During the filming of the movie last year they had filmed several scenes at the University of British Columbia. They decorated parts of the campus in WSU banners and brought in lots of extras for the graduation scenes. They  also did some parking lot scenes with Dakota. For the reshoots they did two different locations. The first was in the parking lot adjacent to the Student Union Bldg. I drove from downtown Vancouver and arrived while they were still setting up. It had gotten later afternoon and was pouring rain. I parked and walked to the front of the building where there were many trucks, equipment and tents set up for the cast and crew. Most of the crew were decked out in rain slicks to keep dry. They had Ana’s car parked in the center of the lot with other cars around it.They moved these other cars around several times. It was so emotional to see the car from the books right there in front of me. Even more so when they started filming. They were using the long camera so that they could be close up to where Dakota was next to the car. We were up above them a bit at the top of the stairs. They had at least 20 extra students walking around for the scene and they were all with umbrellas and raincoats to keep dry. When Dakota came out she was carrying an umbrella and had several people around her to help keep her dry. Whenever they said “cut” several people would rush in to cover her from the rain. They played the scene out several times. I did notice director Sam TJ watching from a tent close to the camera. There were several other tents set up for people to keep dry. I managed to get some photos and a video of the scene playing out.

They finished late and Dakota came up the steps and walked by me to go inside for a bit. She smiled at me. Sam TJ also followed her inside the building. The crew were moving to the second location which was near the clock tower. I decided that it was raining hard and I was happy with what I had seen. This was my first time to see Dakota close up and she was really beautiful even though she had been in the rain. I think she went inside to warm up and dry off a bit before the next filming. I left and drove back onto the city.

There were two things about the filming that struck me as interesting. First were all the trees around the parking lot that were displaying their fall colors. Also, that Dakota was not wearing a heavy coat and neither were the extras. They must have been hoping for springtime in Vancouver, Washington.

Just a note about FSOG Book to Filming. In the book when Dakota is at the Heathman with CG after getting drunk, he sends Taylor out to buy her new shoes. Probably more Converse. She is wearing converse in this scene. Coincidence? Here is The Portland Nordstrom.

You can read about the other UBC locations used for filming here:

Frederick Wood Center
Irving K Barbur Bldg.
The Liu Institute
MacMillan Bldg.
Parking Lot with Jose/Ana
Student Union Parking Lot
The Chan Center