that I don't feel it necessary to match everything.
Where does the production designer come into the project? And how doesthat relationship develop with the director, producer or writer? What is thechallenge of creating the set from your own mental image of the settingwhile melding it with the mental image of the others involved?
I'm usually one of the first people hired once a film get the green light to bemade. Typically, the relationship with director grows out of conversation,research, shared ideas, art, references, etc. The role of writer differs from film tofilm, depending on their involvement once production begins. In this case, Norawas also the writer, so that relationship came hand in hand with the director.Every director is different - the process of coming to a final design is a malleableone with give and take. Nora was very good at knowing spacial relationships,camera angles in her head and other devices. Julia's apartment was pretty muchan instant sell - she liked it from the beginning. Julie's took more steps, as Norahad been to the real apartment herself, and so was influenced by what she sawthere, which ultimately wasn't very camera friendly. So we took a few passes tofind what would work best for the film.
What details on the sets should we be looking for as clues to thecharacter’s personalities?
With Julie, we wanted to show the history built between she and her husbandEric. They read a lot. They love science fiction, so we had some posters andtons of paperbacks and travel books. He works at Archeology Magazine, so wewanted to show some of his life there as well. Both are from Texas, so we hada few Texas touches throughout - chili lights can be such a cliche, but they werereal for these characters so we put them in. The collection of cake plates on topof the metal shelving is straight out of Julie's real apartment. So is the redcowboy hat. The pots hanging on the escape ladder to the roof - just outside thekitchen - the idea was taken from Julie's apartment; she didn't have enough roomso she put a rack up on the wall. I liked the idea, so we adapted it for film.Basically, we just built a layer of accumulation in an apartment without a specificdesign style so to say, but cozy nevertheless. They also have a cat, so wescratched up the sofa and always threw toys around.For Julia's, they were renting an apartment, so the furniture elements were notbrought by Julia and Paul. They did, however adapt the space for their needs.
 
In reality, the apartment was chocked full of dusty old things, which they storedaway until they moved, and then put back in precise order. Nora wanted asparer, more beautiful apartment for them to move into, so we trimmed away a lotof the bric-a-brac. Paul extended the length of the bed for Julia's height using thewood from a create his brother shipped a painting in. (We filmed a scene of Stanley Tucci doing so, but it was cut from the final film.) We also started tomove things around once they moved in. The lamps next to bed mismatched, just so they could both read. Paul's camera equipment and art supplies startedto accumulate. (We used Paul Child's actual photos in the film). His paintingslean on the mantle and on the floor. I was always fighting to get his easel intoframe to show this side of him. Nora wanted Julia to be able to write her manuscript in any place in the apartment; the desk was Paul's. So we had acollection of small drawers and boxes with her notes that we would set upwherever she was stationed with her small typewriter. Sometimes in the light of the atrium, but also near the small stove in the salon when it was cold. Webrought in American books, and film magazines, photography magazines,drawing supplies. All cultural details to show Paul's station at the embassy andhis interests. They had a small record player, and a bar. They were lively,entertaining people.We also injected connections between the two stories where we could. For example, a small globe sits on the desk in both Julie and Julia's apartments. Anda wicker chair in Julie's apartment is from the set that appears on Julia'sCambridge porch... 
In Ms. Ephron’s other movies there are elements of the production designthat seem very personal to the characters – is she involved in the process?
Nora is very involved. Not in a way that she would dictate all the details, but wewould bring her things to react to. Susan Bode (Set Decorator) was a genius atcoming up with the details. I am a designer who loves to think about thosedetails as well, so we worked together to enrich the environments in that way. Iwanted the places to feel very lived in. Piles of things - work in process, etc.
What about production design would surprise a viewer with no insider viewof the business?
Production Design is a combination of the best of visual fields: Architecture,Interior Design & Decorative Arts, History, Filmmaking, Storytelling, Photography,Landscape Design, Travel... The basic blueprint of designing a film is usually the same, but the details changedepending on the subject matter of the script. It is the role of the designer tobecome the expert on the specific world of the story in the film.I suppose the surprising element would be the logistics involved in getting a filmmade, and how much of what appears in the final film, design included, is
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