"Upstate" refers to anywhere north of the Bronx - including Yonkers.
LOL!....I'll add it to "the list".
I just saw the movie Two Weeks Notice. That must be a fun movie to watch if you know the buildings and the skyline of New York.
This article lists some of the locations where the movie was filmed....but the best scene of the New York skyline was IMO when they fly over the Chrysler Building in a helicopter.
LOCATIONS, SETS & COSTUMES: A LOVE LETTER TO NEW YORK CITY
In February 2002, Lawrence, Bullock, Grant and company began filming Two Weeks Notice in Manhattan’s Financial District. “We always saw this film as a love letter to New York,” Bullock says. “I love architecture, and we wanted to infuse the story with as much of New York and its unique structural design as possible, but we also wanted to depict these elements in a fresh way. So we chose to shoot the City at a level where you’re peeking over the buildings and seeing rooftops and details that you don’t normally see.”
Audiences will get a spectacular view of New York’s architectural treasures during a helicopter sequence in which George and Lucy discuss the history of the Chrysler Building as they fly over the beloved landmark. “I get really emotional watching that scene,” Bullock reveals. “It makes you think, ‘Wow, after everything this City has been through, it’s still so strong and so breathtaking and so inspiring.’”
Under the guidance of production designer Peter Larkin, the Two Weeks Notice art department created a backdrop for the film that reflects New York’s vitality and diverse landscape. Larkin selected the Lucent Building in the Financial District to serve as the exterior for the Wade Corporation headquarters, punctuating the sidewalk in front of the impressive structure with an enormous ‘W’ fashioned after the Wade company logo.
“The Wade Corporation is a very powerful Trump-like organization with a major presence throughout the City,” Larkin says. “George and Howard Wade own a great deal of real estate and they put their ‘W’ logo everywhere, from the front of their building to the wrecking ball used to demolish old properties and make way for their modern developments.”
The interior of George’s sprawling penthouse apartment was filmed at Sky Studio, a 3-story Greenwich Village loft complete with rooftop pool and garden. “George Wade is lazy, but he’s very smart and has great taste, and his home should reflect this,” says Larkin of his design concept for the ultimate New York bachelor pad. “Hugh suggested we look into a group of English artists known as the Sensationals, and we got permission from a few of the artists to hang their artwork in George’s apartment.”
For Lucy Kelson’s more modest digs, Larkin and his team utilized an apartment in Brighton Beach, a district adjacent to the Coney Island neighborhood in which Lucy and her parents live. “At first, we thought of Lucy’s home as messy, and we cluttered the apartment as if she was so busy at work that she hadn’t gotten around to organizing her own life,” Larkin explains. “But Sandra felt Lucy was more orderly than that and so we neatened it up considerably.”
“I wanted Lucy’s apartment to convey her manic quality; she’s the kind of person who makes ‘To Do’ lists even when she’s sleeping,” says Bullock. “I asked Peter to build a mobile bedside table that functions as a tray to hold Lucy’s various electronic and communication devices like her laptop, Blackberry, Palm Pilot and cell phone. I wanted to show that nothing in her home is about living – the bathroom, the kitchen and her desk are one step away from George. Everything in her apartment is about his life rather than hers.”
Perhaps the film’s most intricate set piece, the Brooklyn Heights locale known as Fulton’s Landing served as the site of the gala circus-themed party that marks a turning point in Lucy’s relationship with George. Built on a pier under the Brooklyn Bridge and imbued with the romantic ambience of the adjacent River Café‚ Fulton’s Landing was transformed by Larkin and his team into an elegant circus with stylish white tents exquisitely illuminated by thousands of tiny lights.
In addition, Larkin hand-drew dozens of colorful illustrations featuring sideshow circus performers, which were then enlarged and hung majestically along an improvised corridor, creating a vivid pathway between the pier and the River Café.
“We were filming at Fulton’s Landing at night,” Bullock recalls, “and it wasn’t until after we finished shooting a series of close-ups that I looked up and realized that our director of photography, Laszlo Kovacs, had lit the entire Brooklyn Bridge and the tip of the island. It was truly beautiful.”
In creating Lucy’s wardrobe for the gala sequence, costume designer Gary Jones designed a striking black and white gown inspired by vintage Yves St. Laurent and Valentino. “We wanted a classic look that meshed with Lucy’s professional style: feminine but fitted,” says Jones, who took further inspiration from films of the 1930s and 40s, as well as the cinematic style of Audrey Hepburn and Katherine Hepburn.
“George has more than a little flair,” Jones observes. “The John Tudor suits he wears in the film all have a strong shoulder, a bow to his English heritage. Hugh Grant wears a tailor-made John Tudor tuxedo in the circus gala sequence. We gave him a navy blue tuxedo for the circus party because it photographs more romantically than traditional black.”
For June Carter, Lucy’s ambitious successor at the Wade Corporation, the party serves as an opportunity for advancement – both professionally and personally. Jones costumed actress Alicia Witt in a black Armani dress that stands out in the midst of the vibrant atmosphere. “June is very self-assured; she’s not as corporate as her colleagues, and her wardrobe reflects this,” says Jones.
To convey the wealth and prominence of the Wade family, the production traveled upstate to Westchester County to film at Seven Springs, a property owned by the Trump Organization that has never before been used as film location. Doubling as Howard Wade’s palatial estate, Seven Springs is best known as the childhood home of Katherine Meyer Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post.
The production also commandeered Shea Stadium to film a scene at a Mets-Giants game attended by George and Lucy. Following the game, die-hard Mets fan Marc Lawrence had the pleasure of shooting a scene with all-star catcher Mike Piazza, who makes a cameo appearance in the film. Bullock even took a swing at bat, knocking a solid line drive out of the infield.
In addition to these locales, the production lensed at numerous locations throughout the City, including the Tribeca Grand Hotel; South Street Seaport, the berth for George’s yacht; the famous Coney Island Boardwalk; and Coney Island’s Community Center, the site of a controversial Wade Corporation development. Says Bullock, “Another aspect of this film that I love is that we not only depict Coney Island, a legendary area of New York that hasn’t been seen in movies in a long time, but the neighborhood plays a vital role in our story.”
Propmaster Jim Mazzola worked in collaboration with the art department, carefully studying each of the film’s characters to develop a palette for their personal belongings, including their vehicles. “Lucy Kelson is a highly paid lawyer, but her character is down to earth and she’s not into glamour,” Mazzola says. “It wouldn’t make sense for her to drive a luxury car like a Mercedes, so we outfitted her with a sensible Volvo. On the other hand, everything George owns is the very best. He wears a Patek Philippe watch and he’s chauffeured around in a $250,000 Mercedes Pullman limousine we brought over from Germany.”
Finding the right boat to portray George’s yacht “was a little tough,” Mazzola admits. “I had to find a yacht in the offseason going into winter and after making a lot of phone calls, I found a businessman in Manhattan with just the right yacht to fit George perfectly. She’s a 120-foot Benetti, a real beauty.” |
