Page 9 - Twice-Told April 2018

Volume 18, Issue 6 Page 9

Florida Film Focus

… Florida Film Focus, By Yuyan Guo and Nick Nimkoff
Continued From Page 8.

(Right) A recent movie filmed (Left) Another movie
right here in Orlando is Sean famously shot in the Or-
Baker’s Oscar-bound The lando area is Lethal
Florida Project. The film was Weapon 3. In the begin-
shot entirely at a motel in ning of the film, Riggs and
the Lake Buena Vista area Murtaugh are trying to
and covers the story of defuse a bomb but end up
Halley and her daughter failing and leave a build-
Moonee. It also makes a point ing destroyed. That build-
of the incredibly large home- ing was none other than
less population in Florida that Orlando’s former City
includes those living in motels Hall, the location of which
on a day to day basis. The is directly in front of our
Florida Project features current City Hall which
many locations around the can be seen in the back-
area. Some may be recogniza- ground. One may even
ble as the usual tacky gift recognize other buildings
shop one might find in the in the background that
area surrounding Disney. All still stand today such as
photos by Nick Nimkoff. the American Federal
building.

(Above) Although the film does not portray the area glamorously, the motel is actually quite (Above) Former mayor Bill Fredrick makes an appearance in Lethal Weapon 3 as a sarcastic
beautiful. The Magic Castle does a lot to maintain that look. One scene in the movie portrays cop who one can hear saying, “Bravo” and applauding the duos’ blunder. The City Council was
Bobby, the tough yet sweet manager played by Willem Dafoe, repainting a portion that was very excited at the prospect of getting rid of the old City Hall building. The producer, Joel
worn down. Willem Dafoe was so committed to the roll that he spent a week living in the area Silver, still had to pay 165 thousand dollars for the privilege however. As a result, they stage
immersing himself and mastering the minute details of Florida dialect. dressed surrounding buildings such as modifying the new City Hall with a Coca–Cola sign.
(Right) It may not be as well known
to our younger readers, but Univer-
sal Studios originally opened as a
working production studio which
initially shot various TV shows and
movies daily. However, in the follow-
ing years they could not continue
with on-site production as the noise
of a theme park made it almost im-
possible to record audio. The park
originally opened with a Studio Tour
that explored the various produc-
tion facilities that they used for
filming at the time. The studio went
so far as to allow guests to explore
certain sets that were not being
used for filming at the time, such as
the set of the 90s sci-fi TV show
Swamp Thing. The studio was also
built with a duplicate of the house
from Psycho which was used for
filming Psycho IV: The Beginning.
The former Nickelodeon Studios
also had a home in Universal where
The Blue Man Group now preforms.
Nickelodeon was there throughout
the 90s and hosted many episodes
of various live action productions
until it closed its doors in 2004.