Invictus Games Toronto

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 1 Dundas Street East
Date: Oct 2016
Website: www.invictusgames2017.com

  The Invictus Games are designed for war veterans to participate in sport and help them overcome their PTSD or deal with their physical injuries.  Prince Harry helped start the event and the first games were held in London, England.  This year they are being held in Toronto, Canada until September 30th.  The annual Nuit Blanche festival is also being held in Toronto on September 30th.

  It seemed fitting that we received a sneak peak of the games during the 2016 Nuit Blanche festival in Toronto.  The I AM logo above is taken from the center of  the words Invictus Games.

  In Dundas Square we were able to add blocks to help form a big I AM on the ground and show our support for the games.

  The Canadian Armed Forces were also in the square, offering a unique opportunity to see some of their equipment.

  We were able to go inside an armoured transport vehicle.

  The highlight was a tank that had been driven into the square.  They were offering the opportunity to climb onto the tank.  Nuit Blanche is an all night event which runs from dusk until 7 AM the next morning.  Even though it was close to 4 AM we still had to line up for our turn on the tank.

   While standing on the tank we had a nice view of the Hard Rock Cafe.  Sadly, this location closed earlier this year.

 

  We were also able to take a look down into the tank and see where the crew is jammed in while on active duty.

  Lastly, we had the chance to stand next to the cannon which was pointed towards the Eaton Centre.  It was fun to see this equipment up close.  We can only imagine the experiences inside this equipment for the men and women taking part in the Invictus Games.  We wish them well in their competition.

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This location is near Dundas subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World
Yonge-Dundas Square

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Post # 193

The Murdoch Experience (Sullivan Studios Backlot)

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 66 Hymus Road
Date: July 2014
Website: sullivanmovies.com

  In 2014 we attended a two day event called The Murdoch Experience.  The event was designed for fans of the Murdoch Mysteries television show and the first day featured a tour of Sullivan Studios in Scarborough.  The show is about to air its tenth season so we thought now would be a good time to  share some of the filming locations that appear in almost every episode.  This blog post focuses on the backlot.

  Above is Station house No.4, which is where Detective Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) , Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy), Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) , Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and the rest of the police officers work.  They have passed through these doors many times and often Murdoch is running out to hop onto his bicycle parked nearby.

  The other areas of the backlot have been used many times throughout the years and have been shot from many different angles.

  This is the same street as in the previous photo, but shot from the opposite direction.

  This shot is taken looking into the archway in between the stores.

  The store signage is also changed as needed for different episodes.  This store could belong to a jeweller for one episode and then a bespoke tailor the next.

  Some of the stores could be entered into while other doors just lead behind the scenes.  The barber shop above was all dressed and ready for filming to begin.

  One episode which makes great use of the backlot is episode 3 of season 6 called "Murdoch on the Corner".

  In this episode the building above plays the Bank of Toronto.

 Murdoch sets up a camera in a building on the opposite end of the square in order to catch a killer.

  The camera is placed in the window to the right of Murphy's Tavern.  During our tour the Murphy's Tavern signage was set up.

  Murdoch Mysteries is set in the late 1890s and into the early 1900s.  It is meant to represent Toronto, Canada during that period.  The sets have also been used for other television shows from the same time period such as Road to Avonlea.

  In the alleyway above you can see the rigging that would hold lighting or other equipment.  This would help create just the right look for when someone meets their demise. 

  Once they do, it won't be long until Murdoch rides around the corner on his bicycle or Crabtree shouts "You there!" as he joins the pursuit.  We will continue our Murdoch Experience in future blogs, but for now we will leave you with some more pictures of the Sullivan Studios backlot. 

 

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Map of Our World
Sullivan Studios Backlot

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Post # 192

The Mask at Warner Bros. Studios

Location: Burbank, California, USA
Address: 3400 West Riverside Drive
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com

  We have a copy of The Mask on DVD that we got for free inside a box of cereal.  The movie was also a box office success and starred Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss.  When Stanley finds a special mask he puts it on and is transformed into... well, into Jim Carrey doing his stand-up routine.

  When we visited Warner Bros. Studios, we were lucky to see some of the filming locations from this movie.  The first location is found on Hennessy Street of the backlot.  Stanley lives in the apartment pictured above.  It is the building with Hardware written on it and fire-escapes on the front.  When Stanley first puts on the mask he becomes a green faced cartoon-like character.  He ends up bouncing down a hallway and out the window of this building.  He is flattened when he hits the ground below.  A car honks at him for being in the street.  Stanley pulls out a tiny little horn which lets out one giant-sized windshield shattering " Bahooogahh!"

  Later in the film Stanley is once again wearing the mask.  This time he finds himself face to face with a street filled with police.  The building above played the neon lit Warwick Hotel.

  When faced with this predicament, The Mask breaks into song and the police are surprised to find themselves losing control and dancing along.  The song he sings is Cuban Pete.  This song was previously made famous by Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy fame.  All of the action takes place just beyond the dumpster you see in the middle of the road above.

  At one point The Mask leaps into the air and slides down a light pole beside this theatre (right hand side of the photo above).  The dance sequence continues and finishes with a conga line before The Mask sneaks off once again.  Our golf cart also snuck off once again as we continued our tour of the studio.

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See more locations from the Warner Bros. Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World
New York Street , Stanley Ipkiss Apartment

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Post # 191