Nov 27 2007'Watchmen' Backlot Pictures, Plus How Many Nails Were Used

Director Zack Snyder has posted shots of the set for his Watchmen adaptation, where he has faithfully recreated every dirty, urine-pooled detail of New York City circa 1985--and you can even see Rorschach on the street. But how could he construct such an amazingly intricate and perfectly worn version of New York on a backlot in British Columbia? With building materials, of course, as he goes on to explain in excruciating detail:

• 5,800 feet of neon requiring 24,000 watts of power
• 100 unique and custom-designed graphics created for the various storefronts
• 5,000 square feet of custom posters
• Street had to work for 1938, 1945, 1953, 1957, 1964, 1974, 1975, 1977, and 1985
• 1,040 feet of 1:1 scale New York streets
• 98,400 square feet of exterior scenery
• 12,500 square feet of interior scenery
• Building heights range from 23'9" to 42'6"
• 10,325 16-foot 2x4s
• 3,600 sheets of OSB (plywood-like construction material)
• 384,000 square feet of foam brick
• 200,000 nails
• 3,500 tubes of construction adhesive
• 160,000 lbs. of steel I-beams support the facades
• 300 cubic meters of concrete
• 6,000 square feet of glass
• 4,800 square feet of plexiglass
• 20,000 donuts were consumed by the construction crew
• 20,000 gallons of water and 3,000 gallons of Gatorade was drunk by the crew

Wow, 24,000 watts of power! That should negate all the energy savings from those fancy "compact fluorescents" for the next few decades! You say it's 1:1 scale?! That's, like, actual size! That explains why none of the extras look like giants! And, holy shit, 200,000 nails?! That's such a completely appropriate number for over 100,000 feet of scenery! Crazy!

Thanks for the info, Zack. Way to ruin the magic and wonder of your accomplishment with unnecessary details about how many gallons of water workers drank (20,000). Next up: Zack Snyder tells you what's in hot dogs.

More under the cut.

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