# Where do they film cemetery scenes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-film-cemetery-scenes/689834 "2014-06-02T13:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-film-cemetery-scenes/689834/1 "2014-06-02T13:40:10Z")
The various Spider-Man movies seem to average about 1.2 burials per movie (I think the Doc Ock movie is the only one without one), and it occurred to me that Hollywood probably doesn’t film in actual cemeteries - it would be pretty disrespectful to close off part of a cemetery, have cameras, trailers, caterers, etc. etc. But creating & tearing down fake cemeteries on a regular basis would be a pain - does Hollywood have a standard cemetery set they do most/all of their filming in, or do they just have a bunch of fake gravestones they truck into an open field? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-film-cemetery-scenes/689834/2 "2014-06-02T13:50:21Z")
Cool question. For Buffy the Vampire, > [@](#): > > A makeshift cemetery was set up in the parking lot of the show’s studios in Santa Monica, and many cemetery scenes were filmed at the Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery at 1831 W. Washington Boulevard, in the West Adams District, south of Los Angeles’ Koreatown. A BBC series about zombies used a real cemetery, [resulting in a lot of outrage.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2553938/BBC-anger-grieving-relatives-turning-cemetery-film-location-ZOMBIE-television-series.html) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-film-cemetery-scenes/689834/3 "2014-06-02T13:55:03Z")
I think they use real cemeteries under strict guidelines. Notice, for example, that it’s nearly always early morning (probably on a weekday); that there are never other funerals going on; that very few people actually walk among or over any grave sites (typically all the action is on borders and roadways) and that there are never any disruptive actions like vehicle chases and gunfights. There is also very little setup and scene dressing - it seems obvious that they move the vehicles, actors and crew in and out as fast and as minimally as they can. When there are such things, it’s more likely to be a set, practical or CGI. Cemeteries are perpetually short of money for, well, perpetual maintenance. A few $ks to let a film crew use part of the place under strict rules is money from heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-film-cemetery-scenes/689834/4 "2014-06-02T14:54:08Z")
There are also plenty of cemetaries that have open tracts that are not currently …occupied…that can be used for shooting with out disturbing any real graves (or cursing you set). That way you can bring in some mock headstones and even have real headstones in the back ground. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-film-cemetery-scenes/689834/5 "2014-06-02T19:53:02Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > …Cemeteries are perpetually short of money for, well, perpetual maintenance. A few $ks to let a film crew use part of the place under strict rules is money from heaven. So to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-film-cemetery-scenes/689834/6 "2014-06-03T01:27:19Z")
We were strolling through the park one day (El Dorado, Long Beach, CA) when we came upon a spooky scene of headstones, grave markers and crypts where we normally just see squirrels and stuff. Upon inquiry, we found it was to be used in “Terminator 3”. They couldn’t use a regular cemetery cuz part of the scene has a big truck or something plowing wildly out of control through said headstones and grave markers and crypts. It was a very real looking set. Made me want to go look for Aunt Rosa.