Literal Set Photos From Paul Thomas Anderson's Latest

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While most of the best set photos usually feature actors or filmmakers, there is a rare caliber of upcoming film where the sets themselves are exciting. Usually, that's reserved for the mega-blockbusters like The Dark Knight Rises or The Avengers however, in the case of Paul Thomas Anderson's currently untitled film which was previously called The Master, we'll make an exception. It's Paul Thomas Anderson, after all. The Oscar-nominated director is currently on Mare Island in Northern California shooting his long-delayed film starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern and others and now we've got some photos of several locations and sets that should make their way into the film.

These photos come to us from The Examiner (via the PTA website Cigarettes and Red Vines). According to the article that's attached to these photos, the entirety of Mare Island is being used for the film so you get a good sense of the look of the movie. The mansion seen below has been remodeled and the boat was used for shooting a few days ago.

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The photos were taken by Dana and Patrick Vandeweg, who own an Inn on the island that's being used by the production to store costumes and such. They're providing some additional info on their blog and here's an excerpt specifically about the boat in question:

Yesterday, they were filming on the USS Potomac, the Presidential Yacht know as F.D.R.'s "Floating White House" that was docked in Mare Island. They needed to create waves so they used smaller motor boats to do the job. However, since the waves were not big enough to really rock the ship, they ended up tying a large obejct behind the motor boats to create a more powerful wave. That apparently worked because some of the actors ("talent") were seen leaving the ship a little sea sick.

We'd only be speculating as to why Anderson would need to use such a big boat, but we know that Hoffman's character – who ends up creating a belief system based on what happens to him in World War II – has to come home, so maybe he returns to the States on the boat.

What do you think these images say about the film? Can you pick out anything about what PTA is going for?