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Spook Central is the sixth chapter on the DVDs of Ghostbusters. This chapter introduces Dana and Louis.

Cast[]

Locations[]

Plot[]

From the Sheep Meadow lawn in Central Park, the Shandor Building at 550 Central Park West stood tall. The score was ominous. Atop the roof, there was a Terror Dog statue perched. Down below, a yellow taxi cab pulled over across the street. Central Park was steps away. Some trees were still green. Others became autumn orange. Dana Barrett got out of the taxi. ST-6-0707 was stamped on the door. Dana slowly got out, holding a paper grocery bag filled to the brim in her right arm and a cello case with her left arm. She used her right leg to close the door. After the taxi left, she looked right, then left, then right as she crossed. Cars drove past. A sedan in the middle of the street braked and honked at her.

Dana got off the elevator on her floor. A neighbor, with a New York Times, tucked under his right arm was waiting for it. Dana greeted him. He replied back as he got in the elevator. Dana went down the hall. Louis Tully popped his head out of his apartment. He was in a blue tracksuit and wore a pair of Adidas. They greeted each other. Louis remarked he thought it was the drugstore. Dana paused and asked if he was sick. Louis said he was fine and he just ordered some more vitamins and stuff. He revealed he was just exercising. Dana eyed her door then turned back to Louis. Louis revealed he taped a 20-minute Workout and played it back at high speed on his machine so it only took ten minutes. Dana was losing interest. Louis offered her inside for a mineral water. Dana turned him down saying she would really like to, but she had to go rehearsal. She continued on. He followed. Louis took a rain check on that and told her he always had plenty of low sodium mineral water and other nutritious foods in the house but she already knew that. Dana lowered her case. Dana dryly commented she knew that like she was told this many many times. Louis remembered he was having a big party for his clients. Dana handed her grocery bag to him to hold while she opened her door. It was his fourth anniversary as an accountant. Even though she filed her own own tax return, which he thought she shouldn't do, he still invited her to the party because she was his neighbor and all. Dana smiled and thanked him. She promised she would really try to stop by. Louis continued that she shouldn't leave her TV on so loud when went out. He told her the creep down the hall phoned the manager. A confused look came on Dana's face. She looked inside her apartment. Dana admitted she didn't realize she left it on. Louis revealed he climbed on the ledge and tried to disconnect the cable, but he couldn't get in, so he turned his TV up real loud too so everyone would think all the TVs had something wrong with them. Dana quickly told him bye and closed the door on him. Her apartment was 2206. Unfazed, Louis continued and told her he would see her later and would give her a call. He announced he was going to go have a shower. He tried to open his door but he locked himself out.

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters[]

  • The scene opens on Sheep Meadow. It is located in the southwestern section of Central Park.
  • In the August 5, 1983 draft:
    • On page 23, Dana rides her 10 speed bike up to her apartment building at 78th and Riverside Drive with her groceries in the carrier basket.
    • On page 24, Dana gets out on her floor, the thirty fifth floor. Louis is described as a portly swinger. He tells Dana she missed a great party the night before. Dana tells him she had two auditions then shot a commercial all afternoon, implying her profession is a model/actor.
  • In the September 30, 1983 draft, on page 25, the apartment building is now at 78th and Central Park West but Dana and Louis are still living up on the 35th floor. As of this draft, Dana is now a cellist.
  • According to Ivan Reitman, the hardest aspect of developing the story was what was going on in the apartment. The Keymaster-Gatekeeper idea came very late in the process.[1]
  • The first choice for the Shandor building was 1 Fifth Avenue because it was felt the Washington Square Arch would have been a suitable landmark for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man to walk past. Plans were dropped when the co-op committee for the building voted against its use in the film, according to Michael Gross.[2]
  • The building didn't have an upper section that was called for in the script so the upper stories and temple were added through matte paintings.[3][4] Eight stories were added.[5] In order to augment the building, the taller building behind it was painted out entirely and the one on the left was shortened.[6]
  • For filming the first scene of the building in New York, it was originally intended to start at the roof and pan down to Dana Barrett. Since there was no temple, the pan would have required a complicated matte composite shot. Instead, the shot was done from a reverse angle with the camera looking down past one of the stone Terror Dogs, which was just a painting.[7]
  • At least one of the gargoyles was added in optically to the Shandor building.[8]
  • The Terror Dog makes its first appearance in this chapter as one of the statues.
  • Sigourney Weaver auditioned for the role of Dana by acting like a dog.[9]
  • In the June 6 and July 6, 1983 drafts, Peter Venkman's love interest was an interdimensional woman posing as a beautiful woman.[10]
  • Dana's and Louis' apartments and the hallway in between were two adjoining sound stages, Stage 12 and Stage 18, at The Burbank Studios in Los Angeles. It was all built by John DeCuir and his team as one unit.[11]
    • Although it cost more this way, it was easier for Ivan Reitman to film in.
  • The neighbor getting in the elevator as a New York Times.
  • John Candy was originally envisioned for the role of Louis Tully.[12][13] Candy didn't understand his part and suggested playing him as a German with an accent and two Rottweilers but Ivan Reitman was against adding more dogs. Candy ultimately passed on the role. The script was sent to an agent who sent it to his client Rick Moranis who had been patiently waiting in the wings. Moranis helped tailor the character and came up with the idea for Louis to be an accountant.[14][15]
  • Louis first appeared in the June 6, 1983 draft as a fellow refugee of the creature which was to become Peter Venkman's interdimensional love interest. With a diet cola commercial, one creature turns into a beautiful woman while the other turns into a heavy-set man. Joe Medjuck notes Louis would have been similar to Candy's Johnny LaRue character from SCTV. [16][17]
  • In the July 6, 1983 draft, Louis Tully was a visiting conventioneer who got possessed.[18]
  • In the September 30, 1983 draft, on page 25, Louis is now introduced as the final version seen in the movies.
  • Louis is wearing a pair of Adidas shoes.
  • Louis mentions 20 Minute Workout. It was a Canadian-produced aerobic workout television series that aired from 1983 to 1984 that featured a "a bevy of beautiful girls" demonstrating the various exercise routines.
  • There is a Pepperidge Farm cookie bag visible in Dana's grocery bag when Louis talks about his 20 Minute Workout.
  • Dana files her own tax returns.
  • Louis is celebrating his 4th anniversary as an accountant. This means he started out in 1980.
  • When Louis mentions he is going to take a shower, a snippet of the 1937 movie "The Lost Horizon" can be heard. It is at the point when John Howard's character George Conway says, "There must be some connection between the plane and this place. They must have deliberately brought us here. Why, Bob? What reason could they have for doing a thing like that?" and Ronald Colman as Robert Conway replying, "That's what's on the other side of the hill."[19]
  • The man who Dana exchanges greetings with at the elevator makes two more appearances:

IDW Comics[]

  • On page 17 of Ghostbusters Volume 1 Issue #4, Ray Stantz enters room 2206, Dana Barrett's apartment. The person is based on John Candy's take of Louis Tully - a German man with two dogs.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #15:
    • On the Regular Cover, on the gym paper is a mention of 20 minute workout VHS - referring to Louis' workout regime he revealed at the start of Ghostbusters to Dana.
    • On Page 2, Louis' memories include one of him wearing the blue tracksuit.
  • On page 9 of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #16, like in the first movie, Louis makes a suggestion about exercising in half time to get greater results.
  • On page 37 of Ghostbusters Annual 2015, Louis is in his blue track suit from the first movie.
  • On page one of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #1, in panel 2, there is a Cosmopolitan: Tonetics Beginners Workout VHS video tape in Louis' box, a nod to his 10 minute work out line he tells Dana about.
  • On page 1 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #3,
    • Louis is wearing his blue track suit from Ghostbusters Chapter 6: Spook Central.
    • Next to Louis is a bottle of mineral water modeled after Perrier. In Chapter 6: Spook Central, Louis offered Dana some mineral water.
  • On page 2 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #3, Dana alludes to when she saw the Terror Dogs in her refrigerator in Chapter 6: Spook Central.

References[]

  1. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 12. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Ivan Reitman says: "The whole Keymaster-Gatekeeper idea came very late, and we struggled with it all the way."
  2. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 41 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Michael Gross says: "Plans to use the 1 Fifth Avenue building progressed to the point of designing preliminary rooftop sets for it, but were dropped when the co-op committee for the building voted against its use in the film."
  3. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 40. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Since the actual structure had a roofline decidedly unlike the one called for in the script, the upper section of the building -- even though ill-defined from such a distance -- was matted out of the live-action photography and rerendered in the form of a painting by Matthew Yuricich."
  4. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 56 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "While a real building in New York provided the requisite lower floors, the upper stories and temple rooftop were added alternately via matte paintings, miniatures and full-size sets."
  5. Ivan Reitman (2014). Ghostbusters 1 & 2 Gift Set (2014) "Time Is But A Window: Ghostbusters II and Beyond" (DVD ts. 12:05-12:11). Columbia Pictures. Ivan says: "We added eight stories to the building that's actually there at 65th and Park -- Central Park West."
  6. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 59 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "To accentuate the structure, the taller building behind it was painted out entirely and the one to the left was shortened."
  7. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 40. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "As storyboarded by Thom Enriquez, the original concept was to start at the roof and then pan down the building to Dana as she enters from the street. Since the rooftop temple was not actually on the building, however, the pan would have entailed a very complex matte composite. In the end, the shot was achieved from a reverse angle, with the camera looking down past one of the stone Terror Dogs -- in this case, just a painting -- to Dana entering the apartment building below."
  8. Joe Medjuck (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 16:52-16:54). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Joe Medjuck says: "This was added optically, this gargoyle. "
  9. Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 17:18-17:37). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "And um actually agreed to audition. She came into my office and not like I'm giving anything away saying she turned into a dog at some point in this film and uh I remember her getting up on the couch and actually auditioning like a dog and I knew at that point she had to be in the film. "
  10. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 126 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Eventually cut from the script was a restaurant sequence which appeared in the June and July drafts. In both, Venkman takes Dana -- an interdimensional alien masquerading as a beautiful woman in the first draft, and a beautiful woman possessed by an interdimensional alien in the second -- to a fashionable restaurant. Her unfamiliarity with the finer points of human etiquette becomes apparent when, upon arrival, she observes several ladies removing their wraps and proceeds to follow their example by taking off her blouse."
  11. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 45 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "The sprawling apartment house interiors -- two key apartment and the hallway between them -- extended over two adjoining soundstages on the Burbank studios lot."
  12. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 115 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "As originally scripted for John Candy, the Louis Tully character was to have had decidedly earthier interests -- best evidenced in the party sequence as it appeared in the August draft."
  13. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 44 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "In anticipation of getting John Candy for the role, the character Louis Tully was originally molded to suit Candy's persona."
  14. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 44 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says "By the time shooting actually began, though, John was no longer available. Fortunately, Rick Moranis was and he really helped to tailor the character. He came up with the idea of Louis being an accountant, and the character really started to evolve from that point on."
  15. Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, Joe Medjuck (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 17:44-18:33). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "Now the part was originally written for John Candy. Do you remember that? We called up John and said 'John, you got to be in this, Harold is in it... Harold and John had worked together in SCTV up in Canada and all of us worked in Stripes and only naturally he should be in this film. And John didn't understand this part. He kept coming back and saying well maybe I'll play him in German. He'll have a German accent and he'll have Rottweilers. I said you can't have dogs, we already have too much dog imagery in the movie. And he finally passed on the film. Rick Moranis, who had been sent the script by his agent, was waiting patiently in the wings and was very happy when John passed..." Joe Medjuck says: "But we changed the character a lot. Rick really helped create this character." Harold Ramis says: "He brought some fine speeches to this character." Ivan Reitman says: "And I think he chose the wardrobe."
  16. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 44 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "The character makes his first appearance in the June draft as a fellow refuge of the creature which was to become Venkman's interdimensional love interest. With a diet cola television commercial for inspiration, one creature transforms itself into a beautiful woman, while the other transforms into a heavy-set man."
  17. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 44 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says "At first, Louis was a much different character than the one you see in the film. He was similar to the Johnny LaRue character that John did on SCTV."
  18. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 126 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Later in the July draft, Louis Tully -- then a visiting conventioneer, also possessed -- enters the same restaurant..."
  19. prodestrian post Ghostbusters Fans 12/3/2022

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Primary Canon[]

Behind the Scenes[]

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