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Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is a 80-hectare studio complex in Leavesden, Hertfordshire in southeastern England. Formerly known as ''Leavesden Film Studios'' and still colloquially known ''Leavesden Studios'' or simply ''Leavesden'', it is a major film and media complex owned by Warner Bros. The studios and backlot were all retrofitted as the site's original purpose was as an aircraft factory and airfield known as ''Leavesden Aerodrome'', an important centre of aircraft production during World War II. It is situated in southwest Hertfordshire approximately northwest of central London, in Watford. Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, is one of only a few places in the UK where large scale film productions can be made. The studios contain approximately of flexible space which includes stage space, one of the largest filtered and heated stage-based water tanks in Europe, production office space and support buildings, along with an extensive backlot which offers a 180 degree uninterrupted horizon, favourable for exterior sets. Since acquiring the site Warner Bros. has opened a public attraction called ''The Warner Bros. Studio Tour – London'', which receives over 6,000 visitors a day all whilst the site maintains a secure studio space within the same complex. ==History== Construction of Leavesden Aerodrome began in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II. The de Havilland company, who were based in nearby Hatfield, entered a contract with the Ministry of Defence to produce what would become known as the Mosquito fighter craft and the Halifax bomber. This new site was acquired as the large scale hangars needed to accommodate the production of huge number of planes required could not be constructed at de Havilland's Hatfield base due to a lack of space. As a result, by the end of the war Leavesden Aerodrome was the largest factory in the world. The two planes were both critical successes for Britain during the conflict. After the war, the aerodrome was acquired by Rolls-Royce who used it as a factory producing engines for airplanes and later helicopters. However, by the early 1990s they had sold their interests in the site. Unable to find a new owner, Leavesden Aerodrome was left disused.〔(History of Leavesden Studios and Aerodrome | Leavesden Studios )〕 Then, in 1995, Eon Productions' James Bond film ''GoldenEye'' was to be the next film in the series after an unusually long six-year break. Pinewood Studios, the series' traditional home, was thus fully booked with other productions. Facing little time to find a space in which they could build the number of large scale sets required, the production discovered the unoccupied Leavesden Aerodrome. The wide, tall and open aircraft hangars were uniquely well suited to conversion into a studio space. Eon leased the site for the duration of their shoot and went about gutting the factory, turning it into a working film studio.〔(GoldenEye | Leavesden Studios )〕 This process is shown on the 2006 DVD's special features. GoldenEye's crew jokingly called Leavesden ''Cubbywood'' after Eon's long serving producer Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli. After GoldenEye wrapped a succession of major feature films quickly made use of the site, including the first of the ''Star Wars'' prequels. By the year 2000, Heyday Films had acquired the site on behalf of Warner Bros. for use in what would be the first in a series of films, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''.〔(Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | Leavesden Studios )〕 Every one of the ''Harry Potter'' films was based out of Leavesden Studios over the following ten years. While other productions—usually other Warner Bros. productions—made partial use of the studios, the site was mostly occupied by Harry Potter's permanent standing sets. During this time it was noted that there were some ways in which the site's facilities might be improved. None of the stages were adequately soundproofed and the WW2 era ceilings had a tendency to leak during rainy weather. One of the more noticeable exterior sets constructed on the Leavesden backlot (outdoors) was a row of ten houses (five per side) along a street, which was created for the Harry Potter series to represent Privet Drive. As of September 2012, this set is still visible on the Google Maps and Bing Maps aerial views of the area, along with the Hagrid's hut and Hogwarts bridge exteriors. On 21 March 2010, there was a fire on one of the Hogwarts sets during ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' at Leavesden Studios. Not much of the set was badly damaged. In 2010, Warner Bros. announced their intention to purchase the studio as a permanent European base, the first studio to do so since Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s. By November 2010, Warner Bros. completed its purchase of Leavesden Studios and announced plans to invest more than £100m into the site they had occupied for over ten years. The studios make Warner Bros. the only Hollywood film studio with a permanent base in the UK. Much of the redevelopment involved converting stages A through H into soundstages and equipping all the facilities with the latest fittings a production might require. The refurbished stages were retrofits of the original buildings and were actually very respectful to the site's history. The runway and control tower from the site's days as an aerodrome remain intact as well as all of the buildings' original structures. The full scale refurbishment and renovation of the production facilities were completed and the studios reopened to film and television work in 2012.〔(Press Releases – Newsroom – Time Warner )〕 As part of this redevelopment Warner Bros. also created two entirely new soundstages, J & K, to house a permanent public exhibition called ''The Warner Bros. Studio Tour – London'', creating 300 new jobs in the local area.〔(Warner Bros. unveils plans for Harry Potter attraction (From Watford Observer) )〕 Currently the whole attraction is dedicated to the making of ''Harry Potter'' and is now home to many of the series' most iconic sets, props and costumes. It was opened to the public in early 2012. Almost twenty years after the complex was converted from aerodrome to film studios—and over a year since the completion of work on the newly refurbished studios—the site was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on 26 April 2013. On their royal visit, they were accompanied by the Duke's brother Prince Harry and J. K. Rowling (who had unfortunately been unable to attend the tour's grand opening the year before) amongst other illustrious guests. Before their visit several hundred beneficiaries of charities they all support were given exclusive invitations to the tour on the day of the royal visit. The royal entourage visited both the tour, meeting many of their beneficiaries, and the studios, where they saw some of the props and costumes from Christopher Nolan's Batman films, before conducting the site's royal inauguration.〔(Royals enjoy a wizard time on Harry Potter studio tour (From Watford Observer) )〕 The first film to shoot at the newly refurbished studios was the Warner Bros. production ''Edge of Tomorrow''.'' ''Though the studios are now privately owned, the shooting spaces are available to rent for any film company. The studios are now one of the largest and most state-of-the-art secure filmmaking facilities in the world.〔http://www2.threerivers.gov.uk/upload/publicaccess/Planning%20supporting%20statement_low%20res%20(57162).pdf〕 On June 30, 2014, Warner Bros. announced the expansion of the studio, building three new state-of-the-art stages and adding a further 100,000 square feet of office space. The announcements were made after a reception celebrating the Creative Industries, hosted by PM David Cameron, and attended by WB's CEO Kevin Tsujihara and WB UK's MD Josh Berger. Leavesden's trio of new sound-stages will consist of one 35,000 square foot building and two 17,000 square foot buildings, along with 20,000 square feet of adjacent office space which were completed by the end of 2014. On the same day the filming of live-action ''Tarzan'' got underway at the studio. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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