Theodore Marcuse: Character Actor Destined for Greatness, Cut Down in His Prime
Theodore Marcuse brought gravitas to the decidedly airy, unsubstantial world of 1960s television. Theodore Marcuse cross-sectioned the world network TV at that […]
Author: Lee Wallender
Deception, influence, fakes, illusions, themed environments, simulations, secret places, secret infrastructure, imagined places, dreamscapes, movie sets and props, evasions, camouflage, studio backlots, miniatures.
Universal Studios 1972: Scenes from a Studio on a Verge of a Boom
With these photos of Universal Studios in 1972, understand the context: this was the studio at one of its lowest points. Its big, […]
Sad Devolution of Cracker Jack Prizes Mirrors Decline of America
It’s early April 2016. You’re a junior associate at a PR firm. You get an e-mail from your boss, Haston Lewis, senior […]
Did Young Turks’ Ana Kasparian Really Say “Balls Deep”?
Lesson #1 of YouTube captioning: don’t rely on automatic captioning. But the mighty media empire behind The Young Turks couldn’t hire someone […]
Is Prego’s “Welcome to the Family” Ad Real or Fake?
It’s the type of TV commercial we’ve grown accustomed to: the mock feel-good reality event with actors portraying actual people. In this one […]
Surreal Life: Evolution of the TV Talk Show Set, 1964 to Present
The evolution of the TV talk show set only lightly mirrors design changes that were going on in the rest of the world […]
Large Scale Models That Will Seriously Warp Your Mind
Large scale models are simply diabolical. Models of any scale can play with your imagination, but you always know what’s real and […]
5 Best Fake Cities in the World
Fake cities exist for many reasons: training, propaganda, subterfuge, filming, tourism. Few are meant to be 100% realistic, but some are definitely […]
Create a 100% Authentic 1960 Vintage Tiki Decor Home and Backyard
In July 1960, Los Angeles’ World’s Fair Market (not to be confused with today’s World Market) advertised a complete luau themed tiki […]
Planet of the Apes (1968) Set Design
Depicting a harsh and dystopian world (at least for the humans), “Planet of the Apes” has become an unlikely film franchise spanning […]