To coincide with the discussion of Iron Man 2, on the Agents of SHIELD: Case Files podcast this week, MCU: Location Scout will be taking a look at the multiple locations that make up the Stark Expo.
LOCATION: VARIOUS (See Below)
SHOW: Iron Man 2 (2010)
The Stark Expo was made up of several different locations that, when combined, create the sense of a larger and more connected reality than is actually possible. We’ll be examining all of these location below.
1) Int/Ext Stark Expo, Flushing [Flushing Meadows Park, New York Pavilion]
The Stark Expo takes place on the site of the 1964 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows. Aerial photography was used to depict the overall location, featuring the New York Pavilion and the Observation Towers. PLate photography was enhanced by special effects in order to make this location look like a thriving, tear-long Expo.
2) Int/Ext Stark Expo, Tony departs POV plus US Marshall serving, Ext Stairways [Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, Los Angeles]
A majority of the early scenes of exterior of the Expo take place a Performing Arts high school in northern Los Angeles. The design aesthetic of this school, which was being built at the time, informs the futuristic style that the Expo presents. As you can see on the images above, scenes on the main stairs, the Marshall giving Stark his subpoena, and the Hammer Drone attack portion of the end battle were filmed at this location. Additionally some of the internal scenes (Stark meeting “Larry King” as an example) were also filmed in the school buildings.
3) Ext Stark Expo, Flushing, Drone attack & Crowd [LA Live, Nokia Theater (now Microsoft), 777 Chick Hearn Ct, Los Angeles]
Much of the crowd sequences avoiding the drone attack take place in the courtyard at LA Live, outside the Microsoft Theater (which was called the Nokia Theater, when this film was shot). Additionally the interior shots of the Stark and Justin Hammer presentations occurred inside the theater.
4) Ext Stark Industries Pavilion, including flying thru fountains [Sepulveda Dam entrance, plate shot]
The most interesting sequence, and the one which I most recently found a behind-the-scenes photo of, is the shooting that was done at the Sepulveda Dam. The production erected giant walls made up of shipping containers, which were draped with green screen material, and set up the main approach to the pavilion. Scenes with the curved main stairs, the fountains and explosions, which occur around the conclusion of the Drone battle with Iron Man and War Machine, were shot at this location.
All locations were referenced in some part in Cinefex #122, which describes the special effects of Iron Man 2.
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Behind every scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a location. Some are iconic. Some are functional. Some are completely fantastic. But all of them are there to support the story.
Here at the MCU: Location Scout, Jovial Jay digs deep to uncover the real-world filming locations behind your favorite super hero films. From Iron Man to Inhumans and everything in between!
Having grown up on comics, television and film, “Jovial” Jay feels destined to host podcasts and write blogs related to the union of these nerdy pursuits. Among his other pursuits he administrates and edits stories at the two largest Star Wars fan sites on the ‘net (Rebelscum.com, TheForce.net), and co-hosts the Jedi Journals podcast over at the ForceCast network.