Same But Different

This is a good example of why it was actually quite hard to scout options for The Neighborhood Where All The Houses Look The Same for filming outside NYC. Because most of those tract developments date to the 40s-60s, restrictions on changes had long since lapsed…

So you’d find a few homes down a cul-de-sac that, once-upon-a-time, had been identical, and you’d get excited – FOUND IT! FINALLY! Then you look closer and, oh wait: different roof, different garage doors, different paint color, different shutters, different front door.

And on film, EVERYTHING needs to be identical for it to read as “soulless cookie-cutter conformist neighborhood.” Once you get any differentiations, it just comes off as “Anywhere USA Suburb.” Definitely alike, but different enough to make a huge change as to what it signifies.