Room With a Crew: Architecture & Setting in Film

[chonies]

I just watched The Descendants. I wish there were more shots of the King estate but every other non hospital interior was gorgeous.

[deeconsistent]

I know this thread is technically for movies, but everyone once in awhile we throw in some tv. The second season of "Empire" just started and was reminded of how stylish the sets are. Luscius's home, Luscius/Jamal's office and Cookie's apartment were shown and it's so unfortunate that we don't get better shots of the rooms. I remember last season Andre and Rhonda's house was pretty gorge, too.

[americanchai]

Lately, I've been binging on the post-WWII films of Yasujiro Ozu from Netflix - Early Spring, Late Spring,...other seasons, Tokyo Story, etc. I love watching the characters flit through traditional Japanese houses and marvel at the lack of "furniture".

My other favorite homes in films are Auntie Mame's (cited way back), good ol' Upson Downs in the same film, the Carmel ranch in the original Parent Trap, and the Honeychurch's house in A Room With a View.

[Gigiree]

Speaking of movie real estate porn, Slate.com currently has a video on the main page that shows clips from Nancy Myer's films that are annotated with estimated real estate prices. (Sorry--it loads from the main page, so I can' put a direct link.)

[lea1977]

OMG you read my mind, I loved the Carmel ranch as well in the original parent trap. Watch that movie still for that house.

[Smilla]

No one wants to buy the 'Silence of the Lambs' house. Despite the fact that it is an immaculately maintained Victorian in a secluded location.

I guess that would be the downside of having your home featured in a famous film.

[chonies]

Interesting connection, but I can imagine a Victorian in the middle of nowhere would be a hard sell under most circumstances. They don't seem very fashionable now (apart from their devoted fans) and that wallpaper...and the lack of bathrooms...

[Smilla]

Oops. Kinda missed that part.

[Mugsy]

It's a pretty standard looking older house and wallpaper can be removed. I've seen the movie several times, but I wouldn't recognize the house from it, it's pretty generic and the movie wasn't really about the house itself.

Being in a village isn't an issue if it's within commuting distance to a city. My podunk town, and many others in the area, are filled with commuters who drive an hour to work in nearby cities.

I quite like the house, the woodwork is gorgeous.

[sumire]

A chance link on TV Tropes introduced me to "That Pool" (a better name for it might be "Hey! It's That Pool"), a distinctive-looking indoor swimming pool that gained internet fame in Japan for having been the setting of a lot of pinup photos and porn videos.

That Pool can be rented from P-Studio, a Tokyo film/photoshoot location agency. I'm kind of fascinated by the location catalog on their website--they've got all these apartments ready to go for your next photoshoot, cheap-ass drama, or decently-budgeted porno. Some are just normal luxury apartments (mouseover the red arrows on the floor plan to see a photo from that angle), others are a schizoid mishmosh of rooms, like this one, where around $500 gets you three hours with a suite of rooms that kind of fakely evoke a wholesome family apartment, a somewhat tawdry red-walled lounge, a dim length of brick-walled corridor, and a raw concrete industrial/construction site complete with rubble and oil drums. You could practically shoot an entire show there (or porn films for a diverse group of audiences.)

The above links are safe for work; the following ones may be iffy:

Know Your Meme: That Pool
Kotaku: The Most Infamous Swimming Pool in Japanese Pornography