So this is fun. I *think* it’s safe to finally share this? Last year, I was contacted by representatives of director Rick Alverson, who was in search of an authentic prop for his then-upcoming film, The Mountain, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this week. The film stars Tye Sheridan (@itstyesheridan) and the imitable Jeff Goldblum (@jeffgoldblum ) who plays a disgraced lobotomist in the 1950s. Sheridan plays Andy, an introspective young man who joins the doctor on a surreal road trip to locate his asylum-committed mother. Alverson envisioned Sheridan’s character employing a writing planchette in the film, and in his research was specifically drawn to one of the oldest and most unique specimens he found on my website. And so they contacted me to loan it to the production. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to put the one-of-a-kind planchette that caught the director’s eye in the care of the US Postal Service, and a prior conflict meant I couldn’t accompany it to the set myself. So, we settled on another, slightly less rare Jaques & Son planchette from my shelves. But once that one arrived, Alverson found even its aged patina too pristine for the well-worn look he wanted. So the propmaster and I scrambled and swapped pics of old wood and instructions back and forth, and finally commissioned a local carpenter to craft this gorgeous old properly beat-up thing out of the wood of a ragged antique box Gino found in a thrift shop. Since the castors and wheels are so difficult to replicate, I gave permission for them to mount my original Jaques hardware on the carpenter’s aged board, and this prop is the result! I love it, and it recently arrived here at the collection to rest for a bit after an exciting adventure. Of course, now I’m torn, because I have a disassembled Jaques & Son planchette that is a little upset to be legless. The propmaster informs me Mr. Goldblum dubbed this prop “Cate Planchette” on set. I expected no less. #planchette #seance #themountain #rickalverson #automaticwriting #spiritualism #ghostwriter #talkingboard #spirit #jeffgoldblum #tyesheridan https://www.instagram.com/p/BtQr3SmlzCY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15kqanyg2uv3c
