“Hollywood Comes to South Carolina” is one of the State Museum’s most entertaining exhibits on show right now

The exhibit covers the movies that were partly or entirely filmed in our state over the past 100 years.  Movies like The Renaissance Man (1994), The Abyss (1989), Forrest Gump (1994), The Patriot (2000), and Death Sentence ( 2007) are just a few of the films featured at the show, together with costumes, photographs, props, scripts, film clips, historical artifacts, scale models, film production equipment and interactive displays used during production.
“The exhibit showcases the significant number of movies produced in the state over the past 100 years and gives our guests an idea of the complexity of the undertaking and the organization needed to produce a motion picture,” said Chief Curator of History, Fritz Hamer. “It is a lot of fun for folks to see the many costumes, photos, artifacts and pieces of equipment – some very famous and familiar – that have contributed to some of their favorite Hollywood movies.”
The selection of the background or environment plays a crucial role in film making.  South Carolina is a uniquely diverse state with many different landscapes from mountains to marshes and beaches, large and small cities and tropical forests and thus provides a great selection of film settings for film studios.
Entering the exhibition and walking through the posters and videos of films shot in South Carolina, my attention was directed to Mel Gibson’s movie, The Patriot, which is probably the most well-known film to be shot here. The story takes place during the Revolutionary War and at the State Museum viewers will have the opportunity to see an actual set used at one of the scenes. The gallows exhibited was in the background when British troops were preparing to hang the rebels fighting against the crown. The exhibit also contains a uniform worn by the brutal British commander, Colonel William Tavington and a contemporary dress created for Charlotte Selton for this movie.  As wars cannot be wars without weapons, the exhibition also showcases duplicate pistols, muskets and a sword from The Patriot.
A recent Hollywood movie that was shot mostly in Columbia is Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon. The action film features many of Columbia’s downtown scenes, and those who know our city well enough will be able to recognize them all. The exhibition further features a pair of pants worn by Hume (Kevin Bacon) and a hockey stick also used in the earlier scenes of the movie.
Most people knew that The Patriot, The Last Confederate and Death Sentence were filmed in South Carolina, but the visitors may be surprised to discover costumes, dresses, uniforms, weapons and other tools used at the production of movies such as The Abyss, G.I. Jane or Forrest Gump.  Tom Hanks makes everyone remember when Gump goes shrimping, but only a few people know that the shots after the storm in the movie were actual shots after Hurricane Hugo’s destruction in the Charleston area and Gump’s shrimping scenes were filmed in Beaufort County. Further items exhibited from the movie are Forrest Gump’s wedding suite and his covers of Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and Runners’ World.
For those who want to get a step closer to their favorite actors or movies and learn and see more, visit the “Hollywood Comes to South Carolina” exhibit at the State Museum until October 19.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."