Hey, that "Harvard University" in an episode of the sci-fi show Fringe certainly looks familiar...
Oh! That would be because it's really my old alma mater Brooklyn College:
They always used to tell us that B.C. was really "a poor man's Harvard."
But we didn't have those fluffy letters floating in the air when I attended.
via Ditmas Park Blog
They also film at the Pratt Institute... and are doing a really crappy job of even pretending to know what places in Massachusetts look like. I love the show, but as a Bostonian, I'm kind of disappointed in their laziness.
ReplyDeleteI always thought that Brooklyn College and Kingsborough community college should be forced to swap campuses. Brooklyn college deserves a lot better than its dinky campus and Kingsborough isn't worthy of its luxurious seaside digs. If I ever take over the world I will right this wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing happened in "St. Elmo's Fire," where the University of Maryland stood in for Georgetown U. As a College Park alum, I ask why didn't they just set the movie there in the first place? (Because it's a public college, and not very fashionable!)
ReplyDelete*sigh*
ReplyDeleteThey never do.
You need to cleanse your old school with fire now.
ReplyDeleteYeah yeah.... got you all beat... You know that karaoke movie "Duets"? The championship is in Omaha. Where do they film it? Vancouver.
ReplyDeleteBut then, we've got Alexander Payne, who films occasionally in Omaha (Election, About Schmidt), and George Clooney will be shooting some scenes as well.
And how about that Georgetown Metro station in "No Way Out"? They filmed that in BALTIMORE.
(St. Elmo's Fire was shot at U.M. because Georgetown is a Jesuit university, and thus does not sanction fraternities or sororities. U.M. has a fraternity row. And you also claim Jim Henson as an alumnus.)
And how about that Georgetown Metro station in "No Way Out"? They filmed that in BALTIMORE.
ReplyDeleteA two-way mistake. As any Washingtonian can tell you, Georgetown isn't served by Metrorail (which looks nothing at all like Baltimore's subway).
George Washington University is on a Metro stop and, getting back to "St. Elmo's Fire," even has fraternities, but it's never had the allure of Georgetown (even though its academics -- and tuition -- are comparable). And Georgetown refuses to play GW in basketball, just as it won't play Maryland.
I personally loved it when they had a scene take place at "Boston College" as that's where I am. I had to laugh because the exterior shot was of a generic red brick building. The majority of our architecture is neo-Gothic sandstone, and even our brick buildings are made with white brick.
ReplyDeleteYour old college looks frightening like Dartmouth college, up in New Hampshire. Is there just a standard issue college "stamp" for the universe? Is it like how all aliens on Star Trek look vaguely human? I don't like the idea that no matter where I go, the same faux colonial architecture could just spring up and envelop me.
ReplyDeletethat's not via ditmas park blog!
ReplyDeletethat's via my blog, flatbushvegan.com
...if they're filming exteriors in New York, why not move a short distance up to coast and use authentic Massachusetts locations? I mean, the government has sunk a bunch of money to try and make our state more friendly to filmmakers, and given how they drop Harvard's name in every freaking episode, I can't imagine the university has any major objections to how they're portrayed.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know, New York is probably still friendlier in a lot of ways. It just bugs me. Anyway, the Brooklyn campus actually wasn't a bad stand-in -- the architecture is quite similar. The scale is off, and the main campus in Cambridge is surrounded by a wall (I suppose that answers my question about exteriors, actually; the law school campus is pretty open, as is the divinity school and other locations, but the main campus at the Square isn't very friendly to long shots), and of course the buildings aren't EXACTLY the same, but you'll see similar architectural features. A lot of the other exteriors have been very jarring for me as a Boston native, though.