‘National Treasure’ at the Library
Posted on: April 30th, 2007 by Matt Raymond
The Library of Congress has been known for its �American Treasures� and �World Treasures� exhibits, but more recently, we have been hosting �National Treasure.� Or, more precisely, �National Treasure: Book of Secrets,� the sequel to the hit 2004 Disney film.
I�m prohibited � at least for now � from talking much about the film. That�s what they have a publicist for. But as the Library�s �project manager� (the production team probably got tired of hearing that the title meant I was the guy who OK�d their filming here), I hope to talk a lot more about our involvement in the months ahead.
In the meantime, it seems others haven�t been subject to quite the same prohibition. Such as Dan Zak, who wrote an article on the front page of yesterday�s �Sunday Source� section of the Washington Post. It was all about his stint as an extra during the portions that filmed at the Library � complete with a second article giving an hour-by-hour account of the �hurry up and wait� nature of the process.
I won�t comment much about the articles linked above, except to respond to what seems to be a fixation on Nicolas Cage�s height: I am a good 6-foot-2, and I don�t think he was but maybe a couple inches shy of me.In general, however, I think the Library�s role in the film has the potential to redefine the Library of Congress in the eye of movie-goers, much the same as the iconic shot from the dome of the Main Reading Room did for previous generations in �All the President�s Men.�
One small peek behind the scenes: The last night of shooting involved exteriors. It also coincided with the nasty Noreaster that recently pounded the Atlantic Seaboard with winter�s dying sting.
The crew were helping light the scene with what is known as a �china ball.� It was a very large helium-filled balloon with a megawatt lightbulb in the middle, and strapped down to a cherry-picker. I took a brief video clip to show the forces we were up against:
Link (750kb WMV file, 384kbps, 16 seconds)
Tags: disney, national treasure, book of secrets, movies, films, hollywood, library of congress
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June 8th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
[...] Ironically, come December, the congressman might want to put a similar footnote on the Library’s entry about that movie’s sequel! [...]
July 11th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
This is exciting. I loved the first movie!!
David Lay
November 16th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
[...] blogged briefly a few months ago about our experience over the course of several nights with some movie stars and a couple of hundred members of the crew [...]
December 21st, 2007 at 3:25 pm
[...] I’ve previously blogged (here and here), the Library of Congress has a central role in the movie, a clue to which is found in the [...]
July 15th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Just caught this article. Love the movie so seeing this after the fact is interesting.