The Golden Gate Bridge

History

The Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is an over 3 mile long, steel suspension bridge that straddles the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. It connects San Francisco to the Marin Headlands for foot and vehicle traffic.

The Name

The name Golden Gate is a literal translation from the Greek "Chrysopylae" -- similar to how Thermopylae means "Hot Gates." Captain John C. Fremont, a U.S. Army Engineer, nicknamed the strait in 1846 after the United States captured San Francisco in the Mexican-American War. It stuck. The word bridge is derived from Old English and refers to a plank traversing a gap. Therefore, Golden Gate Bridge.

Construction

Under Construction

The Golden Gate Bridge Project was a federally funded public work started during the Great Depression. Its purpose was to create jobs for the unemployed construction workers of the Bay Area.

Construction began on January 5, 1933 and ended on May 28, 1937 -- when the bridge opened.

Before 1933, most architects believed the Golden Gate body of water unbridgeable.  The water was considered too deep and too fast with currents peaking at 8 knots (~9 miles per hour). High winds and fog also detracted from bridge building.

The Bridge incorporated a number of modern technologies that solved these problems including sinkable bridge pillars that were later filled with cement and a triangle perforation deck.

11 men lost their lives during the construction of the Bridge.

The Color

The bright red-yellow color of the Bridge was determined by committee. The city of San Francisco wanted to paint the Bridge matte green. The county of Marin wanted it matte white. Both colors would have been hard to spot in San Francisco's ubiquitous fog. The Navy proposed yellow and black bumble bee stripes to alert approaching ships.

In the end, all parties involved compromised on the current color of the Bridge" International Orange."

Cinematic Usage

Kim Novak about to Jump into the Bay in Vertigo.

For the most part, the Golden Gate Bridge is used either as a backdrop or a destroyed monument. As a backdrop, characters walk on or in front of the Bridge to establish location. As a monument, various natural disasters and monsters destroy it.

Filmmakers, unless used for dramatic effect, try to film when there is no fog shrouding the Bridge. This effort is made so that film viewers can actually see the Bridge.

 
 
 

Backdrop

Sulu narrowly misses the Bridge in a Klingon Bird of Prey.

Look out for that Death Beam, Golden Gate Bridge! Oh, wait. You're a bridge and can't move.

The Golden Gate Bridge serves as an interesting symbol in films. It is a striking visual with two towers rising out of the water and an instantly recognizable color. Also, The Bridge is associated with the Western boundary of the United States and lends an international or "edge of the world feel" to a shot.

Several Star Trek films feature the Golden Gate Bridge in the background to establish San Francisco as the location of Starfleet Academy. Apparently, the Bridge is so well constructed that it survived four hundred years into the future. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the Bridge is painted green. It also apparently was repainted.

Other films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Time After Time, and The Presidio feature the Bridge in the background during scenes of deep contemplation or a decision.

 
 
 
 Monument Built for Destruction

The Golden Gate Bridge is a symbol of modern technology despite its age -- it is a tribute of humanity to itself. Ergo, monsters, natural disasters, and various military and paramilitary groups exert dominance over humanity or the United States by damaging or destroying the Bridge.

Some notable examples include Monsters Vs. Aliens, Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus, The Core, and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Digi-Bridge Get Digi-stroyed.

In Monsters Vs. Aliens, a giant alien robot attacks the Bridge.

In Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus, the Mega Shark takes a bite out of the Bridge.

The Core has a magnetic disturbance in the Earth's core crumple the Bridge.

X-Men: The Last Stand also uses magnets to destroy the Bridge. The villain Magneto uses his powers to move the Bridge to span the gap to Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate Bridge in this film has all the traffic facing the same direction. The visual effects house (The Moving Picture Company) made a mistake in designing the digital version of the Bridge and made it a double-decked Bridge -- inbound traffic on one level and outbound on the other, similar to the Bay Bridge. In reality, it is not. It has a single, wide span with eight  lanes, a pedestrian walkway, and a bicycle path.

Relationship to Film and TV Production

Besides being a filming location, the Bridge also has an indirect impact on Hollywood.
 
The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge's massive deck sections was done in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada (immediately East of Vancouver). The fabrication buildings were converted to sound stages and are some of the largest sound stages in North America.

Famous productions that had sets built on the Bridge Studio's lot include the Stargate Television Series, Battlestar Galactica, Mission to Mars, and Jumanji.