Being the huge film and television fan that I am I'd wanted to visit the Warner Bros. studios for the whole year I was in the USA. Getting to see the sets and some of the things that go on behind the scenes is a really great experience! It's really interesting to see the streets which are featured on screen so often, and you realise just how much work goes into making the set look as realistic as possible and how quickly it must be done. It's cool to see how it transforms onto the screen. The tour around Warner Bros. was well worth the money; I had been so excited to go and it lived up to my expectations, maybe even exceeded them as I saw the sets of some of my favourite TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory and Friends. Yes, Friends was completely filmed in Burbank, LA, it was never actually filmed in New York! It's pretty amazing how they can deceive the audience by using a few establishing shots every now and then throughout an episode!
I couldn't take as many photos of the sets and studios as I would have liked as photography isn't allowed in some areas, however it wasn't too much of a problem as I was too busy looking around anyway!
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| The Iconic Warner Bros. Water Tower |
The studio has a long history, founded in 1923, it has continued to expand and has remained one of the most dominating studios in the industry, producing many of the most famous films and television shows we know and love. The studio has won Academy Awards for Best Picture for several films including
Casablanca (1943), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Million Dollar Baby (2004), The Departed (2006) and
Argo (2012). Visiting a place where so many classics have been made and also where some of your current favourites are being filmed is quite surreal. If you want to experience Hollywood to the fullest doing a tour of a film studio is a must, and you may even spot a star along the way. The two other main studios where you can do tours are Paramount and Universal. I only did the latter which I found a lot less impressive than Warner Bros. as its less intimate, you are unable to get off the cart and walk around and from my experience you don't see as much. We went to Warner Bros. at the end of May so not much was actually being filmed at that time as most shows are on hiatus for the summer. The majority of the sets were being used for
Pretty Little Liars as they film at this time. I enjoyed that as I watch the show, however every tour is different, especially depending on what time of the year you go, so I would really like to go again one day! I also regret not getting to see a live taping at some point in the year as they're free, you just have to apply for tickets, so my hope is to do that one day. One of my favourites,
The Big Bang Theory has three more seasons to go so I'm hoping I can get back to see that before it ends! Fingers crossed!
When you arrive at the studio you are greeted by one of the most iconic Warner Bros. characters, Bugs Bunny and then the tour begins at the shop which has merchandise from all the popular shows. You're shown a video about the history and successes of Warner Bros. and then you are led to the cart which will take you on the tour.
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| Bugs Bunny |
Firstly, you are shown around the buildings which act as the New York set and have been featured many times, such as in
Friends. The space is created to be adaptable so it can easily be changed to what is needed for each particular project. We were also taken through what is known as "The Jungle" which is only a small area but on screen it can look like the characters are in a large forest and there is also a lagoon which can be filled with water when needed.
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| A New York Street |
We drove past some of the production offices and spotted Chuck Lorre's cart parking space and office who is the creator of The Big Bang Theory.
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| Chuck Lorre's Cart Parking Space |
We then arrived in the area which acts as a Midwest town centre. It has been used in
Gilmore Girls as the town "Stars Hollow" and is now being used in
Pretty Little Liars as "Rosewood".
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| Set used in Pretty Little Liars |
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| School Set used in Pretty Little Liars |
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The Church used in Gilmore Girls and Pretty Little Liars
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Near the town square is the house which is used as Emily's in
Pretty Little Liars. We were actually allowed to take a look inside and we were told that the staircase was the one used in the
Friends episode "The One with the Prom Video" which was cool to see as I remember the episode well (probably due to watching all those reruns!) I've included a clip from the episode so you can see how it came to look on screen!
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| The Staircase from Friends Episode "The One with the Prom Video" |
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| Screenshots of Ross in "The One With the Prom Video" |
We were shown the workshops and design studio where they build the interior sets, and also the props building where all the things that bring the sets to life are stored. They also have some of the popular props on display to see, such as the newspaper street boxes from Batman.
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| Lighting Props |
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| Batman Props |
One of the highlights of the tour was being able to go into the "Central Perk" set from
Friends and sit on the famous couch. It was so surreal to be surrounded by a set which I had seen on TV so many times.
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| The Friends Stage |
The final stop was at the studio museum which has iconic costumes and props from many films and television shows including
The Great Gatsby, Gravity, Harry Potter, Gossip Girl, The Big Bang Theory and of course
Friends.
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