CMU School of Drama


Friday, February 27, 2015

A Peek Inside Warner Bros' Prop Vault

Tested: If you can forgive the campy presentation, CNN's tour of the Warner Bros. prop archive is pretty neat. I've seen plenty of videos of the props and costumes on display at the Warner Bros. studio tour in Hollywood, but this warehouse of wardrobe and vehicles from films like Gravity, The Dark Knight, and Harry Potter is like the propmaker's version of Raiders of the Lost Ark's Hanger 51.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

The first thing that I thought of when they said how much stuff they have in there was: “Huh. They don’t have that much more stuff than us” Their warehouse is taller and a little bit bigger, but I terms of volume, im sure that not every item from the movies they do goes to that warehouse. I wonder if it is just that particularly special or recent items from popular movies that go there. Because I am sure that most of what gets used in movies gets built and thrown away onsite, or at least thrown away after the shoot is over. It would be kind of funny if this is the decoy warehouse of props for Warner Bros movies, and there is a much larger huge complex of warehouses where they keep EVERYTHING from the movies they build, and this is just what they show the public to keep the movie aficionados away from the real props.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Paula Halpern said...

This warehouse is amazing!!! I love that everything is archived and organized and kept in one location. When they showed it, however, it looked a lot smaller than what I would have first imagined. I feel like Warner Bros did many more movies than however many could fit in that warehouse. I agree with Chris and I hope that instead of one warehouse, WB has a whole complex of prop and costume storage locations. I also hope that one day, it could be toured. I would love to be able to look around inside and see collections from some of the most influential movies of all time. Also, the props were made so beautifully and meticulously. I just want to stare at each one for hours and ask millions of questions about how they're made and how long it took. I hope one day I get the opportunity to do that.

Monica Skrzypczak said...

I’m dying. This is so amazing! A nerd’s compete dream. Though when I think about it, I agree with Chris and Paula; this doesn’t seem like a whole lot of props and costumes for how many movies Warner Brothers has made. I wonder if they are just the really successful films or if it was just for the past decade or so, or if it also because so much of a movie is CGI so they don’t have that many props at all. If it is just successful films it makes me sad that they set a bar to get into the warehouse because in a few years, movies that were not necessarily loved at the beginning could get a following. I’m reminded of Firefly and how huge their fan base has gotten even though the show was originally cancelled due to low numbers. Yes, Firefly is a TV show and so relied a lot on it’s airtime, but the idea still stands. I would hope that Warner Bros. would keep as much as possible from everything. It’s not exactly like they have a lack of money to not be able to store more- the warehouse was huge, but not that full.

Alex Fasciolo said...

The first thing I thought of when I saw this video was ‘how much would I have to pay to take a tour’. Unfortunately, it seems like they aren’t giving tours of their secret warehouse, but I still think that this would be a great museum for those who truly enjoy cinema. It’s a huge collection (though as Chris pointed out, comparable in size to our own) but still, imagine a place where you could walk through wings dedicated to the Dark Knight trilogy, or the Harry Potter movies. It would be amazing! The second thing I thought of after watching the video was how impressed I was with how organized and accessible each piece in that collection was kept. There must be some very good management behind that storage facility, especially considering that some of the pieces are the most iconic objects of this generation, maybe even transcending this generation. If there was a way to ensure their safety, as well as allow the public to enjoy them, I would be on a plane to London tomorrow.

Drew H said...

Well that is pretty awesome! I remember going on a Warner Brothers tour when I visited LA at the age of 7 and seeing some Harry Potter props. I never really thought about what happens to everything that is made for movies from the set to the props and costumes. I know on broadway sometimes when they strike a set the put it in storage. Is that the case for movie sets? I wonder what proportion of movie props are kept and how many are discarded. Then from the ones that are kept how many appear in multiple movies or tv shows. I know Warner brothers has a small town set that they keep up permanently that is used in a few different movies with some alterations so I would assume they do the same with props. I know in the video they said props are repurposed but does that mean the same batman costume is in all the recent batman movies or does that mean the suitcases used in one move are the same as every other warner brothers picture?

Unknown said...

That warehouse was so cool! The amount of props and costumes in that warehouse is crazy. I would love to spend hours in there and just explore. It is great to see that even though movies today are using computer technology to create their effects, there are still real props and set pieces that they use to work in. It is nice that they keep every prop that they use in the movies. It would be cool if they opened up the warehouse one day as a museum or at least part of it. It would be a very popular attraction to everyone around the world. I really liked seeing all the Harry Potter costumes and props. It was very interesting how they changed over the years and movies. The style is similar but it has also changed a lot because the moods of the movies have evolved over the years.

Unknown said...

Oh what I would do to be able to take a tour of this facility. The enormity of the props and costumes that are stored as meticulously as they are is incredible. There are so many films that had the gadgets that you always wanted. Well they are just sitting right there, of course, so many of those props are priceless, being able to hold a piece of movie history in hand, now wouldn’tthat be something. To be able to really take a look at the intricate details involved in making each prop and costume come to life. What we were able to see from the props from Harry Potter with the golden snitch. Looks like it took a good craftsmen to do it right. For now though, the studio is just a little too out of reach and at an undisclosed location, so it might be easier to find Area 51 in search for some secrets.

Kat Landry said...

THIS IS SO COOL!!
One of my first thoughts was definitely that, wow, we have about as much in our warehouse, but as the video went on, all I could do was freak out about some of my favorite films. It is really incredible how much value we put on the pieces of movies we love. Something about the way they are removed from the story gives me a sort of sentimental feeling about them; seeing Daniel Radcliffe's first costume compared to his last one makes me feel as though I've really seen a character (and actor) grow up. I actually was able to see a great number of props when The Harry Potter Exhibit came to Boston a few years ago, which was really, really cool. It makes me wonder if they knew, at the time of making them, that they would be so adored by the series' fans.

Tom Kelly said...

This is a gold mine! I can't get over how many great props were in there and we don't even know where it is! I just kept thinking how cool it would be if they put these props on display. judging from how much stuff they put in the warehouse from the dark knight films they could make a whole attraction or museum just on that. I also was surprised by how much harry potter props were in there, i would have thought that they were all taken to universal or other harry potter exhibits around the world. Having them stay in storage for no one to see is a shame. I wish they listed all the films that have props in there, showing 4 big ones was eye opening but i would have liked to have seen more. In many ways it was like seeing a real life Indiana jones warehouse, which I'm sure the ark is actually in there as well.

Unknown said...

The Warner Brother’s prop vault looks amazing! As a kid I’ve always dreamed of running around a prop warehouse playing with prop memorabilia from my favorite movies like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. I think it’s great that Warner Bros. makes a point to save all their really important, and interesting props, but it’s almost a shame to keep that all to themselves. If you have so many objects that are relevant to modern culture and people would love to see them, why not put them on display, rent them out as museum pieces, or begin curating the Warner Bros. prop museum. Any of those ideas would put the objects to better use and make a ton of money, more than just leaving them to get dusty in a giant warehouse. Tours could also be a great option, I’d personally love to see the props from the Dark Knight movies, and a drive in the new batmobile would be ridiculously cool. The prop storage is really amazing, but I think it hasn’t been put to good use, and Warner Bros. is essentially just sitting on a gold mine waiting to be tapped.