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National Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive

Shell Beach sign from Dark City

1996

Shell Beach sign from Dark City

1996

  • NFSA IDV8BDKRJN
  • TypeFilm
  • MediumMoving Image
  • FormProp
  • GenresScience Fiction
  • Year1996

‘Come to Shell Beach. The water’s fine!’ This original prop miniature sign, complete with a slightly sinister winking sun and a waving woman dressed in a bikini, was used for special effects during the production of Australian director Alex Proyas' 1998 tech-noir film Dark City. This imagery of Shell Beach is key to the film. It represents an out-of-reach distant memory for the central character, Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell), who inhabits a place that is in direct contrast to Shell Beach: a dark city bathed in shadows where the sun never shines.

‘Come to Shell Beach. The water’s fine!’ This original prop miniature sign, complete with a slightly sinister winking sun and a waving woman dressed in a bikini, was used for special effects during the production of Australian director Alex Proyas' 1998 tech-noir film Dark City. This imagery of Shell Beach is key to the film. It represents an out-of-reach distant memory for the central character, Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell), who inhabits a place that is in direct contrast to Shell Beach: a dark city bathed in shadows where the sun never shines.

  • Production designer
    George Liddle
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  • Props and set dresser

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  • 1990s

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