Saturday, December 22, 2007

Charlie Wilson's War Rayburn Building

The Architect of the Capitol does not allow people to film on the Capitol Complex. I just saw Charlie Wilson's War and the shots of Wilson's Capitol Hill office in the Rayburn Building were extremely accurate. We have small digs, OSHA says people should have about 300 square feet of workspace most staffers only get 115 square feet. Anyway, I have been trying to find where they filmed the office bit and haven't found it. Written by American President and West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, the movie does a decent job of picking up on small but distinctly Capitol Hill office quirks, like the vote clock, the federal blue paint and ugly federal furniture. Also, I don't know why none of Wilson's colleagues every call him by his nickname... Good Time Charlie. Anyway, its a fun x-mas story with a message.

4 comments:

One Little Seedling said...

It looks like it was all Hollywood you saw in that film save for Morocco. Just like how they made a pretty authentic West Wing.
Info here. I really want to see that and Juno. Is Juno playing anywhere?

Charlie Brown said...

Aaron Sorkin does some amazing stuff when it comes to set design (and dialogue in general-there's a reason TWW is my favorite show), but he's known for his astounding accuracy sans camera.

Andrew said...

It's TOO dead on. I worked in Rayburn... This was almost definitely filmed in an office (without permission, I guess). The details aren't close; they're perfect. Checkout: the windows behind Charlie's desk, the furniture, the clock with bells, the woodwork on the walls & doors and trim, even the cubby-closet over the receptionist desk seen when Gus opens the door. The only thing that doesn't match my memory are the lamps, but they might have brought in period lamps to match the TV.

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out which office. Look out the window behind Charlie. It looks like an interior office facing the courtyard on the the 2nd or 3rd floor. (If memory serves, Rayburn has above ground floors.) Further, it's across from a jutted out corner narrowing it down to very few possibilities.

The Architect of the Capitol must either have been fooled or furious!

Andrew said...

It's TOO dead on. I worked in Rayburn... This was almost definitely filmed in an office (without permission, I guess). The details aren't close; they're perfect. Checkout: the windows behind Charlie's desk, the furniture, the clock with bells, the woodwork on the walls & doors and trim, even the cubby-closet over the receptionist desk seen when Gus opens the door. The only thing that doesn't match my memory are the lamps, but they might have brought in period lamps to match the TV.

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out which office. Look out the window behind Charlie. It looks like an interior office facing the courtyard on the the 2nd or 3rd floor. (If memory serves, Rayburn has above ground floors.) Further, it's across from a jutted out corner narrowing it down to very few possibilities.

The Architect of the Capitol must either have been fooled or furious!