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Production Design
Production Design
was an integral and critical component of the pre-production
process.
The "medical device wall" in Jack’s apartment was an
aspect of production design conceived during the writing of the
script. It began with the idea of a gumball machine that dispensed
medication and it evolved from there.
Jack’s daily medication is
stylishly and conveniently dispensed on the wall next to his blood
pressure monitor
"I wanted to make a visually appealing space that
conveyed the Muffin Man’s adaptive nature," explained Eisner, "but
which also depicted the inescapable medical problems associated with
obesity."
Eisner had originally envisioned a much wider array of
medical devices filling the room ... including fitting Jack with "CPAP"
- a device used to treat sleep apnea (a condition commonly
associated with obesity in which the extra fatty tissue around the
neck of obese people results in periodic cessation of breathing).
"It may not seem like it," said Eisner, "but in this regard, I
really managed to keep myself in check."
In the early stages of
pre-production, the production company had somewhat naive hopes of
landing a food sponsorship. However, after calling about a dozen
companies, they realized they were always stopped dead in their
tracks with one simple question: "Will the film portray the product
in a positive light?"
"We didn’t want to be sued for defamation ...
or be held liable for infringing on anyone’s copyright," said
Executive Producer, David Workman.
"Can microwave pork rinds
be portrayed in a positive light?" mused Eisner.
The production
decided to go with completely fictitious brand labels for everything
(except the Blue Dog Bakery Low Fat Dog Food and Philips Heart Start
Home Defibrillator). Culpepper created and fabricated over 30 of
these labels for the film
Since the Muffin Men were theorized
to have spent most of their time sitting at home, the designers
wanted the living space to reflect the imagined food-centric view of
the species.
Michael Culpepper and Jessica Eisner came up with the
concept of a fast-food apartment, "Like he’s living in a mini-mart,"
explained Culpepper. An industrial style soda pop dispenser and
refrigerator, and food warming lamps were gleaned from a Seattle
restaurant supply store. The floor lamp is a modified order-wheel
full of take-out menus and a winning bid on eBay led to the addition
of a hot-dog rotisserie.
Jack rests on his hamburger couch after
finishing a delicious meal
The focal point, as in most American
living rooms, is the couch. Originally conceived as a giant peanut
butter and jelly sandwich by Eisner, Culpepper’s vision of a mound
of ground beef eventually won out. Meat - especially raw meat -
became a design theme.
"Half of the crew didn’t even realize the
pattern on the couch was ground beef until we pointed it out,"
recalled David Workman, the Executive Producer. "It was blatant and
subtle at the same time."
The set incorporated meat everywhere; in
addition to the couch there was a transparent clock stuffed with
meat, a hamburger painting, a hamburger lamp, a beef cuts poster,
hamburger pillows, a "chili moat", hamburger candles, and, of
course, the hot dog rotisserie.
The dripping meat clock was
disgusting,’ recalls Angel (Pumpkin). "It definitely had serial
killer origins."
"We even had a parking meter with stand that had
been modified and filled with ground beef!" laughed Eisner "It was
one of the incongruous touches we added to make the 're-creation' of
the era seem more real - by being flawed."
Cheese was a prominent
food and the source of inspiration for the "cheese chair" and parmiaganno round side tables.
Eisner and Culpepper collaborated on
all aspects of production design from concept to shopping for the
meat - and muffins.
Snack-cake sushi or "snushi" is one of Eisner’s
unique creations for the film
"There are a lot of odd details to
discover in this film. Everywhere you look you can find something
unique to the era of the Muffin Men," concluded Eisner. "Designing
their world was a lot of fun."
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