The night of the golden statues is a little over a week away. The favorites for Best Picture: "Birdman" and "Boyhood." But there's always a chance of an upset, with some betting on "American Sniper," starring Bradley Cooper.
The film is set in Iraq, but, like so many other movies, it has California to thank for its impressive backdrop. Some of the scenes were filmed at Paramount Ranch, Leo Carrillo Beach and the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in the Santa Clarita area.
This weekend the National Park Service celebrates the majestic movie mountains of Hollywood with "Oscar Goes Outdoors."
The full-day event will feature talks from Hollywood historians and conclude with a movie location walk. Harry Medved, one of the volunteers behind the event and co-author of Location Filming in Los Angeles joins the show to share the secret sites of Oscar-winning and nominated movies.
Quentin Tarantino's gritty, western, "Django Unchained," was also filmed in California. The opening scene of slaves being led through wilderness took place at Lone Pine in Central California. You can see the clip below.
Some of the sites volunteers will be highlighting include:
- Malibu Creek State Park (How Green Was My Valley, Planet Of The Apes, M*A*S*H)
- King Gillette Ranch (White Cliffs Of Dover)
- Paramount Ranch (Reds, American Sniper)
- Leo Carrillo Beach (Inception, Letters From Iwo Jima, American Sniper)
- Lasky Mesa/Upper Las Virgenes Canyon (Django Unchained)