Hollywood in Studio One
Winston Tharp, BECA's Head Television Engineer sent some interesting information (and speculation!) about BECA Studio 1:
The history of the SFSU BECA Department's television Studio One (CA-128) includes its use for production of at least two major Hollywood feature films, THX 1138 (1971) and The Candidate (1972).
George Lucas's feature film remake of his USC student film, THX 1138 was shot in 1969 and released in 1971. His rumored use of SFSU's TV studio as a location seemingly was never acknowledged and has been hard to pin down.
Herb Zettl had heard the same rumor I had about the THX 1138 connection but was unable to authenticate it for me, so I went to the Internet and came up with two pieces of information which seem to confirm it.
From American Cinematographer, in October 1971:
“The THX 1138 company traveled to no less than 22 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, filming in such places as the Oakland Coliseum, the San Francisco Pacific Gas and Electric Building, the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, and the various tunnels and tubes of the a-building BART system...a tumor research center in San Jose, where there was a four-million-volt linear accelerator and a laser treatment machine...the cathedral sequence near the end of the picture that was actually shot in a TV studio.”
(from http://www.scoopy.com/thx1138.htm)
Is this THX-1138 Cathedral Sequence being shot in the BECA Department's Studio One? It looks like Studio One to me (probably shot from the catwalk), but only George Lucas or one of his cast or crew members would know for sure. In contrast, Studio One's role as the location for the debate scene in Robert Redford's The Candidate is not itself open to debate; it occupies an entire chapter in Bruce Bahrenburg's 1972 book Filming "The Candidate." Not only were studio space and technical facilities used, but students and staff became extras. BECA's Television Engineer, Dave Wiseman, was cast in the part of the pollster, as director Michael Ritchie describes in the book: "'I needed someone who was going to look bored.' Ritchie went up to the man who looked most bored on the set, had him read the few lines, and in fifteen minutes the part was cast."
According to Herb Zettl, the department received equipment in lieu of payment from Redford's production company (unfortunately, the equipment was stolen not long after, so BECA didn't profit in a material sense from its experience with Hollywood).
Thanks again to Winston Tharp for this contribution
posted by Scott 5/05/2008 12:28:00 PM
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