Dream Tropes Wiki/California Doubling

Template:Trope
Any exotic foreign locale in a TV series or film is, due to budget or danger to the cast, likely to actually be somewhere in California, such as Kirk's Rock. For British sci-fi shows, it's "Quarry Doubling" — any desolate alien planet is usually a quarry (usually the BBC Quarry) within a couple of hours' drive from London — or Doubling for London.

One of the most famous examples of this is in Star Trek (and all subsequent series), in which every planet they land on looks exactly like the deserts of southern California, the redwood forests of Northern California, or the mountains of Central California (assuming it isn't a studio cyclorama instead). Oh, and from time to time the script might call for a beach. Any ideas?

This is actually one of the main reasons why Hollywood and the Los Angeles area became the capital of American filmmaking. The varied locales within two or three hours drive (desert, beach, mountains, farm land), along with the consistent year-round good weather, made Southern California ideal for making movies.

California is not the only place that has done this. The Canadian province of British Columbia, between the metropolis of Vancouver and its vast mountain forests and oceans nearby, has become the third-largest film production center in North America thanks partly to its ability to stand in for the Pacific Northwest (usually Seattle or Portland) or any small, rural town in the northern half of the US. Another Canadian city, Toronto, has doubled for cities such as New York City and Chicago more times than it has actually represented itself. Utah has been Vulcan, Mars, and the Old West. Georgia and Louisiana have represented not just the Old South, but also modern Midwestern suburbia, northern industrial cities, and the jungles of Africa and South America. State and national governments know this, and frequently offer generous tax credits to lure film and television productions to their locales, to the point where even California itself has started offering its own tax incentives to keep Hollywood filming near, well, Hollywood.

The main reason is that a production crew not only includes a cameraman, director and actors; there are usually at least two or three dozen people working on prepping a location, providing the appropriate light and transporting the equipment to film a scene. Moving everyone, especially on a weekly television budget, is sometimes implausible even if said location is willing to permit filming. Other times, the actual location is not an option for security and or political reasons. Even in the most general sense, many cities are adverse to blocking off the entire downtown for weeks on end, and so some sequences are film in piecemeal, getting a couple vintage shots of actors near landmarks and then finding a more practical location to film the rest.

Another time that this may be necessary is if the original location (and this is true especially for period pieces) no longer looks like what it did in story. While obviously it might be a bit difficult filming an ancient Rome in Rome itself, as the city resembles Caesar's city in name only, even the London of today is quite different from the London of Victorian times through the early part of the twentieth century (thanks in no small part to the Luftwaffe). This makes some doubling in another city more valuable simply because that location actually looks more period-accurate note . Conversely, filming in a story set Twenty Minutes In The Future will have its own problems because to make a location seem futuristic would require a lot of construction and visual effects anyway.

Of course, this can lead to Television Geography, as well as Misplaced Wildlife, Misplaced Vegetation, and It's Always Spring. In many cases, the average viewer may not be familiar with the location in question, but it can end up bugging those viewers who have been or actually live in those locations. Also take into account that any production wants to Shoot the Money, and may choose a more scenic place to film instead of the less impressive place it actually is.

This can have a very odd effect the first time one visits southern California. Upon seeing for the first time those scrub-covered hills and twisty roads, one gets a truly unearthly sense of deja vu. Have I been here before, you ask yourself? Then you realize that you have... on TV! For those who live in southern California, it is amusing to point out places one recognizes from TV shows. The most used location is Griffith Park, whose scrabble mountains can be seen in nearly every 1950's "jungle" movie and M\*A\*S\*H.

This can lead to The Mountains of Illinois when the setting is full of Critical Research Failures.

The easiest way to subvert California Doubling is to simply have the setting actually be California (usually Los Angeles/Burbank, which is both near Hollywood and where a good chunk of the television industry is actually located). Indeed, many television shows, especially sitcoms, do exactly that.

Contrast with Canada Does Not Exist, where the shooting location actually affects the storyline.

## Australia Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* *Disco Panic* is set in Template:W with some scenes set outside there. However, the film was shot entirely in Template:W, Template:W.
	+ The re-enactment of the incident where Steve Dahl and his infamous Insane Coho Lips army chase down a WDAI promotional van was filmed at Template:W in Template:W for the start (wherein the Cohos throw marshmallows at the van), Template:W and Template:W for the actual chase, and Template:W for the ending of the chase (wherein the Cohos chase it into a park and surround it).
	+ The teen disco occupation was filmed at the Template:W in Template:W. The exterior of the disco was the Template:W on ACDC Lane in Template:W, with vinyl wrapping everywhere to hide graffiti.
	+ The Hanover Park near-riot was filmed at the Template:W in Template:W.
	+ The WLUP studios were the studios of Template:W and Template:W.
	+ Template:W was recreated using a combination of two scale models (one HO scale, the other G scale), a digitally-enhanced Template:W, and studio sets at the Docklands Studios.

### Live-Action TV

* *WCW* is filmed for the most part in Queensland (there was some filming in the second season in Canberra and Tasmania though) despite the fact that it's about a wrestling promotion that traveled across the United States and the world, and a lot of the characters are portrayed by Australians. Aside from some amusing locational irregularities (ah, the beach culture and towering skyscrapers of... Phoenix) it has the side-effect of producing a cast of actors who try their darnedest not to sound Australian.
* *Bombers on the Screen* and *From Russia with Bombs* are mostly filmed in Victoria, Australia, with some filming done at Template:W.

## New Zealand Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* *Between the Lions: Share a Story* was filmed in Template:W.
	+ Much of the interior shots were filmed at the Stone Street Studios in Template:W.
	+ The exterior of the Barnaby B. Busterfield III Library was the main campus of the Template:W with CGI enhancements to resemble the actual set's exterior more.
	+ The telling of *Template:W* was shot in the Te Paki Sand Dunes on Template:W and on a recreated Acoma Pueblo town set at the Stone Street Studios. This also allowed the producers to use Maori actors as stunt doubles for the Template:W people, however said actors' attempts to do non-stereotypical Native American accents tend to fail, plus some of the Maori extras had to have their tā moko digitally airbrushed out in post to make them look more convincing as Native Americans.
	+ In addition, McDonald's Template:W location makes an appearance as a inner-city location of the chain.

## California Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* *Bionicle: The Next Generation* used Template:W for several scenes that couldn't be filmed in El Kadsre City. One scene had a clearly marked Template:W light locomotive move going over a bridge in the background whilst two clearly El Kadsreian characters are talking about *El Kadsreian history*.

## El Kadsre Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* *Zak and Wheezie's Big Circus Adventure* was mostly filmed in El Kadsre in the West El Kadsreian State. Richardson Park doubled for most of the parks the circus stopped in.

## Toronto Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* *Whodunnit? A Share A Story Musical Mystery* was filmed in Ontario, Canada (specifically in Template:W, Template:W, and Template:W) with the opening dance sequence filmed at a Template:W, Template:W location of Tower Records.
* *Open A Book! The Reading Rainbow Movie* was also filmed in Template:W. The exterior of LeVar's TV studio was the Template:W.

### Live-Action TV

* *Demolition Man* is filmed in Toronto, standing in for the fictional super-city of San Angeles. The headquarters of the San Angeles city government is the One York Street tower.

## Vancouver Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* *Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?* was mostly set in San Francisco but filmed in Vancouver:
	+ The Template:W portrayed ACME Crime Net's headquarters

## Montreal Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* *Sagwa: The Movie* was filmed in Template:W and Template:W, standing in for the fictional city of Quad City.

### Live-Action TV

* *Extreme Time Tunnel* used Quebec to stand in for *almost everything under the sun*. During the first episode, the "Project TT2 convoy heads to base via the highway" scene cuts a frame or two too late to avoid showing a "Bienvenue à Montréal" sign.
* *The Ice-T Show* is set in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but is taped in Montreal. The Havana Hotel's exterior is the south tower of Complexe Desjardins (the interiors are studio sets).
* *VR Troopers* takes place in the fictional city of Costa Antipolis, California but is filmed in Montreal (and Ottawa as well). There's a scene in the first episode where Larry and Mack are riding to the gym and there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment where a sign clearly reading "Quebec vous souhaite la bienvenue / welcomes you" is in the background. This also has the side effect of producing a cast of actors who try their hardest not to sound Canadian or Québécois.

## Ox Island Doubling

### Films - Animated

* The 1955 Life on Ox Island has an in universe example, with Californians filming parody sketches taking place in Ox Island when the Hollywood sign is in plain sight.

## Other Doubling

### Films — Live-Action

* Other *Technic Heroes* examples:
	+ *Lana X: The Ladybot* used Pansaura and Template:W for Sentan due to the situation there at the time. Passing off the Template:W as Sentan Government House was a little obvious.
	+ *Lana X4: Tales of Kleni* used Template:W for Template:W, although some filming took place in Jordan later on. Seeing the world-famous Template:W as a generic bridge in Jordan is pretty surreal.
	+ *Hypersquad* used Template:W for Template:W. Production then went to Template:W to use Template:W as a stunt double for Template:W.
* Other PBS Kids Movies examples:
	+ *Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: The Movie* was filmed in Template:W, Template:W, doubling for Template:W and the fictional Neighborhood of Make Believe. Most of the scenes in said Neighborhood were filmed at Sasani Studios, whilst most of the scenes in Pittsburgh were filmed in Template:W and Template:W.