Scott worked on the tanks, the liquid silver club and many other props.
Q: What was your job on the film?
SG: I was employed as the "second leadman", and the drapery foreman of the set decorating department throughout the whole film. As the production traveled, I went with it from place to place.
Q: What is a drapery foreman? How is it different from a set dresser?
SG: A set dresser is one of the army of crew members that do everything that is
needed to put together the set after the construction and paint departments are
done. A lead man is the ultimate boss of the set dressers and is responsible for
the budget and time management as well as a liason for the designer and
decorator and the crew. The second lead man is a position created when a film
project is spread out far and wide or is just a huge project that one leadman
can not cover effectively. There is the primary lead man, then the second lead.
A drapery foreman is a specialist within the set decoration department. A
drapery department often is called upon to create items that are beyond the
abilities of a set dresser, and that is often something to do with fabric over
the years, so the title Draper has sort of stuck. I like to think of us drapers
as the SWAT team of the set dressing department. The drapery foreman is the boss
of the drapery department.
Q: What was it like working on the film?
SG: I had a great time working on TG, but I like heat and adverse conditions
(desert survival is entertaining for me). Most of the crew members had a tough
time with the weather. The temperature during the filming in White Sands was
breaking records every day. At the Anamax mine facility where Malcolm was
working it was incredibly hot and nasty outside (there were incidents of
construction crew members having heat stroke and being taken away in an
ambulance) and the inside stuff was even worse. All of the buildings were giant
metal structures with very little if any insulation and occasionally there would
be a toxic scare as some odd chemical would gurgle up from some abandoned pipe
because of the heat. Nothing but fun all of the way.
Q: You said you had little interaction with Malcolm. Did you get to watch him work
and if so what was it like watching him work?
SG: Remember that I am a long time film worker, so seeing famous actors at work
and at play means very little to me. During the scene with the clear plastic
teepee of a surgical tent, I was working stand by because I created the teepee
and had to be there to make sure it worked out for them as they needed to move
the camera around. Normally actors don't make much of an impression on my unless
they are exceptionally rude and arrogant or exceptionally nice....or there is
always if they are exceptionally attractive and scantily clad...Nicole Kidman
won me over way back when, but that is another story. As a film employee I have
learned to not carry on a conversation with any of the actors unless they start
it. Many of them like to stay in character and don't like being disturbed (John
Travolta being a notable exception). I don't think I ever said more than
"Good Morning" or smiled and nodded if our eyes met. As I recall, he
would acknowledge in a civil and pleasant fashion. I finished the film not
thinking much of anything about him good or bad. As a side note, I was glad when
I heard his name mentioned as possibly doing Kesslee. The original choice for
Tank Girl had fallen through (don't remember the name, but she was a much bigger
and sexier woman than Lori Petty if memory serves correctly...someone more in
keeping with Pam Anderson I think). No one had heard of Naomi Watts at that
point, so introducing a bit of star power seemed like a good idea.
Q: What did you think of the final film?
SG: It's nearly impossible for me to make a good judgment on that. When I work on a
film, it is impossible to watch it and see it as others do. I just remember all
of the things that were going on for each scene and relive the whole experience
of making the film rather than enjoying it for what it is. Some folks love it,
and some folks hate it. I guess that's why cars come in different colors.
Q: Malcolm, Rachel and most people involved have trashed the film because the
studio took it away and ruined it. What do you know about that?
SG:
Not much. I got the feeling that Rachel wasn't the strongest director in the
world, so I can see how studio execs would steamroll her. Remember, in the film
industry it is common to take all of the glory for yourself when things are
received well, and even more common to reassign the blame when things don't go
well. Can you imagine Rachel saying "the film would have been so much
better if I had a clearer vision and stuck with it throughout"? Not a
chance. I'll bet if the film had been a mega hit and went on to spawn ten
sequels, she would have never said, "it wasn't the movie I made, the studio
execs recut it their way, they deserve the adulation", she would have said,
"Yes, I am incredibly talented and make wonderful films!" Spin
doctoring isn't limited to just politics.
Q: Was it a much different film on the set? Did it make more sense and follow
the comic?
SG:
No, it never made much sense to me, but it certainly made me some dollars (that
is set decorator humor). Starting film projects with partial or nonsensical
scripts is kind of common, so I didn't think much about it.
Q: Had you read or were you required to read the comic before you started
shooting?
SG:
Not required, but did look at some of them to get a feel for what we were doing,
Q: Are you surprised at the cult following of the film when it came out so bad?
SG:
Ah, you are throwing a bit of editorializing in there eh? So I will assume you
are not a fan of the film?
Q: No. I thought TG was an expensive looking flop. Looks great, but the story was thrown away.
SG: I am a bit surprised by the response I get from the eBay world when I sell something from the film. I'm sure the comics have a lot to do with it. If it was a stand alone film I imagine it would be hard to get on video even from Amazon.
Q: What did you think of Malcolm's performance? I think the only good scene is
in his HQ when he kills the guy by empting him of water "Lovely"!
SG:
Perhaps that is the best. I don't think any of the performances were anything to
be amazed by. To me Malcolm was playing his generic evil megalomaniac. Nothing
to stretch him into areas he hasn't already visited many times before. Maybe you
like that scene the best because I think it was one of the first ones Malcolm
did, and he may have still had some enthusiasm for the project. Later scenes may
bring less of him to the screen because (this is just my guessing here) he had
realized that Rachel wasn't strong enough to put the vision that needed to be
done on film, so later he was just fulfilling a contract. Just my
guess/opinion...surmising.
Q: Any final thoughts?
SG:
Every damn check they wrote me cleared without a hitch. You gotta love that.
This page © 2003-08 Alex D. Thrawn for www.MalcolmMcDowell.net