Times Square is a great location, but it’s usually full of people. My question (actually, there are two – see below) — which films were actually filmed in Times Square? I don’t mean anything that uses stock footage, or where you have the characters in front of a blue screen or matte (we’ve gotten savvy enough to pick these tricks out, a lot of the time), but a sequence obviously filmed with those characters in Times Square?
The second part is – Okay, say you can’t actually do the scene in the real Times Square, but you BUILD a set of that square and shoot the scene there. And, again, there has to be an efort to duplicate a recognizable portion of the square [[ not just a generic street scene.
in neither case do drawings, paintings, etc. count.
For the first – Godspell is the only one that springs to mind. Part of the philosophy of this film is that it’s filmed entirely on location in (and on ships around) Manhatten, yet except at the very beginning and end you don’t see anyone but the main characters. This involved a lot of blockading areas for shots, and shooting on Sundays. For the brief Times Square scene, they shot the two main characters tap-dancing in synch with figures on the old Bulova Watch sign, shooting upwards against the sky.
For the second – since both films involved wholesale destruction of things in the square, and massive effects work, both Superman II and Jackson’s King Kong required construction of their own Times Squares, with recognizable features and ad displays (The big Coca Cola sign in the Square, the old Pepsodent sign with the animated swinging girl). In the case of King Kong they also had to recreate a long-gone era in NYC, so the rebuild was essential. In the case of KK there was exxtensive CGI work as well, but they also had to construct an almost life-size and practical chunk of the square.
Ironically, sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow disqualifies because there’s hardly any real sets in the film – it’s almost all CGI.
I think you’re underestimating the city’s willingness to shut down Time’s Square for filming purposes…with the right permits of course. Cities love showing off their attractions on film and aren’t afraid to inconvenience a few people along the way.
I know that here in Chicago when they film in busy areas, they’ll do it in a way that “regular folk” aren’t in the way of the actual action, but can wander around in the background as they please. Whenever I see them shooting something outside my office on Michigan Ave, I’m always amazed at how efficient they are at handling people traffic around the filming.
As to your main question… does the Borat movie count? Also, in television - “Heroes” and “The Office” both filmed in Times Square recently.
It’s not the willingness – it’s the logistics. You have to close off a large area and hold off a lot of people and maybe effectively shut down businesses in order to film in Times Square. I’m not talking about Michae moore’s segments, or the background for Today or the New Year’s eve shoots – there you wanted people out milling around.
I haven’t seen Borat or Heros or the Office – did any of them film dramatic scenes in Times Square (as opposed to long shots of people walking through or driving through). From what I’ve heard, Borat was filmed as if a documentary, with the marks not knowing this was a dramatized put-on. You don’t have to shut things down for that. But having Harrison Ford emoting scripted lines to Meg Ryan, say, would be a different thing altogether.
Weren’t there some scenes in Spider-Man shot in Times Square? I seem to recall a company suing over the fact that their logo on a Times Square billboard was replaced with another company’s in the movie.
"In the heart of little old New York,
You’ll find a thoroughfare;
It’s the part of little old New York
That runs into Times Square;
A crazy quilt that Wall Street “Jack” built,
If you’ve got a little time to spare,
I want to take you there;
Come and meet those dancing feet
On the avenue I’m taking you to,
Forty-Second Street.
The good guys run through Times Square in a Ghostbusters montage scene. The various Law & Order shows have filmed in Times Square now and then, as has The Apprentice. And there was a cartoon version of the kids’ book A Cricket in Times Square.
Wasn’t there a scene in Times Square in one of the Men in Black movies? Not sure.
There are no ‘real’ sets in Sky Captain. Only actors, costumes and a few props were ‘real’.
MTV’s has a show, the name escapes me, which has people out in Times Square, annoying the hell out of New Yorkers. I do see film crews working in TS from time to time. I’m never sure if they are filming commercials or TV or movies. There was a car commercial from the Superbowl where men start stripping and dancing around a car full of women and I believe that was shot in Times Square. It even featured The Naked Cowboy (IMDB link SFW)
