#skywatchfriday -- suburban skies

I love how the distant clouds look like a mountain ...


#skywatchfriday

more about movies

I'm glad I grabbed the photos on Water Street when I did.  The next day, all traces of the film shoot were gone.  I hope that eventually I will find out what movie or TV show was filming.

But the film set sparked a memory.

Way back in 1981, Jane Fonda and Kris Krisstofferson starred in Rollover, a political thriller. A decent, but not spectacular, movie.  I enjoyed the film for reasons that had nothing to do with the plot...

As you may recall, there's a point in the movie where Fonda and Kristofferson travel to Saudi Arabia.   Those scenes were shot in Albany, NY.  I ought to know.  I was there. 

I am a 1981 graudate of the State University of New York at Albany.  Our campus was designed by the famed architect Edward Durell Stone. Stone also designed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Embassy in New Delhi, Busch Memorial Stadium, numerous pavillions at the 1964 New York World's Fair, Riyadh International Airport, the University of Islamabad....many famous sites.  He had a very distinctive, modernist style.

Several scenes were shot in the University's Campus Center (a/k/a our student union).  We were not permitted on the upper floors of the Campus Center while the scenes were being shot. 

Here's a link to a photo of the scene inside our Campus Center:  photo  (It's copyrighted, I won't reproduce it here.)

Looks like a palace in Saudi Arabia, right?

Additional scenes were shot a on the main stairway of the Legislative Office Building, part of the Empire State Plaza,    Designed by Wallace Harrison  (who also designed part of Rockafeller Center and Lincoln Centerin NYC), it's another example of modernist architecture.

I had an internship in the New York State Assembly Assembly that spring, and the Assemblyman I worked for had his offices in the Legislative Office Building. 

I saw them filming the stairway scenes.

I had to do a double-take

At first, I didn’t read that as “mama” ...

More from "Hollywood on Water Street"

I wasn't able to find out what movie or TV show is being filmed on Water Street.  I did find out that Manifest was shooting at South St. and Broad St., about half a mile away.  I wonder if the two sites are connected.


They finished filming before 5 PM, but they didn't strike the  set, so I was able to take additional photos.


Clearly they were creating a fictional version of The Today Show.

The yellow flags are part of the set, but the wall ...that's a fountain. In the summer, it's a waterfall.

I think the "TV studio" is normally a bank.

You can see all the props piled up inside the "studio".

This is where the "news anchors" would be doing their outdoor scenes with the crowd.

There's some very interesting sculpture in the plsza, but I doubt you'll see it in the final prodiuct.

There were some police cars and fire department vehicles  parked near the set.  I didn't realize it this morning, but these vehicles were actually part of the set.  When I left the office at 5 PM, all of the NYPD and FDNY vehicles were being towed away.

Six months or so from now. I will be watching TV. and the scenes that were shot yesterday will show up...and I will be very excited.

exciting start to a Monday morning

Working in Manhattan is many things, but "boring" isn't one of them.

Seen on Water Street this morning:

The signs and banners all read "USA 1 The Morning Show". 

I googled it, but couldn't find any information.  But then again, there are so many movies and TV shows filmed in NYC,  so coming across a film shoot is really not a major news story.

Law and Order used to do a lot of filming on location in the city.  It  was always interesting to see places I knew when I was watching that show, but it was a royal pain to get to court when the show was filming on the steps of the courthouse.  One time I saw them filming Sam Waterston and  Steven Hill coming out of a restaurant -- that was really interesting.

Anyhow, if I hear anything else about today's happenings on Water Street, I will be sure to let you all know.

The things you wish you didn’t know

The other day I drove past my children’s pediatrician’s office.  Or rather, where his office used to be.

I blogged about him last year: Dr. G.

I think he’s teaching high school biology now.

Sad...

#skywatchfriday — suburban sunrise

And a hour later

#skywatchfriday