Monday, 13 October 2014
Where are we? USA, California, Burbank, Warner Bros studios
"I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians." - Francis Ford Coppola.
Finally a sleep in! We got home around 1 am, and everyone was straight to bed. We awoke after 10:00am - we'd missed breakfast. Oops but worth it. We originally had the Le Brea tar Pitts on our agenda, but we just skipped that and decided to do a Warner Bros tour. There's an age restriction so Dar couldn't come so we split ourselves into two tours.
Kaine and I went first, while Shane, Raven and Dar set off to find
brunch. The tour started with a movie to reaquaint us with the four Warner Bros and snippets of WB movies. Then it was off to check out the lot.
Unfortunately the set of The Big Bang theory was closed as they were blocking and rehearsing for tomorrow's live taping. But I did manage to take a photo of some very expensive looking cars parked next to the studio. We also drove past where they were taping 2 1/2 men, bit of a thrill to think a wall was all that divided me from Ashton Kutcher. Next to the sets, we'd see white trailers where stars hang out, and rails of costumes and props poking out of buildings.
We saw a tiny strip of a "park" which was used for the Rachel and Phoebe jogging scene in Friends, and also where the cast of the big bang theory shot the renaissance fair scene where they were dressed as knights in an early season (Kaine thinks season 3).
We then went to a large outdoor area with a circular park in the
centre and large buildings including Rosewood City Hall. My twins are fans of Pretty Little Liars unfortunately I haven't seen an
episode, the twins tend to watch it on the computer and if I hover to watch they get cranky, so generally I leave them to it. Shane has
watched a snippet and seems to know the name of one character Eddie Lamb. Whenever the twins discuss a plot Shane adds his Eddie Lamb two cents much to the joking dismay of the twins. Rosewood City Hall is from Pretty Little liars, but apparently that location is used a lot, including The Heart of Dixie, they just change the name. Parked in front of the Hall was an English double decker bus, and some 50's or 60's era cars. The guide wasnt sure what was about to be filmed.
We got out of our cart, and went inside Emily's house from Pretty
Little Liars (PLL), which meant nothing to me. But we also learned that it was also used as the childhood home of Monica and Ross from Friends, it was inside this house that the going to prom scene was filmed where Rachel's date hadn't shown up, and then Ross got ready to take her, but when he came down the stairs Rachel and
Monica were leaving with their dates. I have touched those stairs! :-). The guide also pointed out the new wood in the front of the house, this is because the front was recently destroyed coz someone drove a car into Emily's house (PLL plot). The stairs went up into know where land, their is no ceiling, just lighting. There was also a standing lamp in the corner called a ghost light... yep its there to
keep the ghosts away, apparently even the dearly departed are
celebrity stalkers and lot tourists :-)
We went through to the backyard, and saw the house next door which was used on the Gilmore girls, and is Spencer's house on PLL, Kaine immediately recognised the shed in the backyard and knew who it belonged to. Both houses are also often used for short murder scenes, with dummy corpses strewn everywhere for shows like the Mentalist. Perhaps thats why they needed the Ghost Lights... the entertainment industry is a supersticious bunch. :-)
We then were taken to a display building, and allowed to wander for about 15-20 minutes which housed a tribute display for 75 years of Batman, with costumes and props from the the various Batman
movies. I missed Darius but I took lots of photos to show him. On the upper floor it was all Harry Potter, and we got to be sorted by the sorting hat. Kaine was Slytherin, and I was Hufflepuff. Kaine loved it, and I thought it was very cool too.
Later we went to see the actual Bat mobiles used in the Batman
movies. Apparently they have real v8 engines inside. The tank Bat mobile is apparently the fastest, reaching speeds of 130 miles per hour. More photos to share with Darius. Then cameras had to be put away as we were taken onto the set of PLL. We saw all the character bedrooms, lined up next to each other. We walked
through the school hallway lined with lockers, and fake doors to classrooms. One door does lead to a real room, normally a classroom but today it was dressed as a dance studio, with a bar, and mirrors along one side. Our guide explained that the mirrors were slightly angled, to avoid the camera ending up in the shot. The final stop on the PPL set tour was the coffee shop, called the Brew, which had been transformed to a cafe / bookshop... I think that's a spoiler as someone on the show has bought it and transformed it. Many of the books on the shelves were by James Patterson as he has provided the rights to have his book's used on TV. You'd think
that they would just use fake books.
After PLL we went to the Friends set, or rather the re-built Friends set. The story goes that after Friends was finished they dismantled
the set ready for the taping of Joey. Jay Leno contacted WB who requested a final interview with the cast on the Central Perk coffee shop set. WB advised that the set had been dismantled so Jay requested they rebuild it. When the interview was complete, apparently Jay suggested that such an iconic set should be kept, WB agreed, and thus we got to see it on our tour. It was surprisingly small. Kaine and I got to have our photo taken on the couch, which was used in the last 3 seasons.
We then drove through the back lots, saw a place where the 6o's Batman was shot in front of. Saw where Jim Carrey had a fight in Yes Man, and where a street scene for the Big Bang Theory was shot, where the guys were dressed as the Justice League super heroes, when they stumbled across a car being stolen and they ran away.
I asked our guide James if he'd been an extra, and the shows that he'd been on. He said he was a background actor when he first left school. James said it didn't pay very much, but he did get free food, which was a bonus. He told us that we wouldn't know most of the shows he did were pilots which didn't make it to TV. One of the shows we did know was The Crazy Ones, with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Geller. The Crazy Ones was set in cold Chicago, but shot in sunny LA. James was a background actor who had to wear winter clothing and was sweltering in the heat all day long. He went onto say that to his amazement Robin Williams came and spoke to him, (just a lowly background actor) during a meal break, offering him sympathy in having to wear the winter clothes all day whereas he (Robin) was able to at least get a break in the aircon of his trailer.
Then it was Shane and Raven's turn, who coincidentally got the same tour guide. Also coincidentally they reckon they saw the actor who plays Eddie Lamb from PLL coming out of his trailer. I am skeptical however.
After the tour was over we caught a taxi back to Hollywood Boulevard and had dinner at..... Hooters! *blush*
Its a family restaurant I tell you, I know this because
a) they have a kids menu,
b) they gave Darius a colouring sheet with Hooters on it (owl hooters that) is and some crayons.
c) they have a whole roll of napkins........ (Which might be for messy kids, although it could be for the men to wipe away the drool.)
So just like on TV, it's a haven for men. The waitresses who let you know that they "will be taking care of you" (smile) are wearing the skimpiest clothes. It's not so much the tight tops, it's more the shorts (if that's what you call them) that don't cover their butt cheeks they are that short. There are also TVs blaring football, and the menu seemed very blokey. But it was good, the food portions were huge, so big that Kaine couldn't even get through all his 'double-d' burger. Kaine not finishing a meal is unheard of. I also have to say our gorgeous Hooter girl gave amazing service, constantly checking how we were doing, and providing free refills on the drinks. She was good with Darius too, putting a lid on his drink and placing it in the centre of the table.
I am a terrible eavesdropper, I overheard the table next to " us asking their beautiful blonde Hooter girl if they could get a photo. She replied "no I am sorry, I used to but I am under contract so I can't anymore." The patrons were bewildered, "what do you mean, under contract?", her response "I am modelling - sorry".
When it was time to go, I went looking for a place to pay, and the lady, told me "your girl,will take care of that, she'll be along soon". So we did the American thing and asked for the check please. We got the bill with a hand drawn heart around the section for tips. So cute!
Then walked home past the super heroes and movie stars and beggars again.
Thanks for reading, proof reading and pics to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment