Deja Vu

A place for my wanderings, photos and thoughts on film tourism, fandom and places you know before you ever get there.

[twinsuns77]

Downtown Smallville #2

Film/TV:  Smallville, multiple seasons

Location:  176th street, downtown Cloverdale, BC

Notes:  Lots of fun matching the buildings from downtown Smallville even all of these years after.  Here is what the Smallville Antiques shop looks like today.  It’s called Timeless Treasures.  I actually went in and it has everything from old records to hifi equipment and DVDs.  This location is easy to miss as it’s just off of a very busy highway that looks nothing like there’s a quaint, little downtown nearby!

[twinsuns77]

Downtown Smallville

Film/TV:  Smallville, multiple seasons

Location:  Across the street from the Talon, 5740 176 St, Surrey, British Columbia

Notes:  It was fun to try to match some of the original downtown Smalllville buildings so many years later.  Fordman’s Department Store has quite the same look, and is the same colour, but is now a learning centre.  Downtown Cloverdale, BC is a great location to visit to take a stroll through downtown Smallville.  Most notable is the Talon, with its original design and colours.  It’s now a church.

[twinsuns77]

Hamilton Comic Con

Had a blast with friends in Hamilton.  A highlight was John Schneider’s panel on Saturday.  A fan asked him for his favourite moment from Smallville.  I loved the answer - in the very short video above.

[kent-farm]

Clark & His Dad • Smallville

[twinsuns77]

The Talon

Location:  Crossridge Church (formerly Clova Cinema), 5732 176 St, Surrey, BC

TV/Film:  Smallville, S1-S10

Notes:  Cloverdale, BC doubled as downtown Smallville, Kansas.  The quaint downtown street is just off a very busy, traffic light filled road and is easily missed.  Most prominent is The Talon, an old theatre that is now used as a church.  It will be interesting to see how long the original colours and ‘Clova’ signs remain.  It’s still quite a thrill to be walking in downtown Smallville (I accidentally left my cell on and have a 15 min, crazy, shakey, upside-down video of my time there, lol).

[twinsuns77]

Smallville High #2

Location:  Templeton High School, 727 Templeton Dr, Vancouver, BC 

Film/TV:  Smallville, S2 - S10

Notes:  Less than a  5 min drive from Vancouver Technical School (Smallville HIgh in S1) sits Templeton Secondary School.  This school was used extensively in the series, both interior and exterior, to the point where some of the school’s students were extras on the show.  The door was open so I popped in and checked out the first floor (where I found lots of matches from ‘Hothead’).  The famous ‘Smallville Hallway’ must have been upstairs!  This school is much smaller and in a much less busy area, so I can see why production moved.  It has since been repainted back to its original colours inside and out.

[kent-farm]

The Kents • Smallville 

[twinsuns77]

Smallville Stunt Bridge

Location:  Menzies Crossing, aka the old Silver Bridge on Harris Road in Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada

Film/TV:  Smallville Pilot

Notes:  My all time favourite Smallville stunt!  Use streetview along Harris Road to pinpoint this bridge before you go (it’s just past the golf club).  You can still see where they repaired the guardrails after the stunt (labelled in white on the bottom pic).  Hydro wires have been added and the area where Clark sits after being hit by Lex has become overgrown (lots of blackberries to pick!).  Otherwise, not much has changed in almost 15 years!

[twinsuns77]

Superheroes and Cylons Part 3

Location:  Koerner Library 1958 Main Mall Vancouver, BC

Film/TV:  Battlestar Galactica, Smallville

Notes:  How fun is it that Clark Kent attended college classes at a Cylon military base??  The University of British Columbia was used extensively by both shows.  BSG’s S2 episode Colonial Day was filmed entirely here (the site of Cloud Nine and the military base that Helo attempts to storm) and Milton Fine/Brainiac presided over Clark’s classes here in Smallville S5.  It’s a library!  UBC is a gorgeous campus, well worth a visit!  Check out http://www.battlestarlocations.com/locations-guide/colonial-day for more info on the BSG location.

[twinsuns77]

Smallville High #1

Location:  Vancouver Technical Secondary School, 2600 E Broadway, Vancouver, BC

Film/TV:  Smallville, first season

Notes:  Smallville used two high schools in Vancouver over the course of its 10 seasons. Van Tech was the first season school - it’s very large and on a main road, so I do understand the move away from it.  It still looks very much as you remember.  It was fun locating the spot where Whitney and the other players haul Clark off to be the scarecrow.  The running track was also used in the show.  If any one reading this lives in this area, message me as I’d love to get a few more shots if you have time (I live across the country) :).

[twinsuns77]

The Daily Planet

Location:  The Marine Building, 355 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC

Film/TV:  Smallville, multiple episodes

Notes:  Just down the street from the Luthercorp building stands the Daily Planet as seen in Smallville.  It’s a beautiful building both inside and out, and the show took its cues for the sets from the interior of the building - don’t skip going in!  Of course, there is no ‘planet’ on top, but it’s amazing how well this building fit the bill for the iconic newspaper.  Definitely stroll around town and you’ll find so many familiar buildings and views!

[twinsuns77]

Geek Street

Location:  Driving north on BC-HWY 99 toward Canada Place, Vancouver, BC

Film/TV:  Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, Smallville

Notes:  Headed into downtown Vancouver via BC 99 North and noticed Oliver Queen’s clock tower from Smallville.  When I looked at the shot later, I noticed also the ‘Scotiabank Cylon Tower’ from BSG and the Opera House (Orpheum Theatre) from BSG and Fringe in the same shot!  Vancouver really is your sci-fi headquarters :).

[twinsuns77]

Luthercorp

Film/TV:  Smallville, S2 Insurgence, S7 Descent

Location:  Douglas Jung building 401 Burrard St Vancouver, BC

Notes:  This building is very close to the Marine Building, the location for the Daily Planet (we also saw Oliver’s clock tower on the way).  It was used in S2 (Clark jumps from the DP to save his mom) and S7 (Lionel dies here!) and appears often as a general shot of the Luthercorp exterior.  The area is busy, but the location is easily matched to the show, so a very fun visit.  You’ll also see many familiar buildings from other shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Arrow, Fringe and the Flash.  Check out Canada Place while you’re in the area - it’s beautiful.

[twinsuns77]

Kent Farm

Location:  Kent Farm, 843 248th Street, Langley, BC,

Film/TV:  Smallville, Pilot + numerous episodes S1-10

Notes:  Such a treat to visit the iconic Kent Farm from Smallville.  One of the best features is a long, public walking path that extends a long way beside the farm and property.  The ‘Kent Farm’ dangling sign is gone (hopefully taken by someone who was part of the show), but the hooks are still there as is the prop windmill.  So many beautiful scenes filmed here, and the location is just as special.  The house is a very dark yellow (I suppose to appear the right colour on screen).  The cows are still there :).  The silo has been partially taken down and the fence shows signs of repair.

[twinsuns77]

Smallville: Tempest

Film/TV show:  Smallville, S1E21 Tempest

Location:  West of 264th st on Zero Avenue, Aldergrove, BC

Notes:  So excited to find this location on the last road between Canada and the USA.  Our directions had us going south on 264th st until Zero Ave, but they are building a new border crossing there.  Turning around, we went north and then west on 16th st until we could go south again.  Turn left and keep an eye out on your right for this cool location where Lana does her best Dorothy impression for the S1 finale.  The screencap was taken with a crane so it’s difficult to match.  Still love the pic!

[twinsuns77]

Luthor/Queen/X Mansion

Film/TV:  Smallville, Arrow, XMEN2, Descendents

Location:  Royal Roads University, 2005 Sooke Rd, Victoria, BC

Notes:  Hatley Castle, on the campus of Royal Roads University, is not only a gorgeous building, but sits facing an amazing view.  The castle is the Luthor ancestral home (Smallville), Queen Mansion (Arrow), X Mansion (XMEN2) and, my daughters tell me, a castle in Disney’s Descendents movie.  A GPS is your best bet here, as Google maps and the local signs sent us in the complete wrong direction.  Gas station directions FTMFW!  The website indicates interior and garden tours ($20 and $9), but we found these unnecessary as the interiors were not used and you can explore the building and area for free :).  Comparison screencaps are from Smallville.

[twinsuns77]

Smallville Mailbox

Film/TV show:  Smallville, recurring through many episodes

Location:  Kent Farm, 839 248th street, Aldergrove, BC

Notes:  Watch this space for a number of Smallvillle locations as I just came home from BC!  Such a treat to visit the iconic Kent Farm (more photos to come).  There is a public walking trail to the left of the farm and a good parking spot.  This is the identical view of the Kent mailbox, 5+ years later.  Notice some repairs have been done on the fence.  Cool!!