Major movie studios are offering more ways than ever for film buffs to get a behind-the-scenes peek at how — and where — the magic is made.
"Touring the studios, being able to go where this stuff happened, to be in the physical space of all these things that for over 100 years now people have been watching, seems the most natural kind of tourist destination in the world," said Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University., studio lot tours showcase the movie-making process from set design and sound recording to costumes and props.
" can appeal to all different levels of people, the people who really are fascinated with the behind the scenes and how it works and how it gets made, and even for regular people that don't have that level of curiosity, just the thrill of being present in the place where all of this stuff actually gets done," Thompson said.Situated in Culver City, Sony Pictures Studio is the newest tenant of its 45-acre lot.
The cluttered space has a hodgepodge of flooring — wood, concrete, stone, gravel — multiple handles on doors with different kinds of locks, a shelf of various shoes, a kitchen set up with an assortment of plastic and metal bottles, cups, cutlery and, yes, some coconut shells, as well as a closet filled with jackets which can be used to make different zipper sounds.
Here fans of"Friends,""The Big Bang Theory,""Lord of the Rings," the Batman films and"Harry Potter" can take photos on recreated sets and on green-screen sets. Some of these photo ops cost extra.A view of Central Perk at Stage 48 during the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood Grand Re-Opening at Warner Bros. Studios.
Warner Bros. also recently launched its Turner Classic Movies tour, which takes guests through areas of the lot that were used for films like"Casablanca,""My Fair Lady" and"The Music Man."While the Warner Bros. tour focuses much of its attention on completed works of film and television, Paramount's studio lot tour delves deep into how these movies and shows are made.
The prop warehouse features a number of vehicles, including the"egg mobile" from"Sonic the Hedgehog" and a pod from"Star Trek: Beyond," as well as a life-size Bumblebee from the Transformer franchise.The Universal Studios Hollywood theme park actually began as a studio tour. Starting 60 years ago, guests were given exclusive access to the production lot and, over time, Universal began to introduce special effects attractions.