Friday Today we drove the loop road: along the coast, inland along the Russian River, across to Bodega and back to Bodega bay. As usual the weather was overcast, misty and cold, so we did not waste much time on the coastal bit, as we had explored that on Thursday. We took the road inland and drove liesurely up the Russian River Valley, which was a very pretty run. We stopped in Guernville, but did not find it very attractive. Leaving the valley and heading south we passed through Occidental, which is a much prettier village. From there we continued south, stopping for lunch in the grounds of a country school, which is now a museum and park. Finally we arrived at Bodega and quickly found the main target of our day out - the school house used in The Birds. It is a very attractive building, made more so by its history. Right next to it is the Catholic Church which also can be seen in the film. The famous scene is when the children escape from the school house and run down the hill, past the church, to the safety of the houses on the sea front. The only problem is that the school house is about five miles from the sea! So all the shots of the children running taken from the side are from Bodega Town, but the shots taken behind the children showing them running down the hill were filmed in Bodega Bay. Then the different shots were edited together. By now the sun had come out in Bodega, however when we drove down the hill to Bodega Bay the sky was once more covered with cloud.
Showing posts with label Hitchcock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hitchcock. Show all posts
Friday, April 26, 2013
April 24th - Bodega Bay
Wednesday We drove the 60 odd miles further west to arrive in Bodega Bay, we are camped on a large sand spit at the mouth of the Bay. It is cloudy and foggy, the temperature is down to about 60, however the Ranger's greeting included 'and the weather is real good here today'. This part of the coast is always shrouded in mist, if not downright foggy. Only a few miles inland it will probably be bright sunshine. It is so green after all the desert we have been in. Misty is one step away from myst'eri'ous, which includes eerie, leaning towards spooky. The houses are all dark brown or green (to reduce impact on the visual environment). All this goes to creating, or self fulfilling, the atmosphere for which this town is most famous. It is the setting for Hitchcock's 'The Birds'. We are here partly to see how much reality there is in the Hollywood creation. Having arrived by lunch time we took a ride out to Bodega Headland in the afternoon, where we could look back across the bay to the town. It is very pretty. In fact this is probably the most Yorkshire looking landscape we have seen this side of the Mississippi.
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