Types of Research I can Do

I would say my experience largely falls into one of three categories: historical, scientific, interpretive.

Historical:

On historical assignments, generally I’m digging up facts and answering questions. This was the sort of thing that made me get my Masters to become a librarian, because reference questions in a library are often so similar to this. Part of this job is also often sourcing those materials (IE finding the vintage wallpaper, figuring out if we can afford a full sized antique rug, tracking down taxidermy pigeons for a play) to then actually have on set. Some fun ones:

  • When were fridge magnets first popularized?
  • Can you find blueprints for the Chappaquiddick bridge?
  • What did a funeral mass sound like in 1960, and can you find a recording of one?

For documentaries, this also means sourcing footage and managing the copyright clearance so we can actually use them!

A rendering of the front of the now-defunct Triple O's Lounge in South Boston. It was made using a photo of the store front we were going to be filming in, combined in photoshop with what set dressing would make it look historically accurate.

On the left is a sample rendering based on existing photos of the now-gone Triple O’s Lounge, made in Photoshop, to show what our location would look like with new artwork. On the right is essentially the room-version of the same concept. We took a scan of wallpaper and tiled it into the room we were going to use as a set to show what it would ultimately look like.

Scientific:

This one actually feels like a bridge between the historical and the interpretive. On this page I am largely talking about commercial, fictional projects I’ve worked on, so the scientific is me clarifying what could happen or what is available. I am happy to put together some hypotheticals with this info, although once you get to the point where it’s going to be built, I would strongly recommend having someone come in to figure out the schematics. I’m a researcher, not an architect.

I can’t really show most of what this work entails for NDA reasons, so let me walk you through the process on Twisters:

I’m pulling reference images of similar disasters for the art department so we can get the destruction of our beautiful Art Deco-inspired theater right.

I’m walking through the data displayed on screen throughout our set versions of the National Weather Service to show an actual EF-5 tornado hitting an actual town. This includes working in the actual software used and in simulations to produce the right displays.

I’m explaining to the actors what an EF is.

I’m sourcing blueprints so we can build all the gizmos that go on a storm-chasing car. I’m talking to the guy at NWS who builds them and has his doctorate on the topic to make sure we’re using the right parts. He gives us a grocery list. We end up getting him to do it. We love him for that.

Interpretive!

This one is fun. Interpretive assignments usually come early on–in helping build pitch decks, or for production designers interviewing for roles, that sort of thing. These are mood boards, these are PowerPoint presentations, these are me learning intense history of a particular topic so I can be a subject matter expert for a writer working on a screenplay.