Hasta La Ideas

Did you head out this weekend to catch Inglorious Basterds? Unfortunately this writer didn’t get a chance to. But while he waits the six months it’ll take before it’s available on DVD, that doesn’t mean he can’t live vicariously through you dear readers, or by taking a look at this interesting piece our pals over at Flavorwire put together: an interview with Dave Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, the husband and wife production design and set decorating team responsible for the look of Quentin Tarantino‘s new film (as well as nearly all of his others — they’ve also worked with other big shots, from Wes Anderson to David Mamet). Although, again, since we haven’t seen the film, we couldn’t picture the specific set pieces they go into detailed explination of how they came to be, we enjoyed it none the less. And if you do happen to be we-who-haven’t-seen, there are some good bits about their process and working with a director. Here’s a bit:

Preparations for Inglourious Basterds were much the same as Pulp Fiction: lots of film references. Much like Jack Rabbit Slim’s, the cinema in Inglourious Basterds was a centerpiece set with a mixed pedigree. QT mentioned LA’s New Beverly Cinema for the projection room and its Vista Theatre for the auditorium dimension and number of seats as models. He wanted the lobby to be exactly like the one in Action in Arabia (directed by Leonide Moguy in 1944 with George Sanders, specifically the two stairs, the ceiling fans, and the timing of Inglourious Basterds character Colonel Landa’s and Sanders’ Action in Arabia character’s descent on the stairs. Private Affairs of Bel Ami (directed by Albert Lewin in 1947, and also starring George Sanders) served as the inspiration for the big circle window in Shosanna’s living quarters, overlooking the cinema.

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