Will We Soon See TV Crews Filming All Over NOVA? (Norfolk: buy, movies)

[Caladium]

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article today. Apparently DC and NOVA are the trendy new places to shoot tv shows and movies. There are 8 "beltway" tv shows in the works right now, and the crews are scouting out places to shoot local scenery to add those little touches of "reality."

LOL, yeah right... like shooting a few scenes at Great Falls Natl. Park is going to make a bunch of oh-so-pretty 20-somethings play-acting at being freshman congressmen seem believable! I'm not sure if that deserves a or a

But who cares if it's realistic or not, I'm looking forward to seeing shots from around the area. (Although I reserve the right to gripe if they cause traffic problems...)

[oneasterisk]

I always find it funny when shows are based in this area, but everything looks like Southern California. NCIS is one of them.

They're probably just going to shoot b-roll stuff.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

I always find it funny when shows are based in this area, but everything looks like Southern California. NCIS is one of them.

They're probably just going to shoot b-roll stuff.

True, even that scene they shot a few weeks back, where they blew up the boat near the Key Bridge. Somehow they managed to make the Potomac River look like a place in California, I don't know why they didn't just shoot it there.

[Yankeesfan]

I like to watch shows allegedly set in DC and find the inaccuracies. Like in National Treasure II (my kids and I met Nicolas Cage while they were filming here), they want to sneak into the Oval Office, so they see an ad in the Washington Post and BUY tickets for three adults. When the reality is you have to wait overnight in line, or more recently attempt to order online, plus you need to have at least one child 10 or under and no more than two adults in the group.

[Yankeesfan]

I hope they don't try to film in Reston Town Center -- that would draw even more "posers" there!

[Caladium]

Hmmm, RTC could be a magnet for them you know. There's a Trader Joes just down the street and film crews can't get enough of that store.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

I like to watch shows allegedly set in DC and find the inaccuracies. Like in National Treasure II (my kids and I met Nicolas Cage while they were filming here), they want to sneak into the Oval Office, so they see an ad in the Washington Post and BUY tickets for three adults. When the reality is you have to wait overnight in line, or more recently attempt to order online, plus you need to have at least one child 10 or under and no more than two adults in the group.

LOL, I remember when West Wing was shooting in Middleburg. They tried to claim this tiny little field was the site of the Gold Cup!

[fdeitz]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

I like to watch shows allegedly set in DC and find the inaccuracies. Like in National Treasure II (my kids and I met Nicolas Cage while they were filming here), they want to sneak into the Oval Office, so they see an ad in the Washington Post and BUY tickets for three adults. When the reality is you have to wait overnight in line, or more recently attempt to order online, plus you need to have at least one child 10 or under and no more than two adults in the group.

The funny one I remember was some Kevin Costner film from about 10 years ago where he hopped on the Metro at Georgetown! The metro stop had a huge sign that said Georgetown Metro stop!

[22150]

I like NCIS but it doesn't seem like they even try to make it look like the DC area anymore. I can't count the number of times I've seen California hill country in the background. Not to mention the fact that they roll back and forth between DC and Norfolk as if they were 10 minutes apart instead of several hours (without traffic) :

[car54]

Originally Posted by fdeitz

The funny one I remember was some Kevin Costner film from about 10 years ago where he hopped on the Metro at Georgetown! The metro stop had a huge sign that said Georgetown Metro stop!

That was "No Way Out" (1987)...and I was an extra in it! But it was just a crowd scene, so I never got my big break in Hollywood! LOL

The scene I was in was shot on the Concourse (where the stores are in the Pentagon), and it was amazing how it took all day to shoot about 20 seconds of the movie....like 10+ takes. The scene was of people walking around on the Concourse (I was a walker) and Costner comes running out of Corridor 10 by the cafeteria, onto the Concourse, and runs into a phone booth and makes a call....CUT! That was it. Even that scene was not completely authentic, although it was shot in the Pentagon.....that phone booth was a prop, there was really a mail box normally at that spot (next to the florist shop).

I'll never understand why they went to all the expense to shoot that scene on location when it easily could have been done on a set anywhere.

And a lot of the other supposed Pentagon scenes were NOT shot there, which was immediately obvious to all of us long-time employees at the 5-sided puzzle palace!