http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_561751.html
Pittsburgh a 'Smart' choice for film's setting
By Michael Machosky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page
Pittsburgh is a good place for smart people, apparently.
The collegiate drama "Smart People" -- opening today -- was shot at Carnegie Mellon University and other locations around Pittsburgh. It's about depressed widower Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid), a literature professor, trying to put his life back together.
With all due respect to Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page and Thomas Haden Church, Pittsburgh might be the real star of the show.
"Pittsburgh is amazing," says location manager Kathy McCurdy, who scouted the locations for "Smart People." "It has the most amazing architecture and most incredible looks. And it's not easy to duplicate Pittsburgh in other parts of the country -- or world.
"It's great that Pittsburgh is getting all this attention lately. Obviously, it's somewhat about tax credits, but people are finally seeing what a great location it is. Of course, I already knew that."
McCurdy is based in Los Angeles but grew up in Penn Hills. She got the job in Los Angeles, at least partially by selling herself as an expert on Pittsburgh.
"In Pittsburgh, it's basically 'cold scouting,'" McCurdy says. "You meet with the director and production designer, and get a sense of what they're hoping to find. Of course, the script tells you what you need, and how the rooms relate to each other. From experience and good old-fashioned hunches, you go to the areas that are probably going to have those kinds of homes, and give you what you need on the inside."
Sarah Jessica Parker's character, a doctor who begins a tentative romance with the professor, works at Allegheny General Hospital. That was a fairly obvious choice. But to find the house used by Quaid, his daughter (Ellen Page) and adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church), McCurdy just started driving around the East End.
"We found this incredible house in Friendship," McCurdy says. "Those kinds of houses -- the 'Pittsburgh four-square' -- they don't have them in other parts of the country. It was this incredible house from the mid-1800s. (The owners) completely respected the home they bought and were restoring it. That kind of stuff is fantastic for films. You really can't duplicate that."
Part of the job is to persuade property owners to get on board, despite the obvious inconveniences.
"Most people are generally happy to have the circus come to town," McCurdy says. "It's a nice diversion, it's fun, it's different. But like in any situation in life, there are people who just don't care. They're like, 'I don't care who the star is. I don't care what they're doing. I don't want any lights in my windows. I don't want any noise. I don't want my parking taken.' And I completely understand."
Paul Bucciarelli of Squirrel Hill was the on-set dresser for "Smart People." It was his job to maintain continuity. Over a long shoot, things get moved around a lot on the set. He records the location of absolutely everything in each scene and makes sure nothing is out of place when the cameras are rolling.
"I might also have to hide some things," Bucciarelli says. "I carry a camo net in my kit. This one house that was across the street from the main house in 'Smart People' had a rather large sculpture in the front yard. Every shot we had looking outside the house, I just threw a camouflage net over it, and it went away."
Often, set dressing involves improvisation.
"Because it takes place at Christmastime, there's a tree in the living room," Bucciarelli says. "We did a scene later where we were looking into that living room, but we had long since gotten rid of the tree -- there was a miscommunication. The room was dark -- all you see was the tree lights.
"Another thing I keep in my kit is white twinkle Christmas lights, because they're good for a variety of lighting. I took a gripstand and turned it into a triangle shape and strung the lights around it. So in the dark, you couldn't tell that it wasn't actually a Christmas tree."
Casting director Donna Belajac was tasked with finding the extras and minor speaking roles.
"Dennis Quaid's character had all these colleagues," says Belajac, whose office is based Downtown. "When I saw the script, I thought they'd want all of those characters out of L.A. or New York. But, to my suprise, they cast them here, which was nice."
Often, the roles weren't much of a stretch. For one professor role, she cast Don Wadsworth, a Carnegie Mellon University professor. Another speaking part went to a Carnegie Mellon student, and two to students from Point Park University.
McCurdy, back in California working on the new "Star Trek," has a very different set of location challenges to deal with. But coming back to Pittsburgh for "Smart People" was a big deal for her and her family -- especially the time spent on the Carnegie Mellon campus.
"My cousin goes there now," McCurdy says. "She actually ended up working on the film as a (production assistant) for a few days when we needed an extra hand. She decided to go to CMU based on that experience.
"She was (planning) to go to Penn State because her whole family went there. Her father still jokes with me -- 'You owe me $120,000.' Because that's the difference between a Penn State and a CMU education."
Michael Machosky can be reached at
[email protected] or 412-320-7901.
Threaded Mode