Anyone who knows me knows I luv movies. I will literally schedule my life according to a movie coming out. From old films during Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Tuesday’s at the theater to New Releases. I am probably one of the last remaining people who still have the Netflix DVD subscription (a lot of films and television shows are not on the line- Netflix please do not stop the DVD’s). All of this to lead up to my enjoyment on the tour of Warner Bros Studio Facilities.
I learned so much about how film and television is created into a magical visual experience. I was trying to find a way to escape my tour guide and sit with Clint Eastwood to gain an understanding of how he withstands the ever changing winds of entertainment. Unfortunately, I could not but, enjoyed the tour all the same.
The notes I took were robust and I realized they would probably take away from the tour should you ever decide to go so, I cannot share them all.
However comma here are a few, over 110 acres of land, 70 of it shared with Columbia Warner Bros is one of the oldest facilities in California. They have over 8 miles of clothing, more than 4 football fields of props dating back to the 1930’s, the only surviving jungle on on location (will not give away spoilers), and is the house to some of the most notable film and shows we have grown to luv. I mentioned Clint Eastwood and of course his productions, George Clooney of Smokehouse Productions, Jurassic Park, DC- Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Justice League, The Big Bang Theory, Ellen, ER, Pretty Little Liars, Harry Potter franchise, Gilmore Girls, Gremlins, Ronald Regan films and more.
Ha. Think about this next time you happen upon cartoons from the past. The animators for Looney Toons and other iconic cartoons were pranksters. Because of the methods chosen to capture human emotions, the Warner brothers damn near hated the animators. You ask, how did they go about getting the emotions to display accurately on the shows…they would drop water balloons on people, startle, and constantly joke around to see the reactions of those who passed by their work spaces and in turn draw them out.
Interesting fact. There is this thing called, Rain Grids. Rain grids create rain drops 5x bigger than an actual rain drop. Reason. To show rain on screen for certain scenes. Example. Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire. The scene where he is hanging upside down and Kirsten Dunst is kissing him – rain grids were used. Not so funny but funny fact. Tobey, to keep from drowning had to stuff Vaseline cotton balls up his noes and while Kirsten was kissing him, she was also blowing air in his mouth to keep him from passing out.
Just a little more info: When scenes where cars are flying through windows/structures, they can only be filmed once to preserve the original integrity of the scene prior to, because of this 7-10 to cameras are used during filming to get all vantage points. Speaking to cars crashing…only stunt doubles are allowed to perform risky car scenes.
And, so much more was given on the tour. According to Tony the tour guide, the information he shared was only 20% of what truly happens. If you are like me and enjoys understanding the inner workings of how a film or television show is created go on this tour. It will not disappoint.
Cost: $69 – $279 (I did the $69 tour)
Website:https://www.wbstudiotour.com/
Time: 2-3 hours
l8ynred 
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