Rowing is a beautiful sport, so it’s not a wonder that sculls show up everywhere from the opening credits of “House” to this wonderfully old-school French Mennen ad from 1988. When it comes to movies, though, Hollywood’s rowing history is marked by both hits (remember the opening scene to “The River Wild” with Meryl Streep in a King?) and misses (Rob Lowe decides to fix his boat mid-race in “Oxford Blues”…and rows in blue jeans). You can read more about the history of movie rowing in this row2K feature.
Considering this spotty on-screen record, it was a pleasant surprise to discover that the “The Social Network” consulted with Dan Boyne, Harvard’s director of recreational sculling when trying to portray Olympians Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Boyne, in turn, provided a rower’s view on the project via a series on row2K.The lengthy articles offer an amusing take on how much effort, planning, and sheer suspension of disbelief is required to create a Hollywood blockbuster. Describing a scene where the Winklevoss twins are supposed to be practicing in a tank room, Boyne writes:
It was the first time I’d been on a real movie set before (the river didn’t really count) and it was indeed like entering a world of illusion. In this case, the illusion was that the BU tanks had been made to look like the Harvard tanks.
Art director Don Burt came straight over to me and explained the problem.
The big debate was about how the idle tank oars should be positioned in the oarlocks – feathered or squared, shipped in or extended. That was it. This is what had created the whole kerfuffle.
I tried to keep a keep a straight face as I examined the oars, shifting them around a bit while I said “hello” to Armie and Josh. They’d been sprayed with glycerin to look like they were really sweating, but of course their hair still looked perfect.
To read the rest of the series, “Rowing and the Art of the Social Network,” click here.
