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It was in 2014 while thinking about their next vacation that Robin (33) and Judith Lachhein (32) decided to visit a filming location — a thought that excited them immediately. But little did they know then that their holiday will lead to them visiting many such sites in the future, and will also sow the seeds for their project ‘Secret Famous Places’, which has 59.6K followers (and growing) on Instagram. Led by their love for travel, the duo visits such locations and recreates scenes, the results of which are simply spectacular and executed to a T. Over the years, they have recreated scenes from various films and series, including The Game of Thrones, Spiderman, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Forrest Gump, and also the 1963-film, Charade.
In an exclusive interaction with indianexpress.com, Robin, a mechanical engineer, and Judith, a journalist, talk more about their successful project, the challenges they have encountered and overcome over the years, the idea behind ‘Secret Famous Places’, winning many hearts including that of celebrities, and also reveal if any Bollywood film will ever feature on their list of movies/series scenes to recreate. Read on to know more.
What led to the conceptualisation of ‘Secret Famous Places’, and when was it started?
It all began in 2014 when we were thinking about where we could go on our next holiday as we sat at a really nice place overlooking the river — a 2-hour drive from our place. Neither could we decide on a destination — the mountains or the beaches — nor did we have too much money back then since we were still students when one of us suggested visiting a filming location, and the other got excited immediately! But then we thought about how we could convince people that the place is an actual location from the movie, and then we had some more ideas and decided to be in the pictures ourselves wearing the costumes ensuring they are shot at the right angles — just like in the movie. But we had not anticipated this idea would work; we built it step-by-step to just test if it works. The first picture we took was in Prague, in the Czech Republic — from Mission Impossible — and that’s how it worked and kickstarted ‘Secret Famous Places’.
The first picture we published on Instagram was only in 2018, as the initial plan was to have the pictures for ourselves as memories of our trips. But when our families and friends saw the pictures, they got excited and motivated us to share the pictures on social media.
How has the process evolved over the years — what are things you try to incorporate and eliminate?
The process, over the years, has only evolved just a little bit — we have upgraded our equipment (just the software bit). At first, we had to run from our camera, often multiple times, to the final position because the camera timer only allowed us 10 seconds before the picture got clicked. Still today, we click our own pictures. Now, we have software that allows us to set a timer of our choice so we can improve the process of taking pictures. Other than that, it is almost the same — zeroing in on the movie, the still, and finding the filming location, the clothes etc. Over the years, we tried to do some movies and even podcasts but realised that it was too much, as we did have certain time constraints (considering our jobs). And at the end, when at a location, we just want to have fun and don’t want to be stressed.
How long does it take you both to recreate the same? As such, which do you consider your most challenging scene till date, and why?
It depends on the location, and the movie or series we work on. We, actually, put in a lot of work before we actually visit the location, this includes finding the clothes, and working out the exact coordinates of the location, which can sometimes take hours (to find the exact spot) — so it can take anywhere between one to four days. Like, we have been trying to find a filming location in Austria which we have been unable to for two or three days; so, sometimes we fail in finding location, and most of the times it does not materialise so we do not even visit the location. But once there, we have about 30 minutes to 2 hours for each scene. But sometimes, we have lesser time, like if the sun has gone down, the weather is bad, it is crowded, or we don’t get as much time as we want due to the popularity of the place.
As for the most challenging scene, it would depend who you ask. For Robin, it was as shooting a scene from Emma and Louise at a national park; it was unbelievably hot — about 42-45 degrees Celsius — and I felt really uncomfortable wearing a police outfit in the United States. It was very stressful for me. But other than this, it was very comfortable as there were no people around looking at us. For Judith, it was a scene from Star Wars as there were so many people looking at us. But I would say I was also challenging to do the scene from Tenet, where we had to book a boat on which we tried to fix a camera — and it was really not easy. It depends on the picture or the scene, and also the clothes we are wearing, the crowd, the weather, and the general ambience in general, so it varies from being very easy to very difficult.
On what basis is a film, and a scene, is decided? After that, what does the process entail — from finding the exact location, to perfecting the outfits and emotions/expressions, to finally clicking the picture?
Our first criteria is that we have to like the scene (and the movie). Also, it it of utmost importance that the actors are visible from a good perspective, best case male and female both, and then you have to identify a good background, so that people can make out that we have been to the exact location, instead of it just being in the background. Robin, for most part, will first check if its possible to visit the exact location — from finding the exact GPS coordinates, which is easier in cities than in complicated landscapes and can take some minutes to an entire day. Once we have that, we plan the trip. Then comes the outfit, for which we first raid our own cupboards, as we don’t want to buy new clothes every time. If we don’t, we reach out to family or friends. For example, if we ever need a tie, we always ask Judith’s father because he has many in numerous colours. But if they, too, don’t have clothes that are suitable for the pictures, we visit a secondhand clothes store and look for costumes there. Once we have everything with us, we head to the location to finally recreate the scene and take the picture.
There are places for which one needs special permits to shoot/click pictures. What do you do in such cases, or do you choose to stay away from shooting at such locations?
First, we look for good pictures from the series/movie we plan to shoot, and then scout for the exact location. During our research, if we realise that we need any special permits to visit a location, we work on it in advance because it can take a lot of time. This also gives us time to ascertain if filming at a particular location won’t work out, and hence proceed with other things. But when it comes to asking for permission, the one thing that works is talking to people with eye contact — like, when we are at a location, we show people our previous work for them to realise that we are here just to click a picture. But, in one case, when we wanted to take a picture at a restaurant in Spain, they simply refused. So that is one reason that we can fail.
Have you monetised the project?
As of today, we don’t have sponsors. It’s just a hobby for which we use our own money for travelling or taking the pictures.
Tell us about yourself — personal and professional?
I am (Robin) a mechanical engineer, and Judith is a journalist do we have normal jobs where we earn money. In Germany, it is common to have 30 days paid leaves, which we utilise to travel and take pictures. This is also why we often try to reuse the outfits or modify things we already have to save money for things we cannot get cheaper, for example, plane tickets.
Yes, many people think it’s a very expensive hobby, but travelling is equally expensive for everyone. But what we do is combine our vacation with the hobby — taking the pictures, wearing borrowed clothes; so it is not as expensive as everybody thinks. But the advantage of being in Europe is that you can drive to a lot of countries — Switzerland, Italy, France, Denmark, which is way cheaper than flying.
While you have shot numerous movie scenes at various occasions, you are yet to recreate your magic with a Bollywood movie. Any plans of adding any Indian language film to your list?
This is a very good question. But our answer may make you want to throw up your hands — we have never, till date, seen a Bollywood movie! Honestly, we don’t even know where we can see one. Maybe, you can send us a very good one with many good scenes that we can recreate. This would be a good way to plan a trip to India.
What are you working on at the moment? When can we expect the next post on your Instagram page?
Judith: Nothing planned yet, but in my head I have planned a trip to Austria to shoot a scene from a James Bond movie, for which we need snow. So maybe this winter, it becomes real. But then, we share a lot of pictures we have already clicked on our previous travels.
You have received great feedback from some celebs as well — how does it feel? What is the ultimate goal with the project?
When conceptualising a shoot, we feel really motivated when everything works out — the location, the props, and the clothes. The second leg of it comes when we decide to post the pictures (which we do with details), and the next big motivation is the comments of our followers. And when a celebrity comments, our happiness knows no bounds. Like when Tom Cullen had commented on our pictures, we could not believe since we were a very small account. It’s a very special and private memory for us. I could get used to it. We are very proud of what we built with our idea.
The ultimate goal is to recreate some scenes from How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory, which are just not easy. And also to visit very continent — and click some pictures — over the years.
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