Ghostbusters Wiki

Until May 22, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire content will be handled by the administrators. For more detailed information about this, please check out the Spoiler Policy.

READ MORE

Ghostbusters Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
Ghostbusters Wiki
Ghostbusters Wiki
6,793
pages
in: GB:2016 Chapters

Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) (Chapter 01)

Sign in to edit

Chapter 01, the beginning of the movie, introduces Erin in the film.

Cast[]

Listed as they appear in film.

Equipment[]

Locations[]

Plot[]

Sony logo appears then flies towards screen. Then Columbia Pictures. Then Village Roadshow Pictures. Then the Ghost Corps logo. Columbia Pictures Presents. Thunder. "In Association with Village Roadshow Pictures" appears in the sky. The camera panned down from the sky to the Aldridge Mansion Museum.

A tour guide named Garrett lectured a group of people about the Aldridge Mansion Museum's history in its main hall then pointed out several luxuries and artifacts as he led them to the basement door. He cautioned he was going to tell them a spooky story and told them about Gertrude Aldridge. He backed up into the library and presented a portrait of Gertrude hanging up above them. He backed up to the basement door and showed them how Gertrude was fed through a slot. A candlestick fell from a dresser near the door. Garrett asked them to follow him and stay clear of the door. Nobody noticed the Hyper-Ionization Device under the dresser as they stepped over the candle.

In the early evening, when all the tours were over, Garrett was getting ready to go for the day. He flicked a light switch off then picked up the candle and looked at the bottom. He got out a clicker and pressed it, revealing a handle below the candlestick that made it fall by itself. He chuckled then placed the candle back on the table, when all the sudden a noise came from the basement. The basement door creaked. Garrett turned around. He slowly walked back to the door and the knob turned. The door shook and a woman's scream was heard. Garrett ran to the entrance door to leave, but the door knob was red hot. An unseen force then pushed Garrett towards the wall, breaking a frame and table. He then ran to the drawing room and tried to launch a chair at a window, but the chair stopped in the air, then flew back at him. He then ran and ended up down the basement. He noticed that the basement floor and walls were leaking a green Ectoplasm. He then noticed that he got some on his hands from the railing. He tried to run back up the stairs, but the stairs collapsed and he found himself hanging for dear life. Then Gertrude revealed herself from the Ectoplasm on the floor. Garrett screamed The light flickered upstairs.

The title "GHOSTBUSTERS" hovered over day shots of New York City. Next, there was a shot of the Verizon Building at 375 Pearl Street near the Brooklyn Bridge then a close in, shots of the city, then a shot of Columbia University in Morningside Heights then a shot of the Alma Mater statue at the Low Memorial Library.

One morning, Erin walked through Columbia University campus and greeted people. Phil Hudson, her boyfriend and colleague, greeted Erin at an administrative gathering. She informed him she was lecturing in the big hall. Phil thought it was wonderful then asked if that was what she was wearing for the lecture. He then introduced Erin to Phyllis Adler, a guest lecturer and a physicist she admired. Phil informer her Erin just learned she was being published. Erin admitted she was very proud. Phyllis stated she didn't allow her lab to submit to journals anymore because she thought journals tampered with the process and ultimately hurt scientific research. Erin tried to ingratiate herself and added awards were dumb, too. Phyllis thought awards were massively important and unfortunately, the only way to draw attention to good science. It soon became apparent Phyllis would answer everything contrary to what Erin would say. She excused herself to get ready for the lecture. As she leaned over to kiss Phil, he instead greeted a colleague named Simon. Phil wished her good luck on her tenure review. Erin replied 'fingers crossed' even though it didn't mean anything. Phyllis disagreed and informed her it had been proven that superstitions could have tremendous performance benefits. Erin joked she was wrong about everything then was careful not to step on any cracks for her mother's sake then played with a man's ponytail. Phyllis asked Phil if he really knew her. He replied he did.

Erin was practicing and psyching herself up for the lecture in the Max Planck Auditorium and started shaking her butt around, unaware Ed Mulgrave Jr. was behind her. He was speechless. She turned around and was startled. Mulgrave apologized for interrupting her and explained he needed to speak to her about her book. Erin tried to dissuade him that she had written anything about ghosts, but he confirmed this by holding up her author picture. Erin claimed it was a gag. Mulgrave was skeptical it was a 460 page gag and pointed out the first sentence was, "This is not a joke." Erin gave up and asked him what he wanted. Mulgrave introduced himself and asked her to come to the Aldridge Mansion because he believed it was haunted by the ghost of Gertrude Aldridge. He admitted he tried the police first but he just sounded crazy telling them what happened. Erin was unsure how he even found a copy since she thought she burned both copies. He further explained that the book was available on Amazon in multiple formats, which prompted Erin to track down Abby Yates.

Erin went to her office and she found the Amazon listing. Dean Harold Filmore came to her office and informed her the committee was set for the final review of her tenure case on Thursday. She had her monitor on an Amazon listing for Ghosts from Our Past and hid it from his view. Filmore brought up her recommendation letter from Dr. Branum at Princeton and asked her to get one from a more prestigious college. She was caught off guard by his opinion and held up a black folder to block the monitor. Filmore stated to her that he believed she was an asset to modern physics and would hate to see her throw it down the drain. He thought about telling her something about her clothes but changed his mind and left after she remarked it was "too sexy for academia." Erin turned back to her monitor and read Abby's Amazon bio. It mentioned Abby was operating her paranormal research at the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute.

See Also[]

Trivia[]

  • On August 14, 2015, The Castle at Boston University was dressed as the "Historic Aldridge Mansion Museum" for filming on August 17. This was used for the exterior shots.[1]
  • On August 26, 2015, filming took place at the Ames Mansion at Borderland State Park from Tuesday August 25 to Friday August 28. This was used for the interior scenes.[2]
  • The Tour Guide was Katie Dippold's idea.[3]
  • The Anti-Irish Fence was improvised by Zach Woods, who portrayed the Tour Guide.[4]
  • Garrett revealed the mansion and its owner already had a questionable history even before Gertrude's gruesome crimes:
    • A face bidet and an anti-Irish fence.[5]
    • There was a grandfather clock that was on the Titanic and saved by Sir Aldridge, though a Romanian woman and her child were forced off the life boat to make room for it.[6]
    • It's said that in the room where Sir Aldridge entertained his wealthy guests, P.T. Barnum got the idea of enslaving elephants.[7]
  • Gertrude Aldridge was in part loosely inspired by Lizzy Borden.[8]
  • A giant rig was used for the scene when Gertrude throws the chair at the Tour Guide. It incorporated many things like a carbon fiber tube and bungee cords.[9][10]
  • The part where the Tour Guide is thrown into the wall was filmed on a sound stage with a stunt double a month later after that whole scene was filmed.[11]
  • The Tour Guide comes face to face with Gertrude Aldridge, off screen, at the end of the opening scene after he experiences some strange paranormal activity and runs. The camera zooms in on him as he screams, much like Alice encountering the Library ghost in the first movie.
  • Not all of the shots of Columbia University were actually shot there.
    • Only the aerial establishing shot and the Alma Mater Sculpture shot are from the real Columbia University.
  • The outside shot of Erin walking through campus was taken on Emmanuel College Grounds in Boston.[12][13]
  • On September 15, 2015, filming started at the Stonehurst estate in Waltham.[14] The Great Hall and Summer Parlor was dressed as the alumni hall of Columbia University and was used for the scene with Erin, Phil, and Phyllis.[15]
  • Max Planck Auditorium, where Erin was assigned to lecture, is named after real life theoretical physicist Max Planck, who is most known for his work on quantum theory.
    • Emmanuel College's Cardinal Cushing Library Lecture Hall was dressed as the Max Planck Auditorium.
  • When Erin Gilbert stands in front of a lecture hall and practices speaking, it was going to be a speech about the challenges of reconciling quantum mechanics with Einstein's gravity. On the whiteboards, the series of equations involved conformal compensator superfields that were written by MIT consultant and experimental physicist Lindley Winslow and later transcribed on set. They illustrated the failure of a once-promising physics theory called SU(5).[16]
  • Lindley Winslow spent a week writing out Erin's Grand Unified Theory for her lecture on the challenge of unifying quantum mechanics and gravity.[17]
  • Erin was an associate professor and specialized in the study of a subatomic particle called a neutrino, nicknamed the "ghosts of the standard model."[18]
  • MIT consultant Janet Conrad created physics papers and grant applications to use as props in Erin's office and she wrote Erin's paper on neutrinos. The neutrino paper was formatted in the style of "Physical Review Letters." On the neutrinos article, Erin's coauthor is G.F. Siegal -- the name of Lindley Winslow's, another consultant, new baby.[19]
  • One of the bedrooms of Stonehurst, the Robert Treat Paine Estate, was dressed as Erin's office.
  • Erin won the Maria Goeppert Mayer "MGM Award" from the American Physical Society.[20] It is in recognition of outstanding achievement by a woman physicist in the early years of her career and contribution to physics research. It can be seen above her book shelf where Dean Harold Filmore pauses.
  • Erin also won the LeRoy Apker Award, the highest honor awarded to undergraduate physicists in the United States. It can be seen hanging up next to the bookshelf where Dean Filmore pauses.
  • After Dean Filmore leaves Erin's office, a bronze bust is visible in the hall. The bust is of the late-Harold Ramis.[21]
    • Incidentally, in early drafts of Ghostbusters II, Egon was a professor teaching quantum physics at Columbia.
    • The bust was given to Erica Ramis, Harold's wife. She in turn gave it to the Ramis Film School at The Second City in Chicago. It resides in the bar.[22]
  • Abby sold Ghosts from Our Past on Amazon at a $22.99 MSRP.[23]

References[]

  1. ↑ Boston "Has 'Ghostbusters' made its way to Boston University?" 8/17/15
  2. ↑ "Easton mansion a scary good fit for new Ghostbusters movie" 8/26/15
  3. ↑ EMPIRE Online "Empire Podcast: Ghostbusters Spoiler Special with Paul Feig" 12:50-12:59 7/27/16 Paul Feig says: "That was -- that was Katie Dippold. She was really hot on the idea on like having it be a tour guide giving like a tour of this haunted mansion and so we played with it from there."
  4. ↑ EMPIRE Online "Empire Podcast: Ghostbusters Spoiler Special with Paul Feig" 13:52-14:14 7/27/16 Paul Feig says: "That's pure Zach Woods. I mean he is such a genius. Such a brilliant improvisor and so every take he was coming up with different things and then just made us laugh as it's so 'back in those days' like everything was so much prejudice and weird things against the Italians and Irish in our country so it felt like a good play on this old mansion."
  5. ↑ Tour Guide Garrett (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Theatrical Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:01:19-00:01:29). Sony Pictures. Tour Guide Garrett says: "At the time of its construction, it was one of the most elegant homes in existence, featuring every luxury including a face bidet and an anti-Irish security fence."
  6. ↑ Tour Guide Garrett (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:01:23-00:01:33). Sony Pictures. Tour Guide Garrett says: "Um, interesting fact, this grandfather clock was on the Titanic and was saved by Sir Aldridge. A Romanian woman and her child were forced to leave the lifeboat to make room."
  7. ↑ Tour Guide Garrett (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:01:34-00:01:45). Sony Pictures. Tour Guide Garrett says: "Uh, over here, you can imagine Sir Aldridge entertaining his wealthy guests. It's said that, in this very room, P.T. Barnum first had the idea to enslave elephants."
  8. ↑ EMPIRE Online "Empire Podcast: Ghostbusters Spoiler Special with Paul Feig" 14:34-15:07 7/27/16 Paul Feig says: "No, it was... we just liked the idea of this sort of spooky history of this Lizzy Borden-type character who killed people and the family locked her down. That's a real -- Katie Dippold likes that sort of spooky stuff like that and it just felt... I -- we really like the idea that there's the ghost that would be powerful enough to work their way back or would stick around to be re-energized are the one's carrying enormous hatred and evil with them."
  9. ↑ Paul Feig (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Filmmaker Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:04:36-00:04:41). Sony Pictures. Paul Feig says: "That--that chair that stops--and that was a whole giant rig made out of this steel contraption."
  10. ↑ Mark Hawker (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Filmmaker Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:04:42-00:04:46). Sony Pictures. Mark Hawker says: "Yeah, carbon fiber tube, and bungee cord and all sorts of things."
  11. ↑ Paul Feig (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Writer & Director Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:04:25-00:04:34). Sony Pictures. Paul Feig says: "Th-That stunt whe--th-th--where Zach is thrown into the wall was actually shot a month later after we did this one. On a sound stage. "
  12. ↑ EC The Hub "The Next Ghostbusters Movie is Being Filmed at Emmanuel" 7/1/15 Line reads: "Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig hung out in the Yawkey Center between several takes of a casual stroll across the quad, cameras rolling. Tents for director Paul Feig and film VIPs were erected inside the Atrium and furnished with couches."
  13. ↑ People "Melissa McCarthy Ditches Ghostbusters Jumpsuit and Spends Day with Her Daughters in Boston" 7/1/15 Line reads: "The stars of the all-female Ghostbusters rebootthis link opens in a new tab headed to Emmanuel College in the Fenway neighborhood to film on Tuesday, where McCarthy, 44, debuted her official ghost-busting suit as she strolled across the campus, which was set up to double as New York City’s Columbia University."
  14. ↑ Waltham Patch "'Ghostbusters' Starts Filming in Waltham This Week" 9/15/15
  15. ↑ Stonehurst "Ghostbusters visit Stonehurst!" 3/14/16
  16. ↑ PC Magazine "Reimagining Ghostbusters, and Proton Packs, for 2016" 7/11/16 Line reads: "The inspiration went beyond just facilities, though. In one scene in the movie, Wiig's Gilbert stands in front of a lecture hall, speaking on challenges of reconciling quantum mechanics with Einstein's gravity. On the whiteboards, behind her, a series of equations tells the same story: a self-contained narrative, written by Winslow and later transcribed on set, illustrating the failure of a once-promising physics theory called SU(5). (Yes, "Pa/RA(NO x RM)alS + UDIes/Lab" might be an easter egg, but "conformal compensator superfields" are a real thing."
  17. ↑ Boston Globe " Meet the MIT physicists who vetted the science in ‘Ghostbusters’" 7/27/16 Line reads: "Winslow herself spent a week writing out a lengthy and elaborate Grand Unifying Theory known as SU(5). (You can spot it in a scene where Wiig's character, Erin Gilbert, while trying to earn tenure at Columbia, prepares to speak on the challenge of unifying quantum mechanics and gravity.)."
  18. ↑ Boston Globe " Meet the MIT physicists who vetted the science in ‘Ghostbusters’" 7/27/16 Line reads: "Like Wiig's character, Winslow is an assistant professor. She studies a subatomic particle called a neutrino. So little is known about neutrinos they're called the "ghosts of the standard model," Winslow said."
  19. ↑ Wired "The MIT Physicists Who Infused Ghostbusters With Real Science" 7/11/16 Line reads: "With Winslow now on parental leave, the production asked Conrad to create physics papers and grant applications to use as props on the character’s desks—something she did in almost absurd detail. Wiig’s character got a paper on neutrinos, formatted in the style of real-world journal Physical Review Letters. (There’s an even deeper homage as well: on the paper, Gilbert’s coauthor is one G.F. Siegal—the name of Lindley Winslow’s new baby.) Meanwhile, an antagonist named Rowan North got a string theory paper on Feynman ghost diagrams, which offered the opportunity for a little interdisciplinary ribbing. “Of course we made the woman a neutrino theorist and the bad guy a string theorist,” Conrad says."
  20. ↑ MIT News "How MIT gave "Ghostbusters" its geek cred" 7/15/16 Line reads: "For instance, Wiig's character is the recipient of the Maria Goeppert Mayer "MGM Award" from the American Physical Society, which hangs on her office wall."
  21. ↑ paulfeig Tweet 7/15/16
  22. ↑ paulfeig Tweet 11/27/16
  23. ↑ Abby Yates' Amazon page Line reads: "$22.99"

Gallery[]

Primary Canon[]

Images were grabbed from the Extended Cut on Blu-ray by Paul Rudoff. For consistency, all images have been framed at 2.39:1, as the majority of the movie is. Black bars have been removed, even where the movie image leaks out of the frame or has IMAX 1.78:1 framing.

Behind the Scenes[]

 
Previous Chapter Next Chapter
None Chapter 02
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More Ghostbusters Wiki