A NIGHT IN VERONA

Some events in life are small but too worthy to forget. This is a short post but a meaningful one all the same, because it covers one of the most blissful nights I had in Verona.  (Blissful? Idk… I couldn’t think of another word.)

Grace and Kent, friends of ours from Ithaca, were visiting Brando for a few days as part of their long backpacking trip through Europe. That night we took them into town to get a full Verona experience.

At times it felt like a deja vu of Aryeh and myself’s first time walking through Verona. There were a few key differences that made this night especially unique though. For one, Brando brought us to (in his family’s opinion) the finest wine shop in Verona. After taking a couple random turns down small streets we arrived at this tiny place tucked away and stacked to the ceiling with wine.  Literally.

Some other fancy bottles they had

Now that’s a bottle of wine.

After selecting the two best yet “college student priced” bottles we could find, we continued our venture around the city. Eventually we arrived at the Torre dei Lamberti, the tallest tower in Verona. 368 steps seems like a lot more when you have to put your foot on every one of those steps. And yet…. so worth it.

That night we stopped for a candle-lit restaurant experience in the middle of the city.

Near the end of the night the outside pianist for the restaurant asked us for help returning the piano into storage. After successfully doing so the restaurant handed us shots of the strongest alcohol I’ve ever tasted. The kind that gives you heart burn but at the peak of your throat. To be honest it wasn’t all that enjoyable, but it definitely made that walk home easier. heh.

A trip to Venice coming next!!

SONY PICTURES – BACKLOT TOUR DOS

Searching for another backlot adventure, Brando and I decided to take a tour of what is now known as the Sony Pictures Studios. The studio has gone through a list of other names though, due to its repetitive buyouts.

In the early 1900’s it went under the name Triangle Film Corporation due to it’s three producers: D.W. Griffith, Thomas Ince, and Mack Sennett. By 1924 it was renamed to something a little more familiar – MGM Studios.

MGM pumped out some serious classics in it’s golden age. Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Singin’ in the Rain to name a few. But by the mid 1980’s there was an ownerships shuffle which landed the studio in the hands of Sony Pictures. Sony had already bought out Columbia and TriStar Pictures, so the backlot became a hodgepodge/combination of all these studios.

Sony then dropped 100 million renovating the place to it’s current condition. Today, Sony’s backlot is known for having some of the best post-production facilities in the nation, and being home to classic shows like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

For anyone seriously interested in this backlot’s complex history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Studios

For anyone seriously bored with all of this text…. please continue.

Before we left on the tour they had many costumes and props on display in the lobby. The one above you may recognize from Spiderman 2.

For anyone that’s seen Men in Black 2:

The Social Network:

Near the entrance of the studio is a massive rainbow (paying tribute to The Wizard of Oz), which was unveiled just this past October.

Snagged this from Huffington Post to give you a better idea of it’s size:

This is one of the quaint walkways Sony uses for any small residential shots they need.

This is Sony’s “city street”. Clearly, Warner Brothers has a bit of a size advantage.

Next we passed by Adam Sandler’s headquarters for “Happy Madison Productions”.

Sandler is apparently known for driving these pimped-out golf carts around the studio.

Taking a step into the sound stage for Jeopardy…

At the time, the stage was under construction for next season, but they moved props and stage pieces to a section for us to gaze upon.

I always wondered what Alex Trebek’s cheat sheet looked like…

After that we went to a small lot where they had parked several cars from recent shows and films. One of which was the car from Breaking Bad…

(For anyone not familiar with Breaking Bad you may want to just skip the next 4-5 pictures. Also… shame on you.)

They also had the winnebago. I was freaking out a little.

Yup… bullet holes and all. They even let us take a peak inside.

cue holy sound effect 

We also saw some state-of-the art sound stages where they record the soundtracks to major motion pictures… tragically no pictures where allowed here though, so you’ll just have to use your…

At the end of the tour I took a quick look around the gift shop. I was amused by these Breaking Bad coffee mugs…

Coming up next… a night with the Dodgers!

THE WARNER BROTHERS BACKLOT

Okay guys…. At this point I might as well own Warner Brothers. I’ve been there so times now… like, at least 3. We mustn’t forget the most recent visit I made with Aryeh in SOME CRAZY LUCK (AND A DUCK).

Oh, and speaking of ducks…

I made the trek back [across the street] to the Warner Brothers studio where I joined Brando (creator of the Kick-Ass trailer) on a VIP tour of Warner Brothers backlot. This tour is exclusive shité people!

Well… exclusive to anyone with 40 dollars.

But it’s totally worth it. Out of all the studios in LA, Warner Brothers probably has the largest backlot. They frequently rent out their sets to other studios – which is interesting because they’re all competing with each other at the same time. Must make for an awkward christmas party…

Now, I’ll be honest, the tour guide listed off a plethora of TV shows and movies on the tour and I cannot remember exactly which set was used for which film… But these titles were definitely mentioned at some point or another:

Seinfeld

Friends

Argo

Batman Returns

Big Bang Theory

The Mask

Small soldiers

Jurassic Park

Gremlins

E.R.

True Blood

The Muppets

Zohan

Minority Report

Spiderman 

And many more that I can’t remember. Anyways, the first place they took us to was the “downtown” city. Almost all of these buildings are just decorative one-sided structures with no real inside. “Facades” I believe is what they call them.

As we walked down the street there were people working all around us. These sets are definitely active and some of them are used almost every day. By changing the signs, furniture, plants, and other street decoration they can reuse them for many different settings.

See? All of a sudden we’re in the 1950’s. With a guy waiving at his car…. sort of….

Next they took us into “the jungle”, a small area they use to shoot scenes that need to take place in… well, a jungle. They also have a cabin here that has been used in several productions… True Blood and The Mentalist to name a few.

And I’m quite sure I remember the tour guide saying this is the spot they used for the T-Rex chasing the jeep in Jurassic Park. They changed the plants around to make the road seem a lot longer then it actually was.

After that we took a drive down Suburbia street, USA.

Most of these houses have an inside to them too, so when they aren’t being used for filming they’re used as office space for Warner Brothers.

“Uhh.. Mr. Warner, this isn’t exactly what I meant when I said I wanted a work from home job….”

A little further down the road we entered a quaint town square. Notice the lack of signs on the buildings? These are filled in later when they need the set for specific shots.

And just around the corner was an industrial looking city for anytime you might need a subway station scene.

At one point in the tour they took us into a small building where several famous cars had been parked for our viewing pleasure. From closest to farthest: The Austin Powers mobile, Dukes of Hazzard car, and the Green Hornet! In the back you can see the famous Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo.

The classic.

The soon-to-be classic. 🙂

After that they took us to the most famous TV set in Hollywood history (in my mind anyways).

DUDE! WE’RE ON THE FRIENDS SET!

I KNOW!!

IT’S CRAZY!

I KNOW!!

Bonus picture… beauteous sunset from the Oakwood apartments.

Coming up next: being an extra for a Funny or Die video. Wooo!

BEACHES AND BOULEVARDS

I had finished moving in, internships were starting to kick in, and Aryeh and Trevor were packing up to fly back east. For one of their last days here we decided to go all out and bungee jump off the hollywood sign.

…naw just kidding. We went to the Santa Monica beach. It seemed like the more legal option.

Will ponders life after jumping in the ocean

I’ve got the cover for Aryeh’s next record album: “I Heart T. Hanks”.

…too far?

Maturity at its finest… (I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Canon jokes)

On our way back we took a drive down the famous Hollywood Boulevard

Gettin’ artsy with the historical TCL Chinese Theater

Lot of legends made here….

As we continued driving around town I saw this CVS sign…. LA clearly has it’s priorities!

We jammed a lot of adventures into those two weeks Aryeh and Trevor were here but the time had come for them to fly home. I’ll be seeing Aryeh again in August when I travel with him to Europe. (Check back in August for more details on that!)

Coming up sooner…. further details on my internships, a VIP tour of the Warner Brother’s studio, and being an extra for a Funny or Die video!

Stay tuned!!