The Birds

Oh, also: Victoria does an ASB retreat for work each year, where she takes all her board members to a house in Bodega Bay. Alfred Hitchcock shot a lot of The Birds in Bodega Bay. I decided to visit Victoria for a bit on Saturday and then drive around the coast to see the different shooting locations used in that movie.

The thing you quickly notice is what a sham the “town” of Bodega Bay is as it was protrayed in the movie. Hitchcock created his own, fictional town layout because Bodega Bay, as it actually exists, is much more disjointed. The town center was built on a back lot in Hollywood, and that set was augmented with footage from several disparate locations around the Sonoma Coast. Aerial views of the town were created as matte paintings.

And what can I say, the movie had me fooled. I had looked at a few scenes on the DVD before driving to Bodega Bay, and even the 1963 aerial matte painting did not reveal itself as such until I read up on the movie’s making. The set of the town center was so convincing that I actually searched for it, and the other locations are masterfully blended to create the illusion of geographically correct city.

None of this is to say that you don’t feel The Birds when you visit the Bodega Bay area. The area oozes the atmosphere that generations of audiences have come to experience from the movie. There’s quite a few locations to see. And once you drive around to those different locations and realize how everything has been put together you appreciate the movie all the more.
Below are two pictures I took at the Potter School house. You’ll recognize this building as the “Bodega Bay School” in the movie. Annie Hayworth’s house (the school teacher, played by Suzanne Pleshette) doesn’t exist. It was a facade erected up the road.