It’s interesting to learn that filmmakers engage the services of a real plumber to make sure the facts are right when incorporating plumbing elements in scenes. After all, attention to details can earn a movie good reviews, as some critics can be quick to judge movie makers who don’t depict real life situations even for something as common and as simple as plumbing matters.
Plumbers Can Help Create Realistic-Looking Sewage Systems
Moviegoers are drawn to watching scenes where protagonists have their backs against the wall and seem to have no other way of escaping. Thankfully, there are storm drainage and sewer systems underneath the ground. They often serve as the only means of escaping.
In such cases, set designers and cinematographers have to have inputs from real life plumbers who have seen the ins and outs of storm sewers and underground drainages. They need to create the most realistic looking sewage where actors and actresses can carry on with their daring, albeit cringy escapes.
One of the most memorable of course is the escape scene in the 2012 Les Miserable movie headlined by Hugh Jackman. As Jean Valjean and surrogate father to Colette (Amanda Sigfried), he helped Colette’s beloved Marius Pointmercy (Eddie Redmayne) escape the clutches of the French soldiers who stormed the barricades. Since Marius had been shot and already near death, Jean Valjean carried the unconscious young man to safety, across and out of the dirty and rat-infested sewers.
Other Examples of Movies that Incorporated Plumbing Elements
The Money Pit – Why the Movie Needed Some Plumbing Advice
The Money Pit is a 1986 comedy about a young couple who were beside themselves with joy for purchasing a huge mansion for a bargain price of $200,000. Starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, the two soon found out that they actually purchased a lemon of a house after the entire bathroom came crashing down.
However, those who are well versed with house-buying methods and plumbing systems know that such situations are next to impossible. First off, a best practice in buying a house is to have a professional inspect important house features such as plumbing and roofing systems.
Secondly, the actual bathroom crash scene lacked elememts that would make a devastating turn of event look realistic. Yet there were no water leaks, broken or damaged pipes or even pieces of ceiling debris, In real and ordinary life, the couple’s first reaction would have been to call an emergency plumber to handle such problems. Yet since there was no water, no broken pipes and other debris, the problem didn’t require the services of an emergency plumber companies are known for.
Manchester By The Sea – Casey Affleck Got Good Advice from Real Plumbers
Casey Affleck won an Oscar award for his performance in Manchester By The Sea, as handyman and janitor od several buildings in Massachusetts. Although he responds to maintenance calls from apartment dwellers, he gets into argument with residents who insist that he repair their leaking pipes and showers. Still, as Lee Chandler, Affleck exhibited proper ways of using plumbing tools, including toilet plungers, just to help tenants temporarily deal with their plumbing issues.
Casey Affleck and the filmmakers behind the movie said they made sure they were doing it right by consulting with a local plumbing company.