Before there was an LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) or Burbank (Bob Hope) International Airport, there was Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale California. It was built in 1928. Grand Central Air Terminal was the first major airport in the Los Angeles area. It was also one of the first airports to have a paved runway and the FIRST to offer transcontinental flights across the nation. It was the birthplace of commercial aviation as we know it today! TWA was born here, Charles Lindbergh flew from Grand Central, as well as Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, William John "Jack" Frye (TWA President), and many more.
The rendering below did not include the vintage aircraft. I added it in later.
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The airport supported aircraft up to the size of the DC-2/DC-3. As larger aircraft were developed the Airport lost out to nearby Burbank Airport which had longer runways.
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Beside the terminal building was a coffee shop and an upstairs restaurant. The restaurant upstairs had a dance floor where customers could enjoy an excellent dinner, dance, and watch the planes take off and land from their upstairs window.
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Another view of the terminal building.
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This is a night view of what Grand Central Air Terminal might have looked like at night time.
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This shot shows the general layout of the scene with a 360 spherical background image. The background imagery is the Verdugo Hills recreated for the 3D shots. All of the environmental work, for this scene, was done in Maya.
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Unfortunately, this is the state of this great building today (as of July 2007). Disney owns the building and has stated that they have plans to renovate it as part of a master planned business park.
For most major scenes, I do research and use various photos to help with the pre-production conceptual work. It helps to go on location to gain inspiration!
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