FILM PICTURE CARS (1st of two articles on Picture Cars in the film
industry)
Film Picture Cars: basically a
vehicle shown in a movie.
A Picture Car is a vehicle that
is filmed on camera. They are the automotive equivalent of Hollywood actors.
There are hundreds, even thousands of production companies that make movies,
commercials, TV Series, and print work.
In the motion picture industry, a
star vehicle, picture car, or simply vehicle, is a film written or produced for
a specific star, regardless of whether the motive is to further their career,
or simply to profit from their current popularity. It is designed to optimally
display that star's particular talents or personal appeal. The term is also
applied to stage plays and television programs. In some cases, a performer may
produce their own star vehicle as self-promotion or a vanity project.
Picture Car Coordinator. ...
Those automotive stars aside, any time you see a car in a film or TV show, a
specialized technician known as a picture car coordinator is on set as well.
TRIVIA - INSIGHT
Richard Dyer, who extensively
studied the phenomenon of movie stars, in his book Stars (1979) defined the
vehicle phenomenon as:
The vehicle might provide a
character of the type associated with the star (e.g. Monroe's "dumb
blonde" roles, Garbo's melancholic romantic roles); a situation, setting
or generic context associated with the star (e.g. Garbo in relationships with
married men, Wayne in westerns); or opportunities for the star to do her/his
thing (most obviously in the case of musical stars – e.g. a wistful solo number
for Judy Garland, an extended ballet sequence for Gene Kelly – but also, for
instance, opportunities to display Monroe's body and wiggle walk [and] scenes
of action in Wayne's films).
Trivia fans, a question: What
links Anchorman, Captain America, Wayne’s World, Twilight, The Hunger Games,
Jason Bourne, Transformers and… Alvin and the Chipmunks? No? Well, before you
start trawling websites trying to find a little-known but prolific bit-part
actor, I’ll tell you. It’s the vehicles. Because the wheeled stars of all of
those movies – and a full credit roll more – were all provided by the same
company: Cinema Vehicles in Los Angeles.
Sources: Google, Wikipedia,
Richard Dyer, Studio Picture Cars, IMDB Glossary, Picture Car Warehouse, Tom
Ford, Top Gear
Interesting, particularly the trivia.
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