THE GREAT GATSBY Production Notes - Visual Hollywood

THE GREAT GATSBY (2013)
PRODUCTION NOTES
for her first and only appearance at one of Gatsby's parties—a pinnacle moment in the film. To
complete the look, Daisy wears a pearl and diamond headband from Tiffany's, as well as the stunning
engagement ring she wears throughout the film.
"I've never worked on a film that's had such scale but also such intricate detail in the design of it—
in every costume I wear and on every set that I walk into," says Mulligan. "Every time I put on a
pair of Daisy's shoes or I wear some Tiffany jewelry... For example, the engagement ring that Daisy
has is just this enormous diamond, and every time I put it on, I feel so different, so...Daisy."
DOING UP THE TOWN, DOWN UNDER
"New York in 1922. The tempo of the city had changed. The buildings
were higher, the parties were bigger, the morals were looser and
the liquor was cheaper. The restlessness approached...hysteria."
—Nick Carraway
From 1920s costumes to New York in the 1920s, for the filmmakers, topography was equally integral
to the story: the hot, gritty, bustling streets of New York City; the lusciousness of the playground
of the rich, Long Island; and The Valley of Ashes, the dusty wasteland in between.
"The book is really set in Manhattan and East and West Egg on Long Island," explains Pearce. "We
had to understand the geography. We studied maps but then we went there and it was a very hot
summer, and we purposely stayed in the garment district, which is sort of one of the few parts of
Manhattan that isn't terribly gentrified. It was a bit like New York would've been in Fitzgerald's
time. And that really informed us."
Although much of the research and writing process took place in New York—including numerous
field trips to Long Island to visit the stately homes—most of the film was shot at Sydney's Fox Studios.
"If you say to a New Yorker that the film was shot in Australia, they sort of laugh. 'Are you kidding
me You made the film in Australia'" says Catherine Knapman. "Of course, Baz would have loved
to make the movie in New York, but the opportunity to make most of the film here came up as being
the most efficient. Building sets is really what Catherine Martin does best with her team. Filming
in Australia brought a lot of advantages, including generous incentives from the Australian and
New South Wales governments. There are a lot of talented people in Australia. We had an enormous
crew, in excess of a thousand people, and a background cast of 960. We had close to 300 extras
on set on the 'party days.'"
So, 1920s New York was brought to Sydney, carefully recreated in great detail, from the most lavish
sets to the smallest props.
"What was amazing to me was the storytelling in the sets. I would notice certain elements that were
incorporated into the set, and everything felt so authentic, it made it easy to believe it was real,"
Maguire remarks.
Perhaps the most paramount sets to be built were the magnificent homes of Gatsby and the
Buchanans, as these showcase the important differences between the neighborhoods, and residents,
of East and West Egg.
© 2013 Warner Bros. Pictures
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