Lost on a Mountain in Maine: Fendler's Maine Home

Ruth and Don Sr. talk in the dining room of their home

another view of the same angle of the dining room when the light was looking particularly beautiful the morning of shooting

Of course the real pleasure and fun of Lost on a Mountain in Maine was decorating the Fender’s home set in 1939 rural Maine.

I got into set decorating to play with period interiors, so working on these interiors was a dream come true.

I’ll break down the details and fun we had by room.

DINING ROOM

The room at location before we decorated it:

we made custom curtains and this is the paper I used for measurements

A corner of the Set Dec office where we were trying out different fabrics, artwork, furniture, wallpaper and etc and how it might work together and in the location.

a close up on the period fabric we were able to find and us assessing how it looked next to the wallpaper at location and comparing it to images of 1930’s interiors.

This is the design image Darcy, the production designer, gave me at the beginning of the job of her dreams for the sheers in the home.

I’m happy to report that we were able to recreate them from scratch for the home and you can see them quite clearly in this shot of Donn Jr. in the living room that makes it in the movie!

We had put together most of the elements of the home, but I was still missing a lamp for the dining room and I had something very specific in my mind: something a little more rustic and textural to complement the other lamps we had already dressed in.

And then I saw this PERFECT lamp at a local antique store in Woodstock, NY where we were living and was so excited to get it for our set.

close-up of the lamp in the store and in the background behind Darcy while we were putting the finishing touches on the set. 

me so happy after finding it. 

you can see the lamp in the background behind Andrew, the director, on set with the kids prepping them for one scene. 

PARENTS BEDROOM

Another really beautiful image Darcy gave me at the beginning of the job is this painting.

This painting was her design for the parent’s bedroom and it was our challenge to capture the essence of the dreamy wistfulness of the image but also recreate that very special canopy.

I think in the end we did get there and this still captures it best:

Ruth Fendler (Caitlin Fitzgerald) in her bedroom 

I would like to note that we got that beautiful handmade fringe from a woman who owns a textile workshop in upstate New York where they still handloom and handmake fabric and trim on historic looms!

We didn’t really have the budget to commission handmade pure cotton trim from her for this job (this was a very low budget Tier 1 movie!) but got SO LUCKY that she had just enough leftover from another job she was willing to sell to us at a very discounted rate.

Then we bought the right diaphonous fabric from another store and sent it to one of my favorite drapers with a lot of photos and measurements and asked her to custom make this canopy for us.

another angle on the bedroom where you catch a corner of that custom canopy cascading down.

A little before and after of the Fendler Bedroom:

BEFORE

IN THE MIDDLE

yes we re-wallpapered this bedroom with period wallpaper!

AFTER!

canopy on!

we also made a custom cushion for this bay window

getting this window measurements precise were very important

picking the right period lace sheers to go with the wallpaper we picked out.

I feel like all the elements come together nicely here though you can barely see the pattern on the lace sheers.

LIVING ROOM

To me, the early american rag rug we found to rent is EVERYTHING with the perfect mix of rustic, americana, and colors and pattern and really pulled the set together.

One minor challenge was to find the right desk that fit perfectly in the space between the windows for the telephone for one of the key scenes in the home.

I found this desk at an antiques store but was unsure it was period accurate…

So I had to refer to the books I brought up with me and especially the 1920’s and 1930’s Sears Catalogues I ordered for the job.

Seeing some tables with that similar design in one of the 1930’s Sears Catalogues made me feel ok to get the table.

And here is the desk in the set.

so so so happy you get to see some of the rug on screen!

BROTHER’S BEDROOM

what is hard to see, is the the lace sheers are woodland scenes for some fun foreshadowing…

I think the way this set turned out was actually one of my favorites of the whole movie.

We made custom curtains, rented that rag rug which I think really worked in there and my favorite detail is working with a specialty quilt collector to find two period appropriate quilts.

The room before:

collecting various period toys and children’s books was so fun and I love the way the set dressers put it together in this corner.

one of the kid actors in the set.

And then the bed traveled to the forest for this magical scene where Donn imagines his bed while stumbling around the forest alone for days.

PORCH EXTERIOR

This was the first day of shooting and our first set and I was very happy with how all the outdoor porch elements came together.

This is from a 1930’s Sears catalogue and I loved how specific that shape of a kids bike was.

so was thrilled when we found one to rent that matched the shape AND that made it into the shot here!

Lost on a Mountain in Maine: Ranger Office

One set we see a few times is the Mt. Katahdin Ranger’s Station Office.

We wanted to convey that this was a very remote office stuck in the past. I mean up till today, Baxter State Park where the real Mt. Katahdin is located, still does not have electricity in any of its facilities!

In the corner you still see some metal nib pens and ink in the corner of the desk. The metal nib pen was still in use in the 1930’s and 40’s but was declining in fashion in favor of the newly invented ball point pen that was invented in Hungary in 1938.

This movie takes place in 1939, but as said earlier doubtful that the latest in global pen technology was making it way to ranger desks in remote rural Maine.

The fun thing about sets like this is it has your researching the history of each and every element of office supplies like “history of scotch tape” and “history of clipboards” etc.

Finding that wooden brochure holder at a local antiques store made me so excited because it was able to bring some texture and color to the background of those shots with Don’s parents talking to the Ranger. 

had to make a lot of custom curtains for this set.

Picking artwork to match with the antique and rustic frames we thrifted with Darcy the production designer.

one of our set dressers Nick modeling the area where the shot below would be filmed.

Lost on a Mountain in Maine: Canoe Gate

The story of finding the canoe on the lefthand side of this shot is quite a fun little saga.

By the time we were shooting this canoe scene, all of the big sets were done and all we had to do was hang a line of laundry.

I was chilling and enjoying life.

the line of laundry which was the main set for that day of filming for the set decoration department.

it was fun compiling period fabrics and wardrobe let us borrow some period clothes.

Boats, like cars, are usually the province of the prop master and not set decoration.

I don’t quite remember the specifics of what happened that morning but the second canoe they were planning for didn’t pan out, and the canoe they had for the shot was a no go for the designer.

We were filming in two hours and the whole art department was on Operation Find a Period Appropriate Canoe in two hours.

The props teams were working some leads, and the Art Director Jaf and I both pitched in to see if we could help. Since Jaf lived locally in the area he was working some leads.

I remember this one local sporting goods store I passed by a lot driving around the area and gave them a call and asked them if they had any wooden canoes that could look like it was from the 1930’s that we could rent in the next hour.

I spoke to one of the manager who said, you know we might have something….

I jumped in my minivan and drove right over to the store and what they had was PERFECT!!!!!!

look at this beautiful and perfect period looking canoe!

said canoe on my minivan roof

canoe in the water on time for the shot!

I normally don’t enjoy last minute stress situations. But sometimes, these kind of time pressure extreme shopping challenges are thrilling and what I live for!

Lost on a Mountain in Maine: Search Party Camp

One of our big outdoor sets was the volunteer search party camp that pops-up as the local community comes together to search for Don as he is lost wandering Mt. Katahdin alone.

Finding a quantity of period tents was challenging, but after much work Ashley found a prop house in LA that had the number we needed and could ship them across the country in time.

always looks best once it is filled with people in period costume.

Putting together a camp site of 11x tents, of course starts with putting together just one.

And it isn’t as simple as the modern pop-up tent. These are old fashioned tie down tents that required us to get wooden stakes to assemble.

Us figuring out how to assemble the tent. Fortunately one of our set dressers was a set dresser on Dickinson (one of my fav shows of all time with GORGEOUS sets and costumes) and remembered putting together similar tents for their Civil War battle camp sets.

And to make matters worse, it started raining and it had been raining overnight at the camp location so the ground was all muddy…

The set dressers being champs assembling the tents in the rain. And in the far right, us trying our best to protect all the rented set dressing under the tree cover and with tarps as it rained.

The plans we were working from to transform an open field into something like a bustling pop-up search party camp.

As you can see it got quite swampy and muddy in some areas. …And the crew would be arriving in a few hours so we had our greens guy Tony try and dig an irrigation system of sorts to literally “drain the swamp.”

But eventually the sun came out and we were able to assemble the set before the crew arrived!

The director Andrew talking to some background actors at the camp.

I like this view on the set

Lost on a Mountain in Maine: Cobwebs with a Cobweb Gun!

cobwebs in the cave set Don finds while he is wandering on the mountain…except these cobwebs are FAKE!

Did you know you could shoot cobwebs out of a gun? I learned this fun little special effects secret while working on the cave set.

here’s the furniture we brought in for the set before it been aged with all the cobwebs.

Fun fact that chair on the floor is the same chair as the chairs used in the hospital.

I had to buy them as a set of 3x from a local antiques shop with this third one missing its seat, which I realized would make it a perfect candidate for this set.

The special effects kit for cobwebs!

Here is the special effects person Amira showing us how to use the cobweb gun which is essentially a hot glue gun with special attachments. Was super fun to watch her in action and how you can fill out a set with cobwebs.

as the cobwebs are being created with prop master Dan in the background.

Lost on a Mountain in Maine: Hospital

Hospital sets are usually dispiriting and no fun, but a PERIOD hospital set is a little more fun.

In this case, despite the simplicity, I really love the way this short brief set came out.

I mean the radiator covers do not look period appropriate to the 1930’s but everyone told me we did not have the money for fixing that and it wouldn’t be in the shot anyways…

little sketch of how I imagined the set based on the info Darcy told me and the scout.

a very makeshift plan for our set dressers

for the hospital hallway scene, we had to change out one overhead light as it would be seen in the long shot of the hallway and we got to rent this GORGEOUS period light fixture.

well one of the sheers fell here, but it’s a pretty good angle on the hospital set.

The actors just hanging out chatting with our DP Idan in the foreground.

sigh, while the non-period accurate radiator covers are a bit blurred in the background UNFORTUNATELY YOU CAN TOTALLY SEE THEM IN THE SHOT!

Mean Girls Musical: Janis Garage

Clearer shot of this corner of Janis Garage in the shot above.

Working on Janis’ Garage set was my favorite set on Mean Girls.

Garages sets are challenging because you always need so much stuff but fun sets because they are so layered where you get to imagine many different aspects of a character.

In the case of the Janis Garage set, we wanted to show how it was her family’s storage space, a place where she has created a cozy hang out zone for friends, as well as her art studio.

What the area when we just started loading in furniture. Essentially it was an empty garage and we started with a blank slate.

In the original Mean Girls movie in 2004, we see some glimpses of Janis’ paintings as well as evidence of the garage being a storage space for an earlier childhood she has grown out of.

In the Mean Girls Musical Movie (2024) what has changed is now, Janis is a fiber artist “the lines are the thoughts and the string are the feelings.”

Additionally we wanted to create a purple and green color palette for the garage (which if you pay attention is her color palette for her costumes, hair and makeup too!).

So in the garage we created two art workstations for her: one painting, and one sewing.

JANIS’ Painting and Drawing Workstation

The painting workstation pictured in the background of the shot below where Damien explains what REALLY went down between Janis and Regina.

clearer shot of the angle behind Damien:

JANIS FIBER AND SEWING STATION

but first, a little popcorn moment then and now side by side.

Close-up on the area behind Damien and Janis’ heads for that popcorn moment.

One of my favorite elements which are hard to tell in the photos are the adorned black plastic bags with sewing and patches (I’ll get to who made all that art soon) hanging on the door.

HAWAIIAN EASTER EGGS IN JANIS’ GARAGE SET

For the 2024 Mean Girls movie, they updated full name of the character Janis to Janis ʻImi'ike (which like “Auli’i” is a name in native Hawiian language).

Since Auli’i Cravalho (Janis), is an outspoken native Hawaiian actress, we wanted Janis Garage space to reflect that too in subtle and meaningful way.

So I also ordered some artwork and little stickers from Hawaii to sprinkle the set with nods to both the character and actress’ history and lineage.

In the above photo you can see an orange kou flower and a taro plant sticker. Kou is a plant native to the Hawaiian islands and the taro plant is an important plant in Hawaiian mythology and diet.

There was also a bunch of artwork from artists in Hawaii of the taro plant and the ʻōhia lehua flower which is one of Hawaii’s most iconic tree and a native species of plant to the Hawaiian islands.

…as well as a Sonic Youth poster which we imagined was one of Janis’ parents posters.

MAKING ALL THAT ARTWORK

While Tina Fey’s daughter and one of the producer’s daughter did supply us with some great original artwork they made themselves, we also had very specific ideas of how we wanted Janis’ artwork to look throughout her garage based on Kelly’s (production designer) research and ideas for Janis.

This turned out to be way more labor intensive than I had ever imagined essentially running a custom artwork atelier for Janis Garage with multiple different artists and groups.

And because of copyright and legal clearances, it wasn’t enough for me to just give the artists some sample images of what we were hoping for, but also supply all the base images and materials from known cleared sources.

But I think the end results were so worth it!

I reached out to local fiber and textile artist groups to see if anyone was open to some artwork commissions that we could work closely with to craft what we were looking for and incorporate feedback as it was being made on our production timelines…a tall order I know.

So I was thrilled when I was able to connect with local fiber artist Kate Eggelston.

Not only did Kate make the incredible piece of ham quilt hanging on the back wall of the set she was able to create some truly fabulous stitched canvases based on a very specific idea, sensibility, and mood Kelly had in mind based on cleared historical images I could find that I felt had potential for acheiving our aims.

on the upper left hanging on the wall is a quilt of a piece of ham!

there are more! these are just the ones I could easily find photos of.

And then I reached out to a local art school to see if they had actual teenagers around the age of the character of the Janis character to make some collages and the plastic bags enhanced with fiber art.

So incredibly grateful we were able to work with two local branches of One River Art School who held special workshops to help us inspire their teen students to make the type of artwork we were looking for. I brought along sample images, supplied all the materials, and what the students made were INCREDIBLE!

I really felt having teens make the artwork would bring something intangibly important and more authentic for the artwork that is meant to be Janis’ throughout the set.

All the pieces that were chosen also received rental fees (which I hope is encouragement to some of these artists) just like any other artwork we rent for our sets and you can even see some of their artwork on screen.

one teacher went above and beyond and even created a little presentation on the movie Mean Girls for the students!

Just a sampling of some of the best pieces made with stock artwork images I brought along as well as patches and and string supplies for the plastic bags.

JANIS’ Garage goes on the road

Lastly, after we finished filming Janis’ Garage set at the actual garage, a modified version of it went on the road to facilitate the opening shot where the garage door opens on the plains of Kenya (New Jersey) during the musical number “A Cautionary Tale”.

So here is what it looks like to redress a portion of Janis’ Garage in the middle of New Jersey, I mean Kenya which is one of the moments where I thought, set decorating is sometimes hilariously absurd.

I look like a maniac because there were TONS of ticks in this area and I did not want Lyme disease!

Mean Girls Musical: Regina's Bedroom, Closet, and Home

REGINA’s BEDROOM

Jess and me just as we were finishing the Regina bedroom set.

Of course reinterpreting the living space of such an iconic character like Regina George is daunting.

The name, Regina George, itself has become a byword for an archetype of female that has different shades of meaning depending on who you are talking to. Getting it right would mean a lot to a lot of people and there’s so many directions it could go.

• How would her mean-ness be expressed in her bedroom space?

• Is it just about her family being richer than other kids in her community?

• Is her character expressed in interior design status symbols?

• Do teens have bedroom interior design status symbols?

• What’s the perfect mix of girly and fierce but not cute to accurately present Regina’s style and personality?

• How on-trend and cutting edge would the bedroom of a 16 year old living in the suburbs of Illinois realistically be?

Just some questions we thought about and discussed AT LENGTH a ton.

Jessica Petruccelli the set decorator came up with brilliant concepts and ideas from the beginning of the project (e.g. lots of plastic for the queen bee of The Plastics!).

In the background on the left you can see Jessica’s intial vision and moodboard for Regina’s room behind her desk, and in the foreground on the black board you can see our working board of options and ideas in front of my desk.

INCEPTING THE MIND OF AN AMERICAN TEENAGE GIRL

It has been a long time since I was a teenage girl: about three decades.

When that much time has lapsed your sensibilities and design instincts have naturally evolved with your age. The visual representations of teenage girlhood that are most resonant to you are artifacts from another era, a nostalgic memory of a different epoch.

In other words, it only makes sense for you, a woman in your 40’s, to be literally out of touch with teenage girl aesthetic desires.

So how to close that gap and try to represent teenage girlhood in 2024 accurately?

After Jessica, the set decorator, and Kelly, the production designer, nailed down the design concepts and ideas in conversation with the directors, Jess and I had to flesh out what that meant in the concrete details.

So I did a bunch of research to make sure we got the details right.

So on top of tons of googling I:

1. read trend reports

2. got on the phone and interviewed actual teens

3. Spent a lot of time on teens giving bedroom tours on TikTok

4. Went to the local mall and interrogated the teens selling clothes to other teens.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the teens giving tours of their bedrooms TikTok screenshots I took as research and reference.

In the original version of Mean Girls released in 2004, there’s a few scenes in the mall. In 2024, the mall is no longer the essential site of teenage girlhood that it once was.

And while many malls are closing we were in New Jersey, the promised land of malls, and this mall was still going so I decided to go in person and shop at the mall like a teen.

A lot of times it is easier (though slightly more tedious) to shop in person rather than online. For me though, going in person had the added benefit that I could observe what teens were buying or looking at and talk to the teens or young people selling to teens.

I’m so grateful for the teens working at the clothing and shoe stores at the mall. I would ask them to think of the meanest and most popular girl at school (the Regina George in their life) and describe to me what she was wearing.

Because they would narrow down what were the best selling and hot items and I would start selecting. They would watch me chose and gently tell me “no, not those colors.” “not those styles” and I quickly learned whatever I thought was most appealing or looked cool was exactly the opposite of what teens actually liked.

It was jarring to realize that whatever you are inclined to, it is the actual inverse of what kids like.

If you want to feel old, I recommend this exercise to you!

swatching a lot of pink fabrics and wallpapers.

Custom Made Headboard the Swing Cushions

some key elements of Regina’s room we had custom made and here they are in their workshops in progress.

Regina’s room from the original 2004 movie

Regina’s Closet

Particularly daunting was filling Regina’s closet.

A hero female character’s closet as a reveal is always meant as something of a show of force. Think Carrie Bradshaw’s different closets, Cher’s closet in Clueless, and even Peik Lin’s (Awkwafina’s character) closet in Crazy Rich Asians.

When closets are featured like that on screen they almost take on the mythical stature of a Nancy Meyer kitchen. So yeah, the pressure was on.

As set decorators, we are used to thinking in terms of furniture and decor to express characters, context, and story and not clothes. Usually that’s the costume and wardrobe department.

But when an open closet becomes a set, filling it with the right clothes becomes set dressing and not costume and wardrobe!

We really worked so hard on this: on each and every detail (though I will say the beauty and makeup items were dictated by product placement powers greater than ours).

The teenage girl who actually lived in this house, went through the closet with us when were finished and was filled with longing and desire for most of the pieces (so that was gratifying).

set dressers Karl and Pat working on the photo cut outs we used for Regina’s bulletin boards.

ARTWORK FOR REGINAS HOME

Thinking about artwork for Regina’s mom, “not a regular mom, a cool mom” who is that special mix of zany, desperate, and brightly energetic, was fun.

In this one shot you see a lot of the artwork but the space we were filling was so much bigger (which you never see) and below is the sheet I used to help myself keep track of all the pieces.