Somehow this trivia question popped up while watching endless television. What is the smallest movie set or stage used in a major movie? While you could mention the movie you and your brother made in your bathroom when you were kids, or an old off-theatre production, I’m thinking regular theatrical productions. Live action, not animations. And lets not get into “bigger inside than out” Dr Who TARDIS. To make it easier, let’s say most of the production is there. Beginning and ending, how the actors get into the situation and finally get out, we can forgive. I can think of a couple.
To give size to small, the largest one I can think of off-hand is Rear Window. The entire movie was one set. Pretty cool concept, but still large. Life of Pi is a boat, though cheating as there is animations. I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know how much of the movie is boat. Another boat is Life Boat. I haven’t seen this one either. The African Queen was another boat. And I’m sure there are movies completely in submarines.
I also thought of stage productions that had movies made. Lets not get into a movie made of an actual stage play, but a move production of a stage play. Arsenic and Old Lace was a living room on stage and expanded a little to outside the house in the movie. Same with Desk Set, though the movie wandered more. So those are bad examples, though points for trying.
I did a quick search and came up with A Boy And His Atom: The World’s Smallest Movie, which uses atoms and admittedly stop-action, so mostly out as not live action. I guess atoms can be “live”? Some others are Apollo 13 (kinda), The Taking of the Pelham One-Two-Three (again, kinda). Those two the main drama was in a capsule and a subway car, so “kinda”.
Unfortunately, I forgot the move that made me think of this. Like a phone booth or something.
My Dinner with Andre. Except for a couple of shots at the beginning and end on a bus, the movie takes place at one table in a restaurant. Neither character leaves it.
The Gin Game. Originally a stage play, two TV-movies of it were made; one in 1981 with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy; and the other in 2003, with Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore.
All the action takes place on the verandah of a senior citizens’ home. On stage, the whole set measures about 25’ to 30’, by 12’ to 15’ or so. From watching the TV movies, I’d guess that the producers were working with about the same sized set.
In terms of size of boat, I think The Old Man and the Sea might come in as smallest. Much of Life of Pi is on the lifeboat, although quite a bit takes place elsewhere before and after the boat voyage. Lifeboat takes place almost entirely on the boat. I don’t think African Queen counts since that was an actual boat rather than a set (although I suppose that they could have made a mockup for some shots.)
After an overnight think about this I still don’t remember what I was thinking of. I might have been watching an old Perry Mason and just thought up a movie in a booth, or it was something completely different. After I had read my OP I did think of Phone Booth, but that wasn’t what I was thinking, and my lack of watching it except in commercials made me think “not quite”.
I’m wondering if we should have a separate “boat” category? <grin> I had heard of Das Boot but, again, hadn’t seen it and didn’t know how much was in the boat itself. I’ve been watching (more listening) a television series Silent Service (1957-1958) about WW2 submarine stories, but there was lots of other places too. Thinking about it, if all the action was in one place in the sub (Conning Tower, Bridge, etc) it could count, but all over the boat, probably not.
Vaguely heard of this – probably a winner.
Minimalist productions are over in room 2 <grin> Similarly with that Star Trek O K Corral. And Waiting for Godot.
Another (different) category could be driving around in a vehicle: Driving Around Getting Coffee types.
Now I’m wondering how a movie could carry over the course of one or two hours with minimal to work with. The boats, and Twelve Angry Men, have at least the tension of people (or depth charges, or a fish) to play off. Buried has the tension of rescued in the end (I assume; don’t count as a spoiler). Though I’m guessing it ends up as a lot of talking.
The sci-fi movie Cube was set in a never-ending maze of identical square rooms but to make the movie all they used is a single room for the set and varied the lighting.
