Lots of cool 1940s cars were on the Cal campus yesterday for the filming of a new Christopher Nolan movie about Robert Oppenheimer. I took some of my own pictures but the ones at the links below are better. I don't know their shooting schedule, but if you happen to be around the Cal campus it might be worth looking to see if they are around - they had lots of big trucks for hauling the vintage cars plus the usual big trailers and trucks for the movie crew, cast and the equipment.

https://www.kron4.com/news/christopher-nolan-filming-latest-movie-on-uc-berkeley-campus-photos/

UC Berkeley is *always* ready for its close-up. 🎥

Today, the campus is making a star turn as a shooting location for “Oppenheimer,” directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon.

And cars. Lots of vintage cars. pic.twitter.com/G4UhqQCtix

— UC Berkeley Library (@UCBerkeleyLib) May 20, 2022

Time travel @Cal pic.twitter.com/yER7l87oyy

— Gašper Beguš (@begusgasper) May 20, 2022

That is very cool!

Christopher Nolan filming #Oppenheimer outside my office at UC Berkeley. Or, my window is a time machine and it's showing me 1942. So, it's either physicist Robert Oppenheimer or actor #CillianMurphy who gets out of a car and walks into the physics building. pic.twitter.com/rmZq2Oqw67

— Paul G. Kalas (@Paul_G_Kalas) May 20, 2022

GoCal80 said:

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UCLA and USC are often used for generic college campus shots due to their proximity to the movie studios. For example, the outdoor scenes meant to be on the Stanford campus in The Dropout about Elizabeth Holmes were all shot on the UCLA campus. Maybe they shot some of the Oppenheimer scenes at UCLA and some at Cal. Yesterday, Saturday, late afternoon it seemed they wrapped up their work on the Cal campus.

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Yeah, but it is jarring because UCLA and USC have a lot of brick buildings and UC Berkeley has, as far as I know, just one. (UC Berkeley refused to allow The Graduate to film on campus, so they used USC. But they "stole" a shot of Dustin Hoffman on Sproul Plaza and filmed various scenes across from Unit 3, across from Unit 1 and across from Moe's Books (I forgot the name of the coffee shop.)

I believe Parenthood used green screen to depict its campus scenes.

Anyways, I'm glad they're using part of the UC Berkeley campus. Especially since it hasn't really changed.

Here's a list of films shot on the Cal campus: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=University+of+California%2C+Berkeley%2C+California%2C+USA

In The Graduate, when the Dustin Hoffman character drives across the now replaced section of the Bay Bridge, he drives toward Berkeley on the top deck, which actually headed west, not east, but they couldn't have done a helicopter shot of him on the bridge if he was on the lower deck.

Some years ago, I saw them filming Junior on the Cal campus. They used a fair number of buildings on and near the Cal campus, as shown here: http://www.filminamerica.com/Movies/Junior/

Dgoldnbaer said:

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fu c la 's campus buildings much more attractive than ours. Hate to admit it but ... love the brick buildings w/Ivy on them. Ours are dull - boring - compared to theirs. I've had this perspective since I was 16 - hasn't changed. And I know - beauty is all in the eye of the beholder!

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Ehhhh....UCLA's beauty is basically Royce Hall and the area surrounding it, including those long steps. That's it. That's all you think about UCLA when you think about UCLA.







UC Berkeley, on the other hand, has a lot of beautiful buildings spread out around campus. Yes, there are ugly buildings. But there are a lot of buildings that are simply beautiful (and are not pictured below).





I think that some people just have a brick building bias. They think bricks = prestigious academic school.

Case in point: In 2017, USC opened a dorm/shopping complex with Amazon, Trader Joe's, Target, Wahlburgers, etc.

They built it with bricks so it would look old and prestigious looking.

When the college admissions scandal broke in 2019, nearly all the articles/media coverage on it used pictures of the University Village complex because it "looked" like a university. Even though USC has many other buildings that predate 2017.

My grandfather partnered with Oppenheimer and Lawrence, invented the adding machine, and founded the Swedish Chair at Cal. I am hoping he might get an appearance in the film.

okaydo said:

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Dgoldnbaer said:

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fu c la 's campus buildings much more attractive than ours. Hate to admit it but ... love the brick buildings w/Ivy on them. Ours are dull - boring - compared to theirs. I've had this perspective since I was 16 - hasn't changed. And I know - beauty is all in the eye of the beholder!

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Ehhhh....UCLA's beauty is basically Royce Hall and the area surrounding it, including those long steps. That's it. That's all you think about UCLA when you think about UCLA.







UC Berkeley, on the other hand, has a lot of beautiful buildings spread out around campus. Yes, there are ugly buildings. But there are a lot of buildings that are simply beautiful (and are not pictured below).





I think that some people just have a brick building bias. They think bricks = prestigious academic school.

Case in point: In 2017, USC opened a dorm/shopping complex with Amazon, Trader Joe's, Target, Wahlburgers, etc.

They built it with bricks so it would look old and prestigious looking.

When the college admissions scandal broke in 2019, nearly all the articles/media coverage on it used pictures of the University Village complex because it "looked" like a university. Even though USC has many other buildings that predate 2017.

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Very good summary of southern branch's architecture. They basically have nothing of value. There are very few universities in the world that compare to John Galen Howard's Beaux Arts buildings like the Campanile, Hearst Mining, Wheeler, Doe Library, Durant, and Cal Hall. The granite for the facades was quarried in Madera County and gives these buildings a monumental look, not too mention their incredible ornamentation. It never gets old coming through Sather Gate and turning up to see Wheeler with the Campanile in the background.

Dgoldnbaer said:

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I never said or even thought brick buidings = a more prestigious academic school. Just mentioned - in my eyes - they are more beautiful than ones at Cal

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I grew up in SoCal and some of my best friends went to UCLA, but (and I admit I may be biased here) I find Cal to be a more beautiful campus by far. Yes, Royce looks good. There are also plenty of nice looking buildings in the UCLA campus.

However, Cal's got many other gorgeous buildings. Take Doe Library, Bancroft Library, and Hearst Memorial Gym. There's also Wheeler Auditorium, Dwinelle Hall, and Hearst Memorial Mining Building. Of course, there are also the icons, Sather Gate, the Campanile, and the Greek Theater. These structures are all absolutely gorgeous!

That's before even mentioning the natural beauty on the Cal campus. There's Strawberry Creek that flows across campus, the swathes of green dotting the campus (e.g., Faculty Glade, Memorial Glade, and the Eucalyptus Grove), and (of course) the unparalleled panoramic views of gorgeous SF Bay from scenic Memorial Stadium.

I've visited many college campuses, Cal is absolutely my favorite (again, I admit there may be a bit of bias at play here). The buildings and campus rarely disappoint (with the infamous exceptions of Evans Hall and Wurster Hall). I'd pit Cal against pretty much any other college campus for aesthetic appeal.

01Bear said:

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Dgoldnbaer said:

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I never said or even thought brick buidings = a more prestigious academic school. Just mentioned - in my eyes - they are more beautiful than ones at Cal

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I grew up in SoCal and some of my best friends went to UCLA, but (and I admit I may be biased here) I find Cal to be a more beautiful campus by far. Yes, Royce looks good. There are also plenty of nice looking buildings in the UCLA campus.

However, Cal's got many other gorgeous buildings. Take Doe Library, Bancroft Library, and Hearst Memorial Gym. There's also Wheeler Auditorium, Dwinelle Hall, and Hearst Memorial Mining Building. Of course, there are also the icons, Sather Gate, the Campanile, and the Greek Theater. These structures are all absolutely gorgeous!

That's before even mentioning the natural beauty on the Cal campus. There's Strawberry Creek that flows across campus, the swathes of green dotting the campus (e.g., Faculty Glade, Memorial Glade, and the Eucalyptus Grove), and (of course) the unparalleled panoramic views of gorgeous SF Bay from scenic Memorial Stadium.

I've visited many college campuses, Cal is absolutely my favorite (again, I admit there may be a bit of bias at play here). The buildings and campus rarely disappoint (with the infamous exceptions of Evans Hall and Wurster Hall). I'd pit Cal against pretty much any other college campus for aesthetic appeal
.

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I totally agree 01Bear.
uCLA has only Royce Hall and it's surroundings. The rest of its campus is pretty generic. Plus it is divided up by too many roads and it does not seem to have much of a master plan.
When I was a student at Cal in the 60's I loved walking on the Cal Campus and enjoyed so many of the bulldings and it's natural setting
Later some of the worst atrocities were added. Wurster, Evans, Tolman. Barrows and Stephens were not among the worst but the hey we're pretty boring

Luckily Tolman is gone and soon Evans will also be. stephens has been destroyed and rebuilt in a more attractive fashion
Some of the newer buildings are also great: East Asian Library, Bechtel Building, the Doe Library expansion are great.
And I love the new master plan for the Campus.

Based on their appearance at the last Big Game, these 4 Cal alums and Panoramic Hill Homeowners Association board members were hired to wear this garb in a scene in the movie portraying the November 21,1942 Big Game.

From left to right, they will be portraying the characters Chauncey Marmalard, Chip Carraway, Mandy Baker and Hubbell Diller.

*Apparently as a result of these members of the PHHOA being given roles in the movie, the association will allow the movie production company to use the stadium lights for filming until 8:30 pm.

01Bear said:

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Dgoldnbaer said:

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I never said or even thought brick buidings = a more prestigious academic school. Just mentioned - in my eyes - they are more beautiful than ones at Cal

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I grew up in SoCal and some of my best friends went to UCLA, but (and I admit I may be biased here) I find Cal to be a more beautiful campus by far. Yes, Royce looks good. There are also plenty of nice looking buildings in the UCLA campus.

However, Cal's got many other gorgeous buildings. Take Doe Library, Bancroft Library, and Hearst Memorial Gym. There's also Wheeler Auditorium, Dwinelle Hall, and Hearst Memorial Mining Building. Of course, there are also the icons, Sather Gate, the Campanile, and the Greek Theater. These structures are all absolutely gorgeous!

That's before even mentioning the natural beauty on the Cal campus. There's Strawberry Creek that flows across campus, the swathes of green dotting the campus (e.g., Faculty Glade, Memorial Glade, and the Eucalyptus Grove), and (of course) the unparalleled panoramic views of gorgeous SF Bay from scenic Memorial Stadium.

I've visited many college campuses, Cal is absolutely my favorite (again, I admit there may be a bit of bias at play here). The buildings and campus rarely disappoint (with the infamous exceptions of Evans Hall and Wurster Hall). I'd pit Cal against pretty much any other college campus for aesthetic appeal.

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I agree 100%. I grew up in LA going to UCLA on the bus to play cheap pinball at Ackerman Union and taking classes there multiple times during high school, the summer, or post grad. I like UCLA but it does not hold a candle to Cal's beautymost especially the setting. Far to many parking lots, roads, bland buildings.

I've been to many college campuses all over the country, there is no better campus. None. Not Harvard, not Columbia, not Princeton, Duke, Virginia, Chicago, Northwestern, not Stanford, USC or UCLA, not UC San Diego, Texas…..

Dgoldnbaer said:

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Opinions, opinions, opinions. We all have one! I too have been to multiple campuses throughout this country, including 7 of the 12 you mentioned. I would place 3 of them as better campuses then our alma mater's - Princeton, Northwestern and ucla. There are also some other's that I would rank as way better than Cal's including, but not limited to Notre Dame and North Carolina. I would in fact put UNC in Chapel Hill at the top of my list!!

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Well to do so you need to focus only on buildings and highly discount or even ignore views and setting like creeks and redwood trees. A campus built on a hill directly opposite the Golden Gate?

Northwestern? Seriously? When we had our game there I had zero envy and that was late summer. A friend who went there said most of the school term there it is the dead of winter, cold, windy and gray. Everything looks dead. Depressing. University of Chicago is the same, gothic architecture that looks like Hogwarts, but it's nickname among the students is "where fun comes to die."

And UCLA?
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/377458012527293842/

Dgoldnbaer said:

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Opinions, opinions, opinions. We all have one! I too have been to multiple campuses throughout this country, including 7 of the 12 you mentioned. I would place 3 of them as better campuses then our alma mater's - Princeton, Northwestern and ucla. There are also some other's that I would rank as way better than Cal's including, but not limited to Notre Dame and North Carolina. I would in fact put UNC in Chapel Hill at the top of my list!!

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I have seen princeton, NU, ND and UCLA many times. Never saw UNC.
Agree only with Princeton. It is a very pretty LITTLE campus. Well designed. But No great setting

NU is an attractive campus and has a nice setting on the lake and view of Chicago . I was not impressed with its layout. But I would place it in a tie with Cal.

ND is Prairie plain no real attractive buildings a lot of space but campus is boring and flat.

UCLA had a beautiful core but not much else. No real design to the grounds and no attractive setting unless you like bland office buildings. Worst part is that it is cut up way too much with parking lots and roads.

cal on the other hand has some great buildings and campus views.
Memorial Glade.
Faculty Glade and Morrison Hall area.
sproul Hall and student Union area.
The Sather Gate Dwinelle Wheeler Aud area .
The south Hall, Doe Library, Stephens Hall Campanile area.
Hearst Mining Building, Bechtel Building and Hearst Mining Circle.
Boalt Law School and krober Hall plaza.
Greek theater. Bowles Hall and CMS and Haas School of business area.
The area bounded by Giannini Hall and WellmanHall, University House , LSB and Moffitt Library
LSB, Dwinelle and California Hall area.
Eucalyptus grove and West Gate area.
Tightwad Hill
The natural setting cannot be beat.

GivemTheAxe said:

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Dgoldnbaer said:

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Opinions, opinions, opinions. We all have one! I too have been to multiple campuses throughout this country, including 7 of the 12 you mentioned. I would place 3 of them as better campuses then our alma mater's - Princeton, Northwestern and ucla. There are also some other's that I would rank as way better than Cal's including, but not limited to Notre Dame and North Carolina. I would in fact put UNC in Chapel Hill at the top of my list!!

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I have seen princeton, NU, ND and UCLA many times. Never saw UNC.
Agree only with Princeton. It is a very pretty LITTLE campus. Well designed. But No great setting

NU is an attractive campus and has a nice setting on the lake and view of Chicago . I was not impressed with its layout. But I would place it in a tie with Cal.

ND is Prairie plain no real attractive buildings a lot of space but campus is boring and flat.

UCLA had a beautiful core but not much else. No real design to the grounds and no attractive setting unless you like bland office buildings. Worst part is that it is cut up way too much with parking lots and roads.

cal on the other hand has some great buildings and campus views.
Memorial Glade.
Faculty Glade and Morrison Hall area.
sproul Hall and student Union area.
The Sather Gate Dwinelle Wheeler Aud area .
The south Hall, Doe Library, Stephens Hall Campanile area.
Hearst Mining Building, Bechtel Building and Hearst Mining Circle.
Boalt Law School and krober Hall plaza.
Greek theater. Bowles Hall and CMS and Haas School of business area.
The area bounded by Giannini Hall and WellmanHall, University House , LSB and Moffitt Library
LSB, Dwinelle and California Hall area.
Eucalyptus grove and West Gate area.
Tightwad Hill
The natural setting cannot be beat.

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The Faculty Club designed by famed architect Bernard Maybeck and later added to by John Galen Howard is a gem, I defy anyone to name a more beautiful building on a college campus.

The Julia Morgan buildings are great too.

calumnus said:

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I've been to many college campuses all over the country, there is no better campus. None. Not Harvard, not Columbia, not Princeton, Duke, Virginia, Chicago, Northwestern, not Stanford, USC or UCLA, not UC San Diego, Texas…..

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I couldn't agree more with you about Cal's campus, and I saw more than my share on college tours with my kids. With its varied architectural styles, Cal is the Portmeirion of college campuses.