Fake Stuff

Fake stuff is everywhere.  From staged model homes to themed restaurants, we are increasingly surrounded by fake places.  The opening of an indoor ski resort in Dubai hardly warrants our attention anymore.  And didn’t they just open up another indoor beach in Japan somewhere?

The classic fake place is the studio backlot.  Sections of the backlot, though often called “New York Street” or some other evocative name, rarely had to be just that.  Prior to the shooting of another film in the s0-called studio system era, set dressers could turn the New York Street into Small-Town America or Paris After the War, if need be.

Rubber Inflatable Tanks

U.S. Army's 23rd Special Troops Rubber Tank

U.S. Army’s 23rd Special Troops, including future fashion designer Bill Blass and painter Ellsworth Kelly helped win World War II by the use of deceptive techniques, including rubber inflatable tanks.

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