Staircase from The Bourne Legacy

The original Federal interior of the Dr Oliver Bronson House - does it look familiar to you?  It should be if
you've seen The Bourne Legacy.

The three storey elliptical staircase

I'm so relieved as a mystery has finally been solved for me - all thanks to Remodelista.
I first saw the film, The Bourne Legacy last year and was intrigued by the house that Rachel Weisz's scientist character lived in - which, to my disbelief, got destroyed. The part of this house that blew me away was the three storey elliptical staircase. It was stunning - I hadn't seen anything like it.
Afterwards I tried to to find information about the movie set - was it a real house or a staged set; to no avail. It really annoyed me!
However, as of this morning, I now know that this house was a movie set based on a real historic house called the Dr Oliver Bronson House, found in Hudson, New York. The original house was considered too fragile to deal with the rigours of filming so a replica was built. Read all about it here on Remodelista.
Photographs by Michael Fredericks via Dr Oliver Bronson House Day Book.

FILMography - Matching Film Stills with Real Life

 

Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

 

Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand from The Way We Were (1973)

Robert Redford in Three Days of the Condor (1975)



Diane Keaton and Woody Allen from Annie Hall (1977)

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally (1989)




Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

 

Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner in The Avengers (2012)

This is FILMography - a fantastic website by New York journalist, Christopher Moloney. He has recreated more than 250 film scenes around his famous city using film stills and comparing them to the real life locations. It's amazing to see from the old films what hasn't changed. Go on, have a look and find your favourite film moments.
Photographs via FILMography.

Harry Potter - Production Design

The set for the 'Room of Requirement'

These mountains of chairs had a plywood core with two layers of real furniture attached

Gringott's Bank - the marble columns are made with paper that has been dipped into trays of coloured oil and water.

The Boathouse - where Professor Snape meets his demise.

Yep, I'm happy to admit that I am a Harry Potter fan. I loved reading the series by J.K. Rowling and it was great to see them brought to life in the stunning films that were so dedicated to the books.
What is even more fascinating is finding out how the fantastical places and scenes were brought to life via the work of production designer, Stuart Craig and set decorator, Stephenie McMillan. They are both nominated for the best Art Direction at the upcoming Academy Awards. Read about how some of these great locations came about here.
Photographs courtesy of Warner Brothers via Vanity Fair.