Identity Crisis production board used by Director Melvin Van Peebles: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A production board for the movie Identity Crisis, used by Director Melvin Van Peebles. The production board is a plain black leather bound folio that unfolds into eight panels. Each panel has a pocket with a window that holds a piece of paper related to the film production. The pages are arranged left to right.

The first page is a grid sheet with yellow and blue lines. The lines and columns have has been filled in with handwritten blue ink with notes regarding scenes and locations for the characters: Yves, Sebastian, Sue, Narish, Chilly, and Max. Handwritten and blue ink text bottom right corner of the page reads [DAY 5 / MON - APRIL 18].

The second page is a grid sheet with yellow, blue, black, and white lines. The lines and columns have been filled in with handwritten blue ink with notes regarding scenes and locations for the characters: the Inspector, the Inspector’s wife, Yves, Eva, Zorro, Chilly, Doris Dot, Rico, IQ, Up Rock, and Punjab. Two of the lines in the far right column are marked [DAY 6 TUES – APRIL 19] and [DAY 7-WED APRIL 20] in blue ink and pencil.

The third page is a grid sheet with yellow, blue, white and orange lines. The lines and columns has been filled in with handwritten blue ink with notes regarding scenes and locations for the characters: Sebastian, Yves, Chilly, Punjab, Narish, Sebastian, Roxy, and the Brain Doctor.

The fourth page features thin white and gray paper strips arranged in a horizontal orientation. There are some hatch marks and semicircular lines on the gray strips. Handwritten black ink text on three white strips reads [DAY 12 TUES APRIL 26], [DAY 13 WED APRIL 27], and [DAY 14 THUR APRIL 28].

The fifth page features thin white and gray paper strips and one blue paper strip arranged in a horizontal orientation. There are some hatch marks and semicircular lines on the gray strips. Handwritten black ink text on three white strips reads [DAY 15 FRI APRIL 29], [DAY 16 SAT APRIL 30], and [DAY 17 MON MAY 2]. Handwritten blue ink text on the blue strip reads [SUN – 5/1/88 DAY OFF].

The sixth page features thin white and gray paper strips arranged in a horizontal orientation. There are some hatch marks and semicircular lines on the gray strips. Handwritten black ink text on two white strips reads [DAY 18 MAY 3 TUES] and [DAY 19 May 4 WED].

The seventh page thin white and gray paper strips arranged in a horizontal orientation at the top and the bottom two-thirds is white with a black grid. In the top white strips is black handwritten text that reads [DAY 20 MAY 5 THUR]. Handwritten black text in the grid below includes [DAY 21 FRI MAY 6], [DAY 22 SAT MAY 7], [DAYOFF[sic] SUN MAY 8] AND [DAY 23 MON MAY 9] along the bottom edge. The lines and columns has been filled in with handwritten black ink with notes regarding scenes and locations for the characters: Sebastian, Yves, Chilly, and I.Q.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1988
• Written by: Melvin Van Peebles, American, 1932 - 2021
• Type: documents
• Type: boards (binding components)
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product) with leather on cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Unfolded): 16 3/8 × 83 3/8 × 5/16 in. (41.6 × 211.8 × 0.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Folded): 16 3/8 × 10 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (41.6 × 26.7 × 7 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Hollywood (Film)
• Topic: Musicians
• Object number: 2024.60.29
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Estate of Melvin Van Peebles Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.