Warner Brothers: Behind the Scene
My family and I are just back from a visit to California which included a tour of the Warner Brothers Studio. If you’ve been on the Universal Tour, this guided adventure is absolutely nothing like that very scripted one. It’s only 12 people to a large golf cart type vehicle and no sticking to tracks or scripts for that matter. Our guide, a young man originally from Oregon was enthusiastic and as he said “totally into” movie technology. In addition to showing us the must see museum of Warner Brothers' history and famous back lots, he scooted all around in an effort to show us anything of interest happening at the studio that he could find. As a consequence, we watched a carnival scene for the TV show Chuck being prepared. The producers actually brought in a traveling carnival and set it up in the Warner Brother Studios' staff parking lot. We also saw a set being reconstituted to film the show Ghost Whisperer. You may recall that Universal had a fire a little while back, and the lot used for the setting for this CBS show was one of those damaged. So, as I learned, Warner Brothers rents lots not in use by that studio to other film production companies. The kids were excited to see the “homes” used to film The Gilmore girls and the “park setting” used in some scenes from the series Friends. They learned about the magic of the camera, a small set front or grassy area looks much bigger on the screen than in real life. I learned that if you need a petition to gain attention, have Clint Eastwood sign it. Apparently, George Clooney was advocating for a basketball court. He was told to get support from others on a petition. (I assume this was before he was THE George Clooney!) He got one signature, Eastwood’s, and the court was built.
While not inexpensive, the tour was a value for the money.