This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.Nope, it's not a whole set.
The foreground is a slightly redressed toy, borrowed from J. Jonah Jameson. It's the same toy that the chairs I use for Courtroom scenes came from.
The printed 'flat' behind them is, as you guessed, a modified screen grab.
First I combined two frames to paint out Venkman. (Peck was in basically the same spot the entire shot.)
Then I did several things to the image. I sharpened some of the details by painting them in from later closeups (Wise potato chip bag, USA Today logo from the montage, etc.)
I replaced the Durston firehouse photos with originals from this website:
http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS023/FS ... 921-hd.htm I also added a Google-searched 'New York Tribune' flag to the top of some of the blurry newspapers-- just a best-guess as to which paper it might be-- and re-typed their headlines digitally from things I've spotted in theatrical viewings. The smallest one says "Airline Denies Haunted Plane".
Then I painted out Peck completely (along with some desktop clutter and other details), cloned the tops of the walls to extend it vertically, and deformed the entire image to make it look as straight as possible for printing.
I did have slightly more ambitious plans for the back wall. I own a real 1938 Philco radio like Venkman's, so I photographed it from every angle and made one I could print and fold up like a little cube.
I even duplicated the curve along the front edge when I made the one-inch-wide cardstock version.
(And yes, I put my DR. P. VENKMAN deskplate on the scanner and made a miniature of it too.)
But the concept of building a dimensional shelf in front of the printed backdrop never materialized, partly due to the difficulty of getting everything in focus at the same time. I originally wanted Peck seated in a chair in front of the desk, and Venkman leaning forward for the "You go get the court order" moment. But Peck can't really sit properly, and he was too large and blurry when closer to the camera. It looked much better with both of them standing and turned profile.
As it is, the Venkman figure is right up against the backdrop, meaning the shelf idea wouldn't have worked, so I just turned the mini-Philco around and put it on the desk with only the vacuum tubes showing. Note the deskplate and other desktop details are also out of focus.
I also trimmed the newspaper with the Chevrolet ad out of the printed backdrop and affixed it to the JJJ chair. I took the pic two ways, with that foreground element and without. In the end, I chose the one with it but it could have gone either way.
The last thing I did was to modify the no-pack Venkman figure with some glove-less forearms found in my leftover parts bag from older customs. This is a non-damaging parts swap done by heating-and-popping the elbow joint. I also used an older head.
But I JUST noticed that, after all that prep, when I snapped the photo his left forearm was rotated the wrong way. The teardrop shape of his cuff was pointing up instead of down as it should.
Doh!
Alex