I recently watched Baz luhrmann’s film adaptation of ‘The Great Gatsby’, the lavish award winning production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic which explores the subjects of idealism, self-indulgence, the struggle to change, excess and social disorder, generating a portrait of the’ The Roaring Twenties and ‘The Age of Jazz’ and that has been defined as a cautionary tale vis-à-vis the American dream.
Like me, you may have been impressed by the extravagant film sets, in particular I loved the library scene ( surprise, surprise!) in which the elderly ‘Owl Eyed’ gentleman, is astonished to find that Jay Gatsby’s books are real and not just empty jackets designed to create the appearance of a great library. The tone of Nick Carraway’s narration suggests that many of the inhabitants of East and West Egg use an external display of affluence to cover up their moral decay and inner fraudulence , but Gatsby seems to use his opulence to mask something quite different and perhaps more profound. From this chapter forward, the mystery of Jay Gatsby becomes the motivating question of the book, and the unraveling of Gatsby’s character becomes one of its central mechanisms.
Ironically these books are fake, indeed film sets are often fabricated, they present to us worlds of ‘Make- believe ‘constructed to represent scenarios and extracts to trick and delight the spectator. Replica book panels can rapidly create the illusion of a real antiquarian library.
Groth & Sons can supply a variety of replica book panels for rental. These decorative shelf- fillers can be used within the theatre and film industries, for property styling and television, or retail presentation and display. Meticulously printed details imitate genuine vellum, cloth and leather bound spines, representing the works of ‘The Bard’, Ruskin, Byron and the like. These lightweight panels are easily transported and even easier to store, three and a half lineal meters of faux panels can be parcelled up into an area smaller than a carton of beer. Quickly unpacked it is possible to transform a theatre space into a ‘Dickensian world’, generating walls of superb detail, colour and curiosity.
Transform your stage set quickly and cost effectively with just one phone call to Groth & Sons.
Enquiries to Amos Groth on 0419 408 988.
