At the time that Fred proposed his concept, however, we only had access to one old tv in storage, but not really old enough to be interesting. I began scanning the adverts in the hopes of picking up a number of old tvs that worked well enough to be light sources, and turned up a couple that way. But as our shoot date crept closer I realized I would need to find a source if I was to come up with the required number of sets. 

Driving home one evening I saw it: a grimy streetside window revealed lurking towers of dusty tv and stereo components beneath a weathered backlit sign of 60’s vintage. The next day I went back with Fred to pick tvs. When we squeezed in the front door and stood uncertainly in the narrow space available, an older man appeared at the back of the store and picked his way through the loose stacks to greet us. When we described our need he assured us that he had some good samples in the basement if we’d like to see. He said he often sold dozens of sets to movie crews, so our request didn’t raise an eyebrow. Locking the door to the storefront, he led us around the corner to the back alley, then down a few steps to a decrepit door that opened onto the dirt-floored underbelly of the old building.