California Doubling: Difference between revisions

 

=== Live-Action TV ===

* ''[[Farscape]]'' filmed entirely in Australia, including Earth scenes that were supposed to be located on the Florida Space Coast. For all that the beaches are decidedly different, upper middle class tract housing can evidently be pretty similar in both places.

** Specifically: IASA's HQ shown in "Won't Get Fooled Again" was shot in and around Sydney Olympic Park, in Homebush (a 5min drive from the studio where seasons 2-4 were shot) - ANZ stadium doubles as a launch pad (CGI rocket stuck in the middle of it) and the distinct spiral building seen several times in the background is actually part of the car park near the Acer Arena. The gardens in the "Look At The Princess" trilogy were actually the Japanese gardens in Auburn. The beach in "Scratch & Sniff" was in Maroubra. The dock often seen in Crichton's dream sequences was actually right outside the industrial park in Homebush where seasons 2-4 were shot. The old gun emplacement at Middle Head doubled for several alien military encampments and ancient ruins.

* The movie ''The Russians are Coming'' (a comedy which revolves around a Soviet submarine running aground in Massachusetts) was filmed in California.

* ''[[Shazam|The Adventures of Captain Marvel]]'' (1941) was filmed in the deserts of Southern California, despite the fact that the first episode supposedly takes place in the jungles of Siam. In fact there seems to be some confusion between Thailand and the Middle East.

* And [[Dreaming of a White Christmas|it's snowing]]. Even shows that are [[Freaks and Geeks|specifically set]] [[Glee|in the Midwest]] seem to [[It's Always Spring|have California weather year-round]].

* The outdoor scenes in ''The Lost World: [[Jurassic Park]]'' have significantly more redwood trees than you'd expect from a equatorial island. This is because they were filmed near Eureka, CA (no, not [[Eureka|that one]]).

* ''[[Angel]]'' had a few episodes supposedly set in places like Rome and U.K. For the U.K. one, they went to a forested area of northern California but were still disappointed at how little it looked like the English countryside. Minutes before they were to film, however, a fog bank rolled in and gave the setting a much more UK feel.

* The fourth-season premiere of ''[[Bones]]'' was set and filmed in London. However, the show set in [[Washington DC]], with special locations such as Washington State, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, has NEVER left California to shoot any of those episodes. An episode set in Baltimore, complete with Baltimore accents ("Welcome to Bawlmer"), but the opening scene was clearly filmed at the Sepulveda Dam.

* ''[[Castle]]'' is set in New York. Only the pilot was actually filmed there. The episode set in Los Angeles takes advantage of that fact.

* ''[[Cold Case]]'' has occasional location shots in Philadelphia, but has many scenes clearly filmed in LA: the architecture that is supposedly "Germantown" or "the River Wards" has no business anywhere that gets harsh winters. The LA Metro has stood in for the Broad Street Subway at least once, as well. Any scene involving the cops standing outside their workplace is a bit strange since it's the same building that the FBI's LA bureau uses in ''[[Numb3rs]]'', shot from below the bridges.

* Particularly ridiculous in ''[[Little House on the Prairie (TV series)|Little House On the Prairie]]'' which is set in Minnesota, a state not exactly known for its mountains or its long stretches of lush green summery weather.

* The "Korean" setting of ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|Mash]]'' is actually a section of Malibu Creek State Park in California, which was then the "Fox Ranch". Other scenes were shot in Griffith Park.

* ''[[Monk]]'' is set in San Francisco and filmed in Culver City. There are buses with the word CULVER written in five-foot-high orange letters that went through the end of the [[Cult]] episode. One episode has Monk wander his way to the train station after three nights of sleep deprivation. The station used for the shot was clearly the LA Union Station, leading the audience to wonder just how far Monk had wandered off.

** So I guess that would be California doubling for...California.

* ''[[Silk Stalkings]]'' was set in Palm Beach, Florida, but filmed mostly in San Diego. See also [[The Mountains of Illinois]].

* As alluded to in the opening, it's pretty rare for ''Star Trek'' to shoot outside of California. All the TV shows have been filmed entirely in California and no ''Trek'' production has filmed outside the United States. Much like Vasquez Rocks, Griffith Park has been used many times as many planets over the years. Only five of the eleven films have filmed any scenes outside California. These are the only exceptions to California doubling in the entire series:

** ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|Star Trek VI the Undiscovered Country]]'': A second unit filmed long distance shots in Alaska with doubles for [[William Shatner]], [[DeForest Kelley]], and Iman.

** ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'': Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada was the surface Veridian III

** ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'': The scene where young Kirk drives his stepfather's car into a quarry was filmed in Vermont.

* ''[[Ugly Betty]]'' is set in New York but was shot in LA for most of its run. The first episode after they moved filming to New York simply ''[[Scenery Porn|reveled]]'' in shooting outdoors.

** The climactic rumble in ''[[The Incredible Hulk (film)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' was shot on a stretch of Yonge Street in Toronto, running from the intersection of Yonge & Dundas to about a block north. The Zanzibar strip club is a dead giveaway, as are the spinning records on the side of Sam the Record Man.

* Shoot'em'up is also clearly shot in Toronto: They don't even try to hide the CN tower

* ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|Resident Evil Apocalypse]]'' features several things to make Torontonians grin. Perhaps the most obvious of which is the {{spoiler|nuke}} that just so happens to {{spoiler|explode}} right on City Hall (the recognizable dual curved towers). Other fun features include the fact the film makers neglected to airbrush out the CN Tower, numerous logos on buildings on the Bay St. area and the Toronto Sun logo on the sides of several paperboxes.

* In the remake of ''[[Hairspray]]'' the movie was set in Baltimore, but was filmed in Toronto.

* ''[[Hellcats]]'' has the good city of Vancouver playing ''Memphis''.

* In the [[Doctor Who]] [[Made for TV Movie]], Vancouver plays [[San Francisco]], but they might as well have acknowledged they were in Vancouver for all the difference it would have made. It only seems like San Francisco in that there's a [[Friendly Local Chinatown]] and a guy almost went to a costume party dressed as [[Oscar Wilde]] (but then the Doctor [[Sticky Fingers|stole his costume]]). In the [[Chase Scene]], there aren't even any hills to speak of.

* ''[[Pretty Little Liars]]'' has the rare distinction of getting two entries in this trope (see also California Doubling: Live-Action TV above), as the pilot was filmed in Vancouver.

 

** The Sandman Chase in ''Spider-Man 3'' was done in [[Cleveland Rocks|Cleveland]].

* The ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'' series has several "Other country doubling":

** In ''[[Casino Royale]]'', Madagascar is the Bahamas, and Montenegro is the Czech Republic.

** Most subaquatic scenes since ''[[Thunderball]]'' were shot in the Bahamas (doubling for the Adriatic, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas).

* ''[[Ocean's Eleven]]'' and its sequels, for the most part, were filmed in Las Vegas, Italy, and France at least for all the major locations.

* ''[[Blade]] 2'' is the first/only movie filmed in Prague that doesn't substitute it for another city.

* ''Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever'' was filmed in Vancouver and acknowledges its setting as Vancouver, yet all of the characters are American and it [[Tropes Are Tools|makes little sense for them all to be in Canada]].

* ''What Lies Beneath'' was both set and filmed in Vermont.

* Averted on the 60s spy show ''[[I Spy]]'' which actually filmed the real locations an episode was set in: Hong Kong, Rome, Greece, Mexico, etc (although studio work was also done in Hollywood).

* Both ''[[The Cosby Show]]'' and ''The Cosby Mysteries'' were set and filmed in New York ([[Bill Cosby]] hates working in Hollywood).

* The Fox cop series ''[[The Good Guys]]'' is both set and filmed in Dallas, also using local talent in small roles.

* The UK/Canada co-production [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1105836/ Burn Up]. Filmed on-location in Calgary and London - and actually set in both cities. "[http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/reallife/greenguide/story.html?id=d213ebcd-6192-49a3-a6c6-1b25dc82e36b While filming in the city is hardly unique, it's rare for a high-profile project to feature Calgary as Calgary]."

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:The Wild West]]