“We’re playing to the genre, but we’re also pulling the rug out on it by giving it a new twist and keeping it fresh and vital.” —Director Mark Mylod
On the morning we meet Ally Darling [Anna Faris], another bad romance has just imploded and she’s fired from her job in marketing. On her way home from her truncated day at work, Ally reads a magazine article that changes her life, re: the number of lovers women have in their lifetime. This leads her to wonder if she has missed something, or someone, important during the past decade. So she sets on a quest to re-connect with all her previous lovers, looking for her elusive ideal man.
Set Decorator Denise Pizzini SDSA and Production Designer Jon Billington created dynamic sets on location in Boston. As always, and particularly in this film, it’s all about the details…
Ally’s Apartment
“It seemed like a perfect premise for a romantic comedy…to go back and rediscover who you’ve been with,” relates Screenwriter Jennifer Crittenden. “The big challenge was to keep the film from feeling episodic, as Ally runs from guy to guy to guy to guy, so we gave her a home base from which she embarks on her adventures. Ally’s apartment, a quirky blend of styles and modern eras, reflects her personality.”
“WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? is the story of a woman who isn’t sure of who she is,” Billington adds. “Ally has come to a point in her life when she’s trying to escape the attachment to her mother, so we incorporated that into the details of the set dressing. She has a very eclectic mix of stuff—there are things from her childhood that have been layered over with items from her more recent past.”
Pizzini offers details, “The sofa was perfect to help convey Ally’s departure from her traditional East Coast upbringing. It has traditional lines presented in a non- traditional way because of the acid green paisley. Her television sits on a white 70’s dresser, and the kitchen table and chairs are vintage as well—perhaps from her childhood, or perhaps because they seemed au courante to her. The rug was hand-woven in Pakistan, and then over-dyed in a bright green.”
“Everything in her apartment was very personalized and intentional,” Pizzini continues. “I wanted it to reflect her creativity and eclecticism, with cool found objects but not flea market style—she’s a struggling artist, but not a starving one. In the script, Ally was described as ‘upbeat and adorable.’ As we chose everything for her apartment, we would jokingly ask... ‘Is this upbeat and adorable?’!”
Heart of Boston Magical Wedding
“Since this wedding is the at end of the movie we wanted it to be the most romantic," Pizzini unveils. "The theme was A Midsummer’s Night Dream. We hung 1200 china balls in Post Office Square in downtown Boston. On a trip to New York, Buyer Jennifer Engel and I stocked up on fabric, ribbons, bows, butterflies, pussy willows and branches. I was determined not to do traditional floral arrangements. I wanted to expand on the garden theme. We had bird cages filled with branches and lights, topiaries, moss-covered balls, wire urns with lights. The centerpieces for the tables were cast iron urns I found at an antique store in Hudson NY, filled with white flowers, and lighted pussy willows. Draper Andrew Poleszak did all of the arrangements in house. Each chair was tied with a silk green ribbon, the bow knotted with cascading petal-like discs, with an organza butterfly seemingly flitting above.”
Upscale Restaurant
Sometimes the details are about shape and dimension. Pizzini points out, “This upscale restaurant set was created on location in the Boston Public Library courtyard. We wanted to make it look contemporary and expensive. We wanted Ally to be a little out of place. Everything was clean lines and shapes, no big patterns, no small details. The biggest challenge was to make it believable as a restaurant...and dress it while still open to the public.”
“It was important to establish Ally’s connection to Boston. You can almost reach out of her apartment windows and touch the rest of the city,” says Billington. “Still, the city feels slightly out of Ally’s reach,” notes executive producer Nan Morales, “and metaphorically that says a lot about who Ally is. She does not quite fit in. Not yet, anyway.”
