There's a certain look and feel that the director wants and gets.
While employed on the "Brinks Job" movie back in 1978, I worked for the Art Department. Personally had manufactured for the production all sorts of stuff in plastic and rubber. There were dozens of fake rubber cut in half pigs for a slaughter house interior scene. We created a Ford dealer showroom for 1950 with "new" cars and trucks. Thick enamel paint sprayed on junker cars can work wonders. Those were the only shiny things in the picture with the rest of it looking gloomy and worn.
Principle picture car taxi cabs used for close ups had original working Pittsburgh fare meters with correct rates for the time period. Paint shade of 1948 vintage Checker taxi cabs was modified from authentic chrome yellow to a mustard shade with black lettering to match the film stock color temperature. In daylight to the eye, the things looked weird. Didn't matter anyway, as all vehicles were sprayed with a fake water base grime paint. A crew with a water truck kept the streets in camera view constantly wet. There's a certain look and feel that the director wants and gets.
Located official photos of 1950 Deluxe Chevrolet police cars. A friend came across an old Federal Light-Siren combination unit. It was exactly like the type used on Boston cruisers during the Brinks robbery era. We rebuilt the electric motor and mounted that thing on my 1950 Ford sedan. Wow! Worked like a champ! Late at night we'd go over to East Boston for supper in the antique Ford and then scream back through the Sumner Tunnel with siren wailing! What a rush! That one Ford sedan and six Chevrolets were professionally painted blue with silver and then lettered as Boston Police cruiser of January 1950. Had a model maker create ten prop siren-light combo units made out of formed thin plastic and then painted dull silver.
Owners of the other cars, which were all rented, would not allow us to drill holes in their roofs. Prop light-siren units were held onto the cars using taped on Velcro. Wires hidden under duct tape ran over the top for illumination. Looked stupid up close, but in the foggy night within the film, non of it mattered.
My own 1950 Ford police car was the only one of them equipped with the original 6-volt siren-light combo unit. Spent one morning in post production with a crew at the then abandoned Charlestown Navy Yard. They had me drive up and down in the old V8 sedan while recording sounds of siren roaring and tires squealing. Later, those sounds from my real siren equipped car was multiple overlaid onto the movie audio track. In the film, the Boston cops come screaming up Prince Street in a half dozen police cruisers. There are screeching tires as the fleet of old Chevies come to a stop at the side door of the Brinks garage. Sirens slowly wind down to a growling stop, amid the excitement of a gathering mob. Hey . . .those police car sounds were all done by me and nobody will ever know.
The scene came out really cool and of course is my favorite part of the movie. As things shake out it's all done for drama and visual effect at the whim of the director. He's dictator of the production! Everything is for that art image captured on the film.
The only thing that did bug me with "Band of Brothers" was the absence of Lock Bar sights on the M1 Garand rifles. Heard someplace that the model for the rubber rifles was an H&R Garand from the 50s. All that research and work and the Production Design / Art Department missed the Lock Bar sights. Could have just glued a piece of plastic on the side of the knob and painted it. That little thing does drives me bananas !
:dancingbanana:
But, as Andy Warhol once said . . . "It's not real life . . It's just a movie".
:beerchug:
