Disney Channel / Director: Jeffrey Hornaday
Teen Beach Movie is a film within a film, in which two contemporary kids (Ross Lynch and Maia Mitchell) are sucked through a wormhole into a Frankie and Annette-style beach musical set in 1962. Here in the 1962 period is the "cast" of the film within the film preparing to dance among a few of the more than 100 custom surfboards we had made.
Rival gangs of surfers and bikers compete for control of Big Momma's snack shack. We built this Polynesian-inspired beach hut on a gorgeous cove in eastern Puerto Rico.
A shot of Big Momma's exterior from the opposing angle.
A detail shot of Big Momma's exterior.
Big Moma's interior. This stage set was built, painted, and dressed in nine days. It is in the same studio space as the lighthouse/weather machine (see following pictures). There is only one space large enough to accommodate both sets (one at a time) in Puerto Rico, so the lighthouse had to be demolished, and this set built-in that compressed time. Because of the nature of photographing choreography, sets for dance are seen from top to bottom. So we had to create Big Momma's interior as an enclosed space. With no time to take ceiling pieces in and out for lighting, we had to design practical lighting solutions into the actual set.
A detail of the dining area and stage in Big Momma's interior with the house band called, naturally, The Momma's Boys.
Another detail shot of Big Momma's interior, showing the multiple levels and the bright, Polynesian sea-scape murals we created to bring a sense of light and air into the space.
A detail shot of the kooky lava lunch counter and kitchen/pass-through in Big Momma's interior.
A detail shot of the booths and tropical murals in Big Momma's interior.
The surfers and the bikers square-off West Side Story-style in Big Momma’s Snack Shack.
Big Momma (LaVon Fisher-Wilson) welcomes the gang to her beach-side Snack Shack
Brady (Ross Lynch) jams out “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ ” In Big Momma’s Snack Shack.
Part of the plot of the movie within the movie in Teen Beach Movie revolves around an eccentric developer (Steve Valentine) and a mad scientist (Kevin Chamberlin) who are conspiring to destroy the beach and Big Mommas. I built this abandoned lighthouse set to house their dastardly weather machine, seen here, ready to send its evil ray out to ruin the weather and eliminate the waves. VFX extended the lighthouse to its full, interior height, as our studio space was just 25 feet tall.
A detail shot of the mad scientist's (Kevin Chamberlin) weather control machine. It was built with moving parts that spin in opposite directions, a telescoping center, etc.
A detail shot of the mad scientist's (Kevin Chamberlin) control unit for his weather machine.
A detail shot of the massive "power towers" that feed the weather control machine in the mad scientist's (Kevin Chamberlin) spooky old lighthouse. As is often the case in designing for choreography, a designer must anticipate dancers using every surface and toe-hold in a set as a platform or springboard. We went to great expense to make these huge "electrical" towers completely climbable for the cast. VFX added crackling arcs of electricity from the copper balls atop the towers to the lightning-bolt receivers on the machine.
An outside view of the lighthouse set nearing completion helps illustrate its volume and shape.
The dastardly land-developer Les Camembert (Steve Valentine) and mad-scientist Dr. Fusion (Kevin Chamberlin) conspire to dominate the world in front of their weather control machine.
The beginning and end scenes in Teen Beach Movie take place on the same beach as the 1962 period scenes but in modern times. This is Big Poppa's (Barry Bostwick) surf shop, a home, and workshop he shares with his granddaughter McKenzie (Maia Mitchell). After the 1962 portion of the shooting schedule was complete, we had just six days to tear down Big Momma's exterior and build this interior/exterior house, complete with dressing and greens before the company returned to complete shooting.
A detail shot of Big Poppa's (Barry Bostwick) surf shop. We built this interior/exterior set right at the high-tide line on a cove in eastern Puerto Rico. This way our kids could run out the front door, grab their boards and jump right into the surf.
An interior shot of the breezy, open kitchen and dining room in Big Poppa's surf shop/house.
A reverse shot showing the casual living room in Big Poppa's surf shop/house.
The workshop in Big Poppa's (Barry Bostwick) surf shop.
A detail shot of the workbench in the workshop of Big Poppa's (Barry Bostwick) surf shop.
McKenzie's (Maia Mitchell) bedroom in Big Poppa's surf shop/house.
Biker girl Lela's (Grace Phipps) over the top, early 1960's bedroom. This was the setting of one half of the musical number "Like Me".
The folding screen becomes a stage in the song “Like Me”.
