First, allow me to say something upfront: nowhere in this blog will I give out specifics or detailed maps to find the sets. We did it the old fashioned way...google. LOL! If you're crafty and know how to type, you too can find sets :)
Ok, now to the matter at hand...
::giggle:: notice my qualification for Set Visit #1? Yes...I plan to go back...after all, that's what preliminary fact finding missions are about right? I prefer that our Sunday, May 23rd activities are known as a "preliminary fact finding mission" instead of "set stalking" as the latter does sound a bit creepy (don't mind me, I'm all about making myself feel better with semantics...potato/potahto and all that).
I'm about to state the obvious...ready? I am a fan of Robert Pattinson...and of course, I follow a lot of other fans of Robert Pattinson who shared all the lovely pictures from the sets of New Moon, Eclipse, Remember Me and Bel Ami and when the opportunity presented itself for lil' ol me to visit a set, I had to jump at the chance! It turns out that the set for Rob's latest project, Water For Elephants, is about 30 miles from my house. I was now presented the chance to see Rob on set ::bahahahah:: yeah right...as you'll see, this set is VERY different from Remember Me and Bel Ami.
::let the journey begin::
We drove to City 1 and were on the lookout for the Benzini Circus train. You'd think it would be easy to find...cuz come on, it's a train! Well, not-so-much. My friend found it...not me, cuz I was looking the complete wrong way. LOL! We turned around and that's when we noticed the security guy so we knew we had limited time to take pictures, in fact, so limited that I wasn't able to get any close up shots (my friends did and I hope to share those with you later). We talked to the Security guy for a while (nice guy...I think they're only grumpy when provoked) and he divulged a little too much information (to our advantage of course). He did say that the production company doesn't want anyone taking pictures of the train but it's sorta hard to make people stop especially because there was an article in the local papers that the train was there, what movie it was for, and who was in the movie (I mean, COME ON! X marks the spot).
Other great things he said...
- Reese Witherspoon, the guy who took Best Supporting Actor in the Basterds movie and that Twilight guy, Robert Paddington were in the movie.
- Rob Paddington was the one who gave away the set locations using Twitter. Cuz the day before, he had 15-20 tweeter people there because Brother Rob twittered it.
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The Benzini Circus Steamer Train is on the right. They trucked the engine in from Reno and the production company hired a crew to service it to make it run...it is a working train that is parked in City 1 and then moves around when needed on set.
::on the road again::
Thanks to the tips from the security guard and another train operator at City 1, we went to City 2 and the site of Set 1. Getting confusing? HAHA, sorry...would be a lot easier with city names. Anywho...we spotted the tent from the main road but from that distance we couldn't tell if it was a tent or mounds of really nice, white sand. You may be saying to yourselves, couldn't tell the difference between a tent and mounds of sand??! In our defense, it is an odd looking tent. We navigated the back roads and found a nice vantage point that was REALLY far away (yes, this is the difference between Remember Me and Bel Ami sets...the WFE sets are FAR from public access, which is why we've only seen digitally zoomed in papper pics and aerial shots).
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The large tent on the right is bizarre...not a typical, modern circus tent. You'll notice that there is a gap between the bottom of the tent and the ground...so maybe it's a place for animals? The white tent on the left is more modern...so I believe this to be a hospitality tent. There was a security guard sitting in a car underneath an awning.
The tent didn't look like a circus tent to us so we weren't even really sure if we were at the right place (we didn't see any production signs) so we drove around a little more and that's when we ran into a better view of a flattened out tent and production signs! Yes folks, that there is the circus tent...
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Funny fact...while we were taking pictures of Set 1 we noticed a small airplane circling overhead. We figured they were pappers...or come to think of it, maybe security. I'm going to stick with pappers since no one ever came over to shue us away.
::on the road again::
We headed to City 3 because of things that I researched and info from the folks in City 1. I had read that the production crew may use parts of City 3 as Ithaca, NY back in the 1930s (so possibly Set 2). I honestly don't know how this is going to happen since there aren't many older looking buildings on the main street of City 3 but who knows? In City 3 we were looking for a road where we were told they were building a set but unfortunately we had the right street in the wrong part of town. We headed back towards City 1 and found the right street and once again...lucked out, Set 3. Not easy to find since there are no visible production signs.
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What is up with this tent?! If you look closely you'll notice that this tent is considerably more WORN than the tent at Set 1. That tent was PRISTINE whereas this tent...looks like it had been subjected to a meteor storm.
This may look a little more familiar than Set 1. I am still not sure if Set 1 is actually a decoy for this set since it is way more visible and there isn't a shred of production evidence. The tents appear similar but because of earlier, leaked pictures...I was looking for the red brick building near the tent. Because I didn't see it at Set 1, I thought this wasn't the right place. Well, Set 3 had everything I was looking for.
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Nothing stands out more than a bunch of white trucks, tents and trailers in an area full of plants and trees!
All the production trucks and Star Wagons were at this site. Wanna get closer? not possible unless you carry WFE set credentials. I had my camera FULLY zoomed (a good point&shoot Canon SX1 IS) to get these shots. Even if Rob were on set, it would be impossible for me to get anything better than I got here.
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Trailer village...wonder which one is Rob's? Probably one in the middle...completely blocked by the other ones.
::on the road again::
We decided to continue on our little quest to City 4. There was nothing really going on here that had to do with the movie other than one of its stars was recently papped there. And since we'd never been...we decided to go. We did see 1 pap stalking someone but didn't actually stop to see who it was. I believe he was stalking a group of diners in a pizza joint who situated themselves right against a curtain so people couldn't see. We were done with that part of the adventure and decided to head home.
::on the road again::
We drove back through City 3 because #1, it was on our way home and #2 we were told that the train may move to the city for filming either that night or the next day. No sign of the train in City 3.
::on the road again::
We stopped at Set 3 to see if the train was there...and guess what?
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The circus train was in town :) so the train operator was right...they did move the train but to Set 3, not City 3. Again, there was no security by the fence (only 1 car with other set recon girls in it...LOL!). So since there was no security there...I took a few pictures of the train.
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Here's a better look at the Steam Engine...the train was actually really cool to see close up. The production crew did a great job of painting those box cars. Also, the location scouts did an amazing job finding these sets!
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Another view of the tent, the red brick building (which you can tell is a facade because of the scaffolding behind it) and the train.
Well, that's it folks. I wish I could say that I saw/met/accidentally but really on purpose ran into Rob while on my adventure but alas...he was somewhere in LA hitting the gym and attending birthday parties for random celebs. Maybe another day when I venture out into WFE land again...he'll be there and I'll stand a chance :)
