ARROW Set Visit Part 3: Set Tour with Glen Winter & James Bamford! [PHOTOS]
We passed a new set which we later discovered was the magical tunnel Constantine and Oliver discover in episode 405. Watching Stephen film in there with the characters Conklin and Baron Reiter in 406 was really exciting especially seeing it lit with fire, in such a small space!
Check out our second slide show of behind-the-scenes photos below!
Knowing Glen directed episode 301 we were curious to know if the restaurant where Oliver and Felicity have their first date is a real place. We were surprised to hear that both the restaurant and Thea’s loft are sets – a testament to the skills of the art department and set designers. It made Glen happy to know they’d fooled the fans.
Being DP and director in season 1 we asked Glen if he saw the Olicity chemistry on screen and thought it would be such a major factor. “Yes, you see the chemistry on screen and you see the fans’ reactions and, I mean, Felicity wasn’t supposed to be a main character and now she’s a main character.”
Catching up with James Bamford again in Thea’s loft, where he was mapping scenes – looking at shooting angles for scenes in 407 – we discussed potential living arrangements for the cast in Season 4. Looking around the set we saw pictures of Olicity and Thea, and wondered whether Thea stayed with Oliver and Felicity in the loft. I guess we were wrong! James did however let us in on a little-known secret – there’s nothing in the fridge! It was a somewhat surreal treat to see their bedroom, featured in 406, complete with pillows, books at the bedside and a soft mattress!
The translight background behind the large windows creates the illusion of the city skyline in day or night, plus with 20,000W lights to help create daylight, it can get pretty hot in there despite the high ceilings.
We then moved to the hospital set which lay bare at the time – notable for scenes such as Ray declaring his love for felicity in episode 318 and the corridor scenes in 301 where Felicity calls Ray a slimy little human, before Oliver kisses her. Regarding Ray in season 3, I asked Glen if it was their intention for Ray to be seen as a duplicitous character. “Not particularly but that’s up to the writers – and you don’t know how the actors are going to play it. But the writers will often write to the strengths of the actors based on their previous characters.” So was this a throw-back to his character on Chuck?
Here’s what Brandon Routh had to say about it when I spoke to him in Birmingham this year:
Felicity is possibly the only character who hasn’t spent time in a hospital bed, though I fear season 4 may change that.
Lastly we entered the QC, now Palmer Tech offices. Having been blown up at the end of season 3 they were back to working order, though covered in drapes. I suspect the T-sphere was under there somewhere. It made us excited to see Felicity taking the desk as CEO. For me it was also fun seeing the elevator (which is not a real elevator) where many comedic scenes have played out.
We hope you enjoyed the tour vicariously through us with Glen and James. If you haven’t already, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our Arrow set visit, and watch out next week, for more on our visit to The Flash sets!
Arrow airs Wednesdays on the CW in U.S.A. and Sky1 in the U.K.
As always we’d love to hear your comments – you can either write below or tweet me @tanavip!
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