Big Eyes set up a block of Powell Street in Gastown as the San Francisco Arts District last Tuesday for scenes of Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) trying to sell some of his wife’s portraits of children with oversized eyes to a North Beach gallery owner (Jason Schwartzman). The exterior of Keane’s arrival was filmed around lunchtime and then some interior scenes inside Stussy clothing store at 49 Powell Street dressed as the gallery. I saw director Tim Burton in his straw hat and his star Waltz in a blue shirt coming and going from set but not much could be seen of the filming until Burton set up for an establishing shot outside the busy gallery. Crew filmed this around suppertime with local owners of period cars driving by the set in a loop and background performers in period clothes strolling along the sidewalk. Even later, production moved to the rear of the store on Alexander Street to film scenes of the gallery owner (Schwartzman) looking at Keane portraits for sale in the window of a drug store.
Related: Tim Burton in Straw Hat Sets Up Establishing Shot Outside Gallery
Jason Schwartzman as owner of The Gallery.
The Gallery.
Establishing shot of period background vehicles and performers outside Stussy as the gallery.
Owners drive their classic cars by the set in a coordinated loop.
Background performers dressed in period clothing supplied by the Big Eyes production.
Evening shoot on Alexander Street with Jason Schwartzman looking at Keane paintings for sale.
