On location...

[nerudite]

I was watching a movie the other day (unfortunately I can't recall which one now!), where the city that it was set in was not the real city. Maybe I've been playing too much "guess the city" or "where in the world is bturk?" games, but sometimes the film industry tries to pass off various places "on location" for other more difficult to film venues and my first thought when watching the movie is "not even!". I was just wondering if any of you have had movies filmed in or around your area, and whether the movies were actually "set" in your community in the script.

As an example, in Practical Magic, instead of filming in a quaint New England sea town, they filmed the outdoor, town shots of the movie in Coupeville, WA (about a mile and half from where I used to live). The film company painted the town white to look more authentic and then repainted it back to the pastels when they left. I don't think it looks too out of place, but the architecture isn't quite right. Just wondering if any of you have similar scenarios.

 

[Chet]

Major League

Although set in Ohio, most of it was filmed in Milwaukee at the now-razed County Stadium.

BTW - I was an 'extra' in the crowd.

 

[Chet]

...and the Blues Brothers

Supposedly set in Chicago, much of the car chase was filmed in Milwaukee (I guess its easier to shut down a freeway here).

 

[statler]

If you ever see a movie with scenes in Havard University, they are not. Harvard has a long standing policy forbidding filming on their property.

 

[Repo Man]

Continuing on the Wisconsin/Milwaukee trend...

Dillinger (made for TV movie with Mark Harmon) used Milwaukee's Thrid Ward and called it Chicago.

 

[Dan]

Vancouver fills in for many North American cities on X-Files, and some other Fox shows.

Toronto is used as a setting for a generic American city by some film producers, but those familiar with the city can easily pick it out. Streetcar tracks, red Canada Post mailboxes, Globe and Mail newspaper vending boxes, Canadian chain restaurants, and other bits of evidence make it past the editors.

Dallas filled in for Detroit in Robocop.

All High Stadium and the old War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo filled in for the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium (I believe) in The Natural.

Micro-mislocation ... Hayes Hall, home of the Department of Planning at SUNY Buffalo, was used on the late NBC TV series Jesse for the student medical clinic.

 

[Repo Man]

In the HBO film "61*" Tiger Stadium doubled as Yankee Stadium with the help of digital manipulation. I recall Billy Crystal saying that Tiger Stadium looked more like the older Yankee stadium than Yankee Stadium does now.

 

[El Feo]

Few people realize it, but "2001: A Space Odyssey" wasn't really shot in outer space. It was filmed in part on the sound stage that was used to fake the moon landing the very next year.

I have to go now, a black helicopter just flew over and I have to put my tinfoil hat back on.

 

[kms]

A Bruce Willis action movie was shot in Pittsburgh. One scene was a car chase that just couldn't take place the way it did - it was shot all over town, then edited to look like it happened in just a few minutes.

Silence of the Lambs was filmed all over the place here. I worked in a former Westinghouse facility at the time, and the jail set was in the old "factory in the sky". We went up to see it; it was pretty realistic, but made of plastic foam. I forget the true location of the story, but it wasn't western Pa.

 

[Planderella]

Toronto has been used as a faux New Orleans in many movies - so much for our movie industry.

What about movies that are allegedly filmed on location but you know the scenes don't quite match up to the location. For example, in Clint Eastwood's "Tightrope," he's involved in a footchase that begins in the French Quarter and ends up god knows where because the area looks like nothing near the French Quarter or anywhere outside of it.

In the "Big Easy," which is one of my LEAST favorite movies set in this city, Ellen Barkin is jogging along Bayou St. John near City Park but ends up at some place that looks like it's straight out of some swamp area and not the upscale Mid City neighborhood where the park and bayou are located. Don't get me started on the fake cajun accents that are basically non-existent within the city limits.

 

[jmf]

K-19 - Widowmaker was filmed in Halifax - I haven't seen it yet though. So were parts of The Shipping News. Other movies filmed at least partly in NS are: Two if by Sea; Scarlet Letter; Dolores Claiborne; Simon Birch; Margaret's Museum.

Rob Lowe just finished shooting a TV Christmas movie in Halifax.

 

[Mastiff]

Don't get me started on the fake cajun accents that are basically non-existent within the city limits.

Awww, now dawlin'...

Why you wan' be dat wey, eh chere?

 

[JivecitySTL]

I think it's kinda cool that the sci-fi classic Escape From New York was filmed entirely on location in...............








St. Louis.

Pretty cool huh?

 

[Cardinal]

There was an episode of the X-Files supposedly set in Iowa, but in one shot you could see mountains in the background.

Madison has subbed for Washington DC, as the State Capitol (the steps up to the entrance, anyway, resembles the the US Capitol.

I don't remember the name of the movie, filmed in Traverse City, MI, where Don Johnson played a shrimp boat captain -- on Lake Michigan?

 

[Floridays]

I'm certain that I am not the only South Floridian who loves to brag that this movie was filmed in Fort Lauderdale:

REVENGE OF THE NERDS II: NERDS IN PARADISE



Also filmed here: Where the Boys Are

 

[Jen]

West Michigan is not a hot spot for on location films. But parts of Tom Hank's Road to Perdition was filmed in Saugatuck and Douglas.

 

[Downtown]

The Time Machine was filmed in Albany. However, because I never saw the movie or read the book, I'm not sure which city it was supposed to be located in.

 

[NHPlanner]

Re: Major League

Although set in Ohio, most of it was filmed in Milwaukee at the now-razed County Stadium.

BTW - I was an 'extra' in the crowd.

Major League II filmed in Baltimore at Camden Yards.

I have some great pics of Camden Yards with Indians logos all over the place from my visit to Baltimore during college while I was doing a Habitat for Humanity project.

 

[boiker]

groundhog day!

Woodstock, Illinois subsituted for Puxatany? PA.

i've been there and am proud to say ate at the cafe that bill murray stuffed his face in.

 

[Downtown]

re: groundhog day

Yet another Bill Murray movie, along with Quick Change that I could watch over and over and over

 

[Chet]

And then there's John Waters

Everything set in, and I've heard filmed in, Baltimore. I watched "Serial Mom" last night. Very amusing.

"Is that a pussy willow ?"

 

[el Guapo]

Austin Powers 2

You can see the mountains around London in the scene right before Bert Bacharac and Elvis Costello begin to play. I love DVD's and SloMoVison

In the old Gunsmoke series they were always riding past and into canyons and mountains. Tain't none in Southwest Kansas like those in SoCal.

 

[el Guapo]

Mrs Guapo loves to gripe...

...about movies filmed in India. She hates Octapussy (For BTurk) with a passion, City of Joy, and she even will badmouth Gandi on occasion. The move, not the skinny dude for its mislocation of historic events.

I rip apart bomb disposal scenes (cut the red wire- cut this!) and my Da rips up movies with Tanks and infantry scenes in them. Its a family thing.

 

[Chet]

Re: Mrs Guapo loves to gripe...

...about movies filmed in India.

So no "Hoo-Ray for Bollywood" in the Guapo household either?

 

[el Guapo]

Way!

We love a good BollyWood Flick! My suggestion to you is to rent Lagaan if you want a feel good 3 hour musical about an underdog native cricket team with high hopes struggling to overcome their own artifical divisions as they battle brutal oppression by English tyrants who will soon get their comeuppance. It has many wonderful dance numbers, a love triangle and a thumping Hindi soundtrack.

 

[nerudite]

Re: Mrs Guapo loves to gripe...

I rip apart bomb disposal scenes (cut the red wire- cut this!) and my Da rips up movies with Tanks and infantry scenes in them. Its a family thing.

My pet peeve in movies is when they are doing some type of digital surveillance, satellite or whatever, and then someone in command says "enhance" and magically all the surveillance photos become clearer. Amazing! You would be surprised how often that happens in the movies.

Or... with movie trailers... I always start laughing when something starts out "In a world...".

 

[boiker]

Re: Re: Mrs Guapo loves to gripe...

My pet peeve in movies is when they are doing some type of digital surveillance, satellite or whatever, and then someone in command says "enhance" and magically all the surveillance photos become clearer. Amazing! You would be surprised how often that happens in the movies.

Or... with movie trailers... I always start laughing when something starts out "In a world...".

hehe with that deep movie trailer guy voice..

Enemy of the state is one of those examples of the ever clarifying photograph or video grab.

 

[el Guapo]

Image enhancement & bomb falicies

Last night the guys on CSI enhanced a reflection in a photo of a little girl's iris to locate the scene of the kiddie porn photos. Uhhuhh?

Another Peve is Long-Hairs or bearded freaks in Military Uniform. Yeah we pull old long-haired pot bellied retired farts back in for speical missions all the time!

What is up with Chuck Norris? That guy has a bigger ego than Clinton.

Ticking digital clock timers on bombs.
Nuclear hand grenades that devistate entire city blocks.
Endless ammo mags.
Bullet proof Cameros.

The toilet bomb scene in Lethal Weapon was funny & semi accurate. (of course they could have just glued the seat down)

In real life you can always tell where the suspected bomb is when you arrive on scene. There are always two or three cops standing over it talking on their handhelds. (Note: Handheld radios emit about 5 watts of energy. It takes 1/20 of a watt to fire a blasting cap)

 

[boiker]

Re: Image enhancement & bomb falicies

Guapo, you've caused me to continue this thread.

sound engineers in hollywood must be deaf.

Car tires cannot squeal on dirt, gravel, grass, or any other unpaved surfacing.

for fox's 'wildest police chases' glass doesn't break with every single fender bender. or shopping cart hitting a car door either.

i didn't know police cameras were able to pick up gun shots, brake squeals, tire squealing, car horns, by-standers screams, and any other number of 'dramatic' sounds so damn well.

 

[el Guapo]

Yeah! -What boiker said.

And those two cops on Wildest Police Chases are soooooo-self righteous they think themselves to be the anointed guardians of the collective good. (That's Us Planners-Duh!) I almost can't stand to watch a semi t-bone a running coke head in a firebird because of those two.

Yep - I am addicted.

JiveCityStLouis - The KC Retards on Cops are more entertaining and live in more sustainable housing than the St. Louis Retards - ha!

Are we off-topic yet?

 

[Cardinal]

So what about cars in television/movies. How many times have I seen a car explode in mid-air after plunging off a cliff? Why? Or amazing jumps. The Dukes of Hazard was particularly good. You would see the front end crumpling as the car came down, then they would cut away to a shot of the car driving off or the boys bobbing their heads as they came down. At times, you could even see the hood pop open to reveal -- no engine! Amazing car, that General Lee.

 

[Journeymouse]

Re: re: groundhog day

Yet another Bill Murray movie, along with Quick Change that I could watch over and over and over

*blink* was that 'pun' intended?

Amazing car, that General Lee.

One of my academic supervisors has a general lee. It even has that musical horn thingy. One of my 'missions' for my engd years is to try and persuade him that isn't environmentally sound (after all he's a professor in environmental technology) to be driving that gas-guzzler around.

 

[giff57]

They also need to hire someone that knows somthing about birds. It never fails that when its dark you hear loons calling....usually in the jungle ...not.

 

[Dan]

I'd love to know how struggling young adults and Gen-Xers can afford to live in luxury apartments or lofts in Los Angeles or Manhattan. Rent control ... nope. I doubt Monica and Rachel have been paying $300 a month for their Greenwich Village loft since the 1950s, either.

Let's not forget that between 1980 and 1989, every teenager in the United States either lived in the Los Angeles area, or in Chicago's northern suburbs.

On the other side, we have shows like Sex and the City and the documentary series Single in the City, where apparently every Gen-Xer in New Yok is a magazine editor, lawyer or investment banker. WTF?

 

[Chet]

I'd love to know how struggling young adults and Gen-Xers can afford to live in luxury apartments or lofts in Los Angeles or Manhattan. Rent control ... nope. I doubt Monica and Rachel have been paying $300 a month for their Greenwich Village loft since the 1950s, either.

They explained that in the first season - the apartment belongs to Monica's dead grandmother but she's still named on the rent controlled lease. Yeah, I'm a geek.

 

[Dan]

Re: Re: Image enhancement & bomb falicies

i didn't know police cameras were able to pick up gun shots, brake squeals, tire squealing, car horns, by-standers screams, and any other number of 'dramatic' sounds so damn well.

Beats those British "World's Worst Drivers" shows that air all the time on Discovery Channel and other cable networks. It seems like 95% of all moving vehicle violations in the UK are:

1) Lorries and little old ladies in Vauxhall Astras backing up on M25 on-ramps.

2) Overloaded lorries on the M25.

3) Morris Minis packed with 10 to 15 Nigerians, Pakistanis, Turks or Romani.

No chases, no crashes, nothing. "Ere's a Mini backing up on the M1 on-ramp in Hamdenshiredeneworth. The officer pulls the car over, and look at what gets out ... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen Pakistanis." DIdn't we see this a minute ago?

 

[Chet]

Re: Re: Re: Image enhancement & bomb falicies

3) Morris Minis packed with 10 to 15 Nigerians, Pakistanis, Turks or Romani.

HEY!

 

[PlannerGirl]

Ok i get ticked when i watch a movie and they have the car/bus/whatever run over a hydrant and water goes everywhere

um hate to tell em but thats rare-there is a valve in there to prevent that very thing.

 

[Dan]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Image enhancement & bomb falicies

HEY!

Okay .... 10 to 15 Ottomans.

 

[el Guapo]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Image enhancement & bomb falicies

Okay .... 10 to 15 Ottomans.

That is an entire pit group!

 

[Dan]

Ok i get ticked when i watch a movie and they have the car/bus/whatever run over a hydrant and water goes everywhere

Of course, the driver has to move the steering wheel back and forth, as if you're driving down a twisty pass in the Alps, even though they're on a straight freeway in Los Angeles.

Don't forget that you can't have a movie that takes place in San Francisco without a car chase. What good is filming in that city, if you can't show a car going airborne, General Lee style, on the city's hilly streets.

 

[Dan]

Re: Yeah! -What boiker said.

JiveCityStLouis - The KC Retards on Cops are more entertaining and live in more sustainable housing than the St. Louis Retards - ha!

Yeah ... but remember, if it wasn't filmed in Fort Worth or Albuquerque, it's not a real COPS episode.

Someday, I wanna' see a COPS in Johannesburg special.