By Antony Teofilo
In college, my buddies Hans and Wags lived in the quintessential bachelor pad / disaster zone. On occasion, I'd crash there, with or without a girl, depending on if the gal I was seeing at the time could handle the place (most couldn't). Being that I was not far out of college myself, the...decor...of certain rooms didn't really bother me much.
The most fascinating feature of that space was a rather substantial mass of mucky human hair my buddies had been harvesting out of their shower. Each day, they'd conscientiously flick whatever was clogging their drain into the front left-hand corner of the lime-encrusted porcelain shower space. It was ugly, let me tell you, reminding one of what a long-dead Tribble that had been left to cure too long in the sun might have looked like soaking wet. Why they never thought to turn a foot to the left and pop these little gooshy hairballs into the wastebasket that was readily available for just such a purpose, I never thought to ask. I imagine that little shower toupee', which they affectionately referred to as 'The Wookie' (long before those gawd-awful SORORITY BOYS stole the gag) struck them in some way as funny.
Looking back, I remember almost nothing about the rest of that apartment, how it was laid out, or even where it was. But I remember the Wookie...
God help me, it will probably haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.
What does this little anecdote prove?
An important and powerful key to memorable storytelling of is a solid setting, and what makes that setting memorable is definitely in the details.
If writer/director Kevin Smith is the godhead of the little universe that has become JERSEY GIRL, production designer Robert "Ratface" Holtzman would be akin to the angelic engineer who gets the blueprint to a new paradigm, and the directions: "Make it happen. Oh, and it should have blue shutters, tires, dogs, people, and gravity. I'd also like to see some war, 401ks, pineapples, and of course...please don't forget the platipus. The rest of the details are up to you to fill in. But make it believable. "
While Holtzman may not sport folding wings in the center of his back or the ability to fly (at least, as far as I know) he has been responsible for the design of the known Askewniverse to date. It's his job to take Kevin's vision, and fill in the cracks with mortar, papier-m‰chŽ, and gaffer's tape.
As you'll soon see, besides making a host of crucial creative decisions many times in a day, Holtzman marshals a sizable troop of technicians through the production of a Kevin Smith film. And he shares full credit for the final feel and look of Smith's movies with his little arty armyÉeven up to the guy who puts the leaves on the trees. Read on for tales ofÉ
The Rat Pack
An Interview With Robert Holtzman, JERSEY GIRL's Production Designer
By Antony Teofilo
Antony Teofilo: What's the first step in the work process for you as a production's designer?
Robert "Ratface" Holtzman: First, I talk to Kevin about the project. Then, I read the script. After that, I sit down and talk with Kevin about the things I found in the script that need attention, and visually, what kind of style Kevin needs, and any special things he'd like to do.
AT: In designing a movie, one would assume you start with the time period of the production, and then move forward based on that. What time period does JERSEY GIRL take place in?
RRFHRight now, the scene that we're looking at is actually set in 2003. JERSEY GIRL starts in 1994, and then moves forward to [the present].
AT: Is it easier to do period research on an older period like the 1970's, than it is to do something more recent, like 1994?
RRFH Right now, it's really about removing things. We look at the models of cars for street scenes. The seasons themselves have been pretty tough. Putting leaves on trees or taking the leaves off of trees has been toughÉthat's a lot of work. Making snow, making it look like it's coldÉthose things take a lot of time.
AT: Out of curiosity, who actually puts the leaves on those trees?
RRFH We have a greens department who does that. Jimbo Vreen actually is our tree master.
AT: When it comes to the creation of a movie's overall aesthetic, jobs like set dresser, production designer, props master and art director seem to have quite a bit of overlap as far as what they're actually responsible for making happen. What are a production designer's duties within that framework?
RRFH First off, I'm responsible for the whole look of the film. I'm not responsible for things like camera movement, that's the DP, but I look at what colors we want to show, whether a scene should look happy or dark.
Location scouting is a big part of production design on Kevin's movies, because we do a lot of location, and not as much studio. I go with the location scouts on their first trips, and we get all the possibilities, and it comes down to three or four choices for Kevin, and then we lock that in.
I work with the props master, and talk about what the props should look like. I work with the scenic artists, and we talk about colors, and wallpaper choices. I work with the decorators who do furniture and all the other items you might see in the movie, then there's the art director, Elise Viola, who I work very closely with. Between the two of us, we figure out if we're building a structure, should it look newer? For instance, we had to make some decisions about Bart's kitchen on this movie. We needed an oversize kitchen. If you walked into it on our set, it's so much bigger than you'd normally think it might be. On film, everything shrinks, so the kitchen looks tiny in the movie. I'm responsible for figuring out those types of things.
AT: You mentioned locations before, and as we speak, we're standing in the Hard Rock CafŽ' in Philadelphia, where a scene with Ben Affleck is being shot. Does a location like this present special challenges?
RRFH The Hard Rock has been actually pretty easy. We just have to worry about pictures with stars' faces on them, but we didn't have to remove any of the guitars or anything. I thought it was going to be impossible to shoot here [because of clearances], but it's actually been pretty simple.
AT: Is it your job to negotiate the nuances of what gets to stay, and what gets to go, with a location like this?
RRFH No. That's all done by the locations department.
AT: How did you get your start in the movie industry?
RRFH I went to college at Temple University for film. I started working in theater, which lead to television commercials, and other TV shows, and I just kept moving up.
AT: What aspect of film did you study in college?
RRFH Documentary filmmaking.
AT: Do you ever want to move back to the director/producer seat?
RRFH No. My two goals were that I wanted to be creative, and make a living out of being creative, so being a production designer is just great for me. I don't think I'd want to do anything else. I accomplished my two goals in what I do, so I pretty much have my dream job.
AT: Can you be a little more specific as to what event actually put your foot in the door, as far as film is concerned?
RRFH I worked on SUPER MARIO BROTHERS as a set dresser. That got me some big film experience. Then I worked on the movie PHILADELPHIA, and that got me my Union card. CHASING AMY was pretty much my big break as a production designer.
AT: How did you come to be the production designer on CHASING AMY?
RRFH I had worked with the script supervisor, Carol Banker, in theater years before. She was going to come and work on CHASING AMY, and she told me that I should go interview with Kevin, and I got the job.
AT: So, it actually is who you know?
RRFH Pretty much, yeah, it's who you know.
AT: Who would you name as your major influences, on your path to becoming a professional?
RRFH I never noticed the names of designers, but there are certainly films that blew me away. There's a French Canadian film called MAOLO that I think is amazing looking. THE ISLAND OF LOST CHILDREN has an amazing look. I watch a lot of French films.
I also watched so much trash growing up. In Philadelphia, we had DR. SHOCK PRESENTS which showed movies like ISLAND OF THE KILLER SHREWS, THE HEAD THAT WOULDN'T DIE, and EVIL DEAD Part 2. All the classics. [Laughs]
AT: That's sort of surprising. I've never heard anyone cite ÔB' movies as an important formative influence, except maybe shlockers like John Waters.
RRFH If you look at JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, we decided to use every recognizable thing I could find in prop houses and locations. There were old STAR TREK props, and VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA props, and PLANET OF THE APES props. I was going crazy going, "I know this control panel!" We found the ROCKETEER jetpack in the Disney prop house, sitting under a dusty blanket. Most of this stuff is just sitting there, but it's used again and again in television. Some of it's just so in the background you don't notice it.
AT: Are there any negative aspects to what you do?
RRFH Just the amount of hours you put in. I just got married last year, and working on JERSEY GIRL has been anywhere from twelve to fifteen to twenty hours a day. I started in April, and we'll go to November. I get days off, but even on my days off, I'm still doing something.
AT: What's the best part about being a production designer?
RRFH It would have to be when we sit around and think it up on a Thursday, build it on Friday, and shoot it on Monday, just from an idea that you might have been joking about. If I wasn't a production designer, these are things I'd probably be sitting around talking about anyway, joking with my friends on a couch somewhere, saying, "Wouldn't it be great if we could do this?" But because I'm a production designer, I get to say that, and a couple of months later, I'm watching it on screen.
Some examples of "Ratface's" JERSEY GIRL work:
