Tuesday 24 April 2012

Final Project - More Research

One source I have been using for aesthetic research is the HBO series 'Boardwalk Empire', the show is set in 1920, centers around the prohibition, and the attempts made to capitalize on it. The first episode of the show is perhaps the most interesting, it begins on the night of prohibition being enforced, and tells a story of corrupt politicians and up and coming gangsters. It follows historical accuracy to a certain point, but obviously is a bit liberal with it in a lot of places as it is an American TV show.
In terms of aesthetic appeal, the show is a good way to see what sort of clothes were worn back then, my own research has already given me more or less what i need, but 'Boardwalk Empires' pilot episode was directed by Martin Scorsese and supposedly cost $18 million to make, so it couldn't hurt to take note.

One thing the series unfortunately lacks are speakeasies, as the scenes set in Chicago take place in a Bordello, and Atlantic City, where the show is primarily set, was infamously popular for largely ignoring  prohibition and getting everyone pissed out of their faces, (albeit expensively) earning it the nickname 'The World's Playground', which is lovely and all, but it doesn't really help me, as I plan to have a speakeasy as my primary set. I've found several (grainy) images of speakeasies from 1920, but i was hoping that this series would feature them extensively. Oh well, back to the research...
 Hang on, the DVD extras have a speakeasy tour on them. Cool.
And it's on Youtube. Awesome.

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