Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars aren’t the leading women and men you might think. These “celebrities” are larger than life, yet don’t demand top billing — they’re the transit systems that often play key roles in blockbuster films and TV hits.
How many times has a train station, subway car or crowded bus stop set the stage for a pivotal movie or TV show moment? What helps to make these scenes real is that, across the country, transit authorities in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston and Philadelphia, are able to provide production companies with access to hundreds of actual stations, stops and vehicles — both new and vintage. Instead of attempting to recreate the “feel” of an urban subway on a sterile soundstage, production crews can work with transit organizations on location, most often for a fraction of what the cost to build a replica facility or outfit “authentic” vehicles would be.
In some cases, one system can serve as a “stand-in” for another. In the recently released action flick "Safe," the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s (SEPTA ) Broad Street Line, with the help of some movie magic, portrays the New York City subway. This included using a “green screen” so that background footage could be added later in the production.
Scenes using the Broad Street Line were filmed at SEPTA’s Fern Rock shop over a two-week period in November 2010. Steve Cook, who was assistant director of maintenance at Fern Rock at the time of the shoot, was heavily involved in the planning process.
“One of the things [the crew] liked about the Fern Rock facility was the size of the open, covered space they had to work with inside the building,” said Cook. “Although the movie is set in New York, they also liked that the Broad Street cars have a similar body structure of those used in New York, which allowed them to film some scenes in New York and some while on location in Philadelphia.”
