All I can say is WOW. My name is Gary Wattson and I was both an on and off set dresser on the Royal Tenenbaums. It was an amazing job to work on, in fact maybe my favorite one yet, and it's great to see so many people still talking about the film. It makes you feel good to see something you put so much work into is loved so much.

If anyone has any question about sets, locations, etc, I can try my best to answer them. We filmed the movie in the spring of 2001 so it's been two years now, I might not be able to remember everything.

Either way thanks for all the support you are showing for the film.

-Gary-

Awesome! Welcome to the board!

Edited by: Classical Sauce at: 3/14/03 8:54:04 pm

Hola! Welcome!

JayJay (Woody) from Rushmore also stopped by not too long ago. How did you find our little message board?

A friend of mine told me my picture was up on WesAnderson.org. In this weeks picture of the week I am the guy standing at the fireplace. Followed a link from that site and bam, I found this area.

-Gary-

Doh, well I was in the photo of the week. Guess it changed tonight. Here is the URL of the photo I was talking about.

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.wesanderson.org/photos/mag/tx3.jpg">www.wesanderson.org/photos/mag/tx3.jpg</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END-->

For those who have the DVD and have scaned the crew photos, I am the guy with the green fleece and Yankee hat carrying board games.

-Gary-

Rock on.
At least one or 2 of the board members have done location tours for themselves. I'll see if I can find one of the old threads and bump it for you.

So, were you a Wes fan before you worked on the film?

I was a huge fan of Rushmore but I didn't see Bottle Rockets till after I finished making The Royal Tenenbaums. After working with Wes I am an even bigger fan of his. He is one of the nicest people I have ever worked with, director or otherwise. I've also become a huge fan of Luke Wilson, he as well is one of the nicest people I have ever worked with. The whole experience of making the Royal Tenenbaums was great because we all believed in the material, the talent, and everyone was as nice as can be.

-Gary-

Welcome, DocWattson! I clapped my hands when I realized we had a real-live Wes crew member! I'll try not to be too nosy, but. . .
We've been wondering about what happened to the Tennenbaum house <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>after</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> the movie was done. Did you guys take out <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>everything</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> when the movie was done? Peel the wallpaper off the walls? Rip up all the flooring? We've heard Owen ended up with the javelina. . . true? <p><!--EZCODE HR START--><hr /><!--EZCODE HR END--> "Have fun stormin' the castle!" Miracle Max, The Princess Bride</p>

When we left that house pretty much everything went with us. All the furniture goes, all the paintings go, all the rug we laid down (example, Ritchie's room) goes, etc etc. We usually repaint walls, remove wall paper, and other details that would restore a location to the condition we found it but in this case we didn't bother since the whole house was gonna be renovated anyway. Anything that was key to the film, like the Javalina, gets put in storage in case something needs to get reshot at a later date. Anything not put into storage is put up for sale. As a set dresser I get first dibs on items and I have a few things from the movie. I considered selling a few on EBay but felt kinda wrong about it so I changed my mind.

As far as Owen having the Javalina I don't know. If he does have it he didn't get it when the film ended but rather when the decision was made that no more film would be shot. I know Gene Hackman got the Skeleton that was in Ethline's office.

My job is usually an under appreciated job by the public. If people can tell a location is made or assembled for a film then I didn't do my job well, and if they don't notice then I did my job well but people think everything was that way when the film crew arrived. I don't do it for public recognition, I do it because I love film and my job, but every once in a while you'd like people to understand all the work that goes into what you do. For example we spent six weeks dressing the Tenenbaum house, it was a major undertaking. That six weeks doesn't include the time spent on the "5th floor" location and the "basement/back yard" location. Every few weeks filming would leave the house for other locations so we could redress some of the rooms, for example we needed to change the 1st floor around for the wedding. Once a film crew shows up, which can be over 100 people, you have to maintain a location with the hustle and bustle that goes on. When you watch the Tenenbaum think about how large those room are and how there are usually around 20 people standing off camera while they film. There are a couple times I had to hide in closets so I wouldn't be in the shot. Think about all the furniture that is constantly being moved for crew, lights, camera, etc. Think about the doors I have to remove and put back on to make room. Think about how we have to make removable walls (like in the game closet) so when the camera wants a reverse shot we can move it out of the way. I have to do all of that while making sure that no one in the audience knows I am doing any of it. If people can see that I am doing my job I don't get hired again.

Well anyway that's my minor rant.

-Gary-

That house should have stayed exactly like that so it could be the Wes Anderson museum. :( <p><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=SolidSnakeASS">My DVDs</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--></p>

Welcome to the board, Gary. It's nice to have a crew member here.

Your rant is well-placed - we actually have a rant thread in the Off-Topic forum that gets some action when we're feeling surly. I think JJ Stonebraker/'Woody' established the Board Celeb right to his own thread, so let this be yours. (I think JJ also posted his subject as "Wow!") :)

Expect a lot of questions once the board wakes up. We love a set decorator, ohhh yeeeah.

I have a bunch, mostly Eli-territory:

Do you remember where they shot Eli's intro - where he's putting on his hat and nibbling on the tiny sandwich? A couple of us suspect it's Wes's tailor's place.

Eli's apartment: I liked it, it's so bright for a drug palace. Also, was the getting the underwear sketch in a shot a preoccupation? How often did that little sucker get moved around until it seemed to be in the right spot?

Will you tell us what sort of stuff you were responsible for with exterior shots? (i.e. the three rooftops, the graveyard scenes, the P.I. on the roof, and the various vehicle shots - which may be interior but I think of them as exterior shots for obvious reasons)

And, in that vein, how often did weather ruin your day?

Finally, how tough was it to deal with that Henry and Royal's scene in that little kitchen (in the other house, I think you mentioned in the other thread)? <p><!--EZCODE HR START--><hr /><!--EZCODE HR END-->Did they live happily ever after?

I don't know. They didn't make a 'Graduate II.'</p>

Good questions, Highwaters! What she said!

I bumped another old thread for you, Gary, so you can see the deep love and interest the Yankee Racers have for the Tennebaum place. <p><!--EZCODE HR START--><hr /><!--EZCODE HR END--> "Have fun stormin' the castle!" Miracle Max, The Princess Bride</p>

Thanks, Dudlina!

I was gonna say, we have a major house-loving thread somewhere around here! Where can we show him how much we noticed, yet <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>didn't</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> notice... ;) you know, what Gary said before I went all Eli wacko up there.

<p><!--EZCODE HR START--><hr /><!--EZCODE HR END-->Did they live happily ever after?

I don't know. They didn't make a 'Graduate II.'</p>

"We love a set decorator"

I was an on set dresser. I got a credit as an off set dresser. I did both but I'd say 75% during filming I was on set. Sandy Wasco was the Decorator.


"Do you remember where they shot Eli's intro"

Do you mean the book signing scene where he calls a critic on the phone? That was filmed at the science library on 5th Ave around 105 street. One block north was a school (the 135th street YMCA) that we filmed the pool and kids working out scenes.

"Eli's apartment"

I was only on set for the scenes that he ditches Royal and Ritchie. To be honest I am not 100% sure what you mean about the underwear sketch.

"Will you tell us what sort of stuff you were responsible for with exterior shots?"

The three rooftops:

1) Ten. house we built the hawk's house, made a brick loose for Margot to hide cigarettes, and tied the flag to the pole. I also helped the special effects guy replace the broken glass Ritchie punched through between takes.

2) Mordice's return on top of the hotel was the roof of the science library on 105th and 5th Ave. I wasn't in charge of it but I helped the grips put up that huge rot iron sign that is behind Royal and Ritchie (FYI that is half a sign, the half you don't see off camera left isn't there). I helped sound put down rubber mats over the gravel so when Royal and Ritchie walked you wouldn't hear the gravel move. I helped the grips put up a fake roof wall that Royal and Ritchie stand in front of. We made a fake corners so the camera could sit be on the roof and not in a crane for the scene.

3) Third roof, trying to think of it. Help me out here.

The graveyard scenes - Well first off those two gravestones, Royal's and Royal's wife's (was it Royal's wife? The one they visit that wasn't Chas's wife) where fake graves we made and put in place. We dug the hole at Royal's grave site. Little know fact is that the name on Royal's wife gravestone was Wes's Aunt (I think, some family member). Shooting got held up because a scenic misspelled her name on the gravestone so we had to wait for a new one to be made.

The P.I. on the roof - Wha-Wha-What?!?!? Do you mean when the guy is taking photos of Margot and Eli talking? If so you don't even see that roof, just a guy hanging over a ledge from the ground.

"Various vehicle shots":

A) The bus where Margot makes out with a punk rock guy was rented. I helped graphite it up. FYI the punk rock guy was a grip, Mel, who agreed to shave his head. They had hired a real punk rocker to cameo who I can't name but he showed up late and had a major attitude so we told him to hit the road. They asked Mel if he'd shave his head to be in a scene where he makes out with Gwyneth Paltrow. Who would say no to that? The lucky bastard.

B) The BMW shots I had nothing to do with since cars are props. It was just a rig attached to a show car that drove around a few hours as they filmed.

C) The interior Ambulance scenes where film in both an ambulance (I know, shocking) and in a large room in Yonkers. The shots where the camera looks down on Royal couldn't be shot in a real ambulance since the roof was to low. What we did is rented an ambulance, strip the interior, and moved all the bits and pieces into a large room where the camera had room to roam.

D) Eli's car was actually two cars. The working car was Jonathan's (prop assistant) and he rented it out to the movie. The second was one we found at a junk yard, bought for a few hundred dollars, shelled it, painted it, then used a crane to put it on a fake fence we made for the accident scene. I didn't have much to do with Eli's car since it was a prop but I was worked with the fence and mail box. The fence was built in the shop and we spent a day swapping out the real fence with the post accident fence. The "real" mailbox I was in charge of and was dressing, you might of noticed from the the pictures people has taken there isn't a mailbox on the corner of 144th & Convent. The mailbox that get run into by the car where special effects department. All the mail on the ground after the accident and flying through the air was my department. I can tell you it was a huge pain to keep the letters fresh looking since the crew wouldn't stop walking all over them with their dirty shoes!!!

"How often did weather ruin your day?"

Not often, we lucked out. It was nothing like when I did Serendipity, when it wasn't raining the city was spraying for West Nile Virus. The only two spots I can think weather bothered us a little was when we dug out Ethline's dig site and it wouldn't stop raining (so much mud, no fun) and when it stopped snowing during the scene Pagoda stabs Royal. When we first filmed that scene it was snowing, a few days later we reshot some of the set ups since Wes didn't like the results but it wasn't snowing. The special effects guy and myself had two fans and some potato flakes we threw in front of them to make is seem like all those camera set ups where filmed during the same day.

"Finally, how tough was it to deal with that Henry and Royal's scene in that little kitchen (in the other house, I think you mentioned in the other thread)?"

That wasn't the worst because we had the areas to escape to during takes. It's much harder when on the 4th floor of a walk up and having to constantly run up and down the stairs squeezing by people. With the Kitchen we had the backyard, the street, and Ethline's study to spread out it.

-Gary-

Thought I'd tell a funny story druing filming. Mordice had three animal wranglers in charge of her (I think a her, maybe a him). During the scene where Mordice returns to Ritchie and Royal on the Hotel roof top one wrangler was on a building across rhe street, one was on their knees next to Royal and Ritchie, and one was roaming to give help where needed. At the proper time the wrangler across the street would release the hawk and let it fly. During the proper time during the take the one on their knees would bang a fake pigeon on the ground to lure it down from the sky.

So take #1 the hawk flys off, we film, the wrangler bangs the pigeon on the ground and Mordice lands. Take #2 same thing. Take #3 there is a loud noise that scares up a flock of pigeons across the street. Mordice chases the real pigeons into Central Park never to be seen again.

Needless to say that put a crimp into our plans. We had to redo the sceene at a later date with a new hawk. The comments Ritchie and Royal make about how the hawk has grow white because of trama is an inside joke.

Thought you all might get a kick out of that.

-Gary-