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Thursday, May 20, 2010

California as a Facsimile

Talk about freaky coincidence, I post about southern California's variety of geographic features (well, in the comments) in regards to archetypal cultures/settings and this shows up the same day on Boing Boing:


Paramount Studio map of California's geographical facsimiles, from The Motion Picture Industry as a Basis for Bond Financing, 1927

So, in 1927 if you wanted to make a film set in the desert you have a several choices within a few hours drive to shoot in.

4 comments:

  1. The LA region as 'Wales'?!?

    Wasn't there a scene in an 'Austin Powers' film that made some sort of quip about how southern England looks remarkably similar to southern California in movies?

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  2. That's awesome! I could envision this on Cecil B. DeMille's office wall.

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  3. Haha, I've never been to Wales, but it is hard to imagine even 1926 LA being similar.

    I should have mentioned in my post that a beach near where I grew up was actually used as the setting of the Sheik starring Ruldolph Valentino. I can't remember if it was Silver Strand or Hollywood by the Sea.

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  4. There's one hell of an idea for a kitchen-sink sandbox here!

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