The Main Studio
Old Nestle warehouse, Regan Street, St Albans, Victoria

An old chocolate factory in the Melbourne suburb of St Albans was transformed into the major studio and production office for the film. Early stages of production, including make-up tests and set design, began here as early as August/September. The warehouse spans 12 000 sqm (Fox Studios in Sydney only covers 10287 sqm!) with a 20 metre height clearance. It also has an additional 6000 sqm of office space which was used to build and store all the sets. Lots of filming took place here, especially scenes involving special effects. There was a rotating set so actors could appear to walk on the roof and walls, and several actors playing vampires had to undergo 'flying lessons'... Also spotted were lots of Egyptian props including statues, pots, vases, baskets etc. Many sets were built, including a cemetery (resembling the Lafayette in New Orleans with vaults, not graves) and a magnificent church-like setting with a domed ceiling and paintings on the walls. Apparently, the warehouse is set to be destroyed once this film is finished, which is most unfortunate for the Melbourne film industry. Hopefully, this will not be the case?

Very special thanks go to Rita for helping me out with location photos! When I visited Melbourne for the concert, she was kind enough to drive me around the city and showed me several locations. Rita also took the following pics of the St Albans warehouse back in August, 2000. While no one has been able to get hold of any interior photos, these following pictures give us a much better idea of what the outside of the warehouse looks like:

And here are my very own photos of the warehouse taken a few months later on Thursday, 30th November, 2000. The last pic is my favourite photo... I managed to grab a pic of actual Egyptian props from the movie! Click to read my story... :)

Rosati's Bar
95 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Scenes were filmed here on the night of Monday, 9th October, 2000. The entire lane was blocked off for the shoot. Filming was also done around Honky Tonks Bar (Duckboard Place, Melbourne)... The Flinders Lane shoot turned out to involve several scenes (explained below). I was able to piece these scenes together as a result of some eyewitness accounts. Firstly, Rita reported the following:
"...went passed flinders lane around 6pm and they were setting up filming and having dinner... around the streets trailers were parked... on the trailers they had the character names on them... lestat, jesse and marius... i couldnt find that bar maybe its somewhere else but they were using the road to film a bmw pulling over to pick someone up and around the corner nearby a London taxi was waiting... they were still setting up cameras and lighting so i didn't know exactly how the scene was played but my guess its spose to look like they are in London somewhere..."

And also this from Craig Hindman:
"...was in Flinders lane on Monday night for a friends album launch - watched them film a scene described on your page which involves a long haired girl strolling down a street while in the background a BMW picks up a young guy after negotiating through the passenger window - the girl strolls past this as an old style Taxi pulls away (both cars with European number plates) and two other guys start perving on her as she walks past - they did this take about 4 times while I was watching - as I proceeded down to the dead alleys near honky tonks a guy was practicing running out of the bar on fire - had the protective clothing on and all - then as we left the venue they were filming scenes with some old homeless people in an alley sitting around a small fire - the Words "Rhythm City" were chalked onto the footpath."

It turns out the filming was definitely set in London. My guess is that Flinders Lane actually doubled for Crowley Lane as featured in the script. Scenes that take place in this lane depict Jesse walking around the night-time streets of London, and then stumbling across an exclusive vampire nightclub. (Script section two, scenes 38-44) The lane could have also possibly been used to show Jesse leaving the nightclub and coming face-to-face with Lestat for the very first time. (scenes 55-56) Rosati's or Honky Tonks Bar might also have served as the vampire nightclub itself, or these interior scenes could have been shot back at the St Albans warehouse at another time.

Just a few metres to the right of Rosati's Bar is what came to be called 'Goth Lane'. Lots of filming was done here too...

Several trucks were parked near Flinders Lane during filming for obvious reasons. The following images are courtesy of Duane Fernando. They're not too clear, but have a look to see what you can find! It seems to me that the trucks are simply filled with equipment used to block off the road for filming...

RMIT University
City Campus, corner La Trobe and Swanston streets, Melbourne

Lots of filming was done around the university, and on 5th October, Aaliyah was reportedly seen on campus by several students.

A prominent building of the RMIT is Storey Hall. With its bizarre lime green architecture, it's a rather unusual looking building, but somehow film-makers selected it as a substitute to the entrance of a Satan's Night Out press conference. There is still some confusion as to what location was represented. In the script, the conference takes place at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood which looks like this:

However, extras who took part in this scene claim that the Storey Hall entrance served as a substitute for the Warner Brothers Records headquarters in London. With the presence of British police and a sign saying WB Records, I am inclined to believe that the press conference scenes have been swapped from LA to London!

Filming took place on 16th October, and reportedly half of Swanston Street had to be closed off for the shoot. The scenes filmed here depicted Roger and the band arriving for a press conference. They pulled up in a limo, then made their way into the building through screaming fans... (Script section one, scenes 13-18) In the script, Lestat is in the limo. However, in the actual film, he will not be personally attending the conference (as it's being held at daytime!) Instead, he will talk to journalists inside via a giant video screen! :)

Several posters were visible around the entrance to Storey Hall. One was a big vampiric face on a green background, and another had a black background and read 'The Vampire Lestat' (click on pics above and below for a closer look). I later discovered that these will definitely be used as logos in the film for Lestat and his band.

The best description of the Storey Hall filming was sent to me by Chris Short. He writes:
"Even though I was watching for hours, I'm sure the scene that was being filmed would only take a few seconds in the movie... Basically a long stretch limo pulls up outside that [Storey Hall] entrance which now has a blue neon sign saying "WARNER BROS. RECORDS" and is covered with slick rock posters coloured green, red and white that say:
THE VAMPIRE LESTAT
LIVE AND UNDEAD
all hallows eve
death valley
As the limo pulls up it is mobbed by a crowd of adoring fans all clad in various interpretations of gothic dress who are waving the identical posters and "CDs" with the same image on them, as well as a variety of banners. Some of the banner messages: "SUCK ME LESTAT"... "LESTAT 4 EVIL" ... "BLOOD LOVE BABY"... "VAMPIRES ROCK"... "MAUDY"... They also filmed the crowd from the inside of the limo (where the crowd was miming). The crowd all swarmed around and pressed themselves over all the car windows as a handful of British police (the guys wearing bobby hats) in flack jackets tried to hold them back... The occupants of the car then dashed in to the [Storey Hall] entrance, through a jubilant crowd. They filmed the band going through the crowd to the door, and also the crowd from the band's perspective."

Wyndham Quarry
Werribee, Victoria

This quarry served as a substitute for Death Valley in California, USA. Like so many other locations, footage from the real Death Valley will be superimposed to create the necessary effect for the film. Shooting took place here during late November/early December, 2000, including the massive 'Death Valley' concert with at least 2000 extras on December 1st.

The following photos were provided by Alana and Brooke who were lucky enough to smuggle a camera into the concert (cameras were actually prohibited!) ;)

On 10th November in the town of Rosebud, there was a call for a variety of movie extras to take part in the shooting of several scenes on the Mornington Peninsula on the 20th, 21st and/or 23rd of November. Film makers were after gypsies, villagers and rich people. Hundreds of people turned up, but due to the overwhelming response they quickly filled all positions except for those of the gypsies. They were especially after dark-skinned people of 'black African descent' who were required for a scene where some plantation workers are attacked by vampires (filmed on 23rd November). They were also looking for teenagers of 'gypsy-like' appearance to play villagers in a Mediterranean fishing town on the nights of 20th/21st November, and more extras to play wealthy holiday guests.

Portsea
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria

Rippon Lea Estate
192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick, Melbourne

In early November, the Filmnet industry newsletter reported that 'Queen of the Damned' had been spotted shooting at the Rippon Lea Estate. Designed in 1968, it is the oldest Victorian style suburban mansion and estate in Victoria. Could this be a substitute for Lestat's grand mansion in the script? We'll have to wait and see!

Other Locations Included:

- Ansett Flight Attendant School -
- Melbourne International Airport -
- Kings Domain (Government House Drive, Melbourne) -
- Labassa Manor (2 Manor Grove, Caufield North) -
- Montsalvat, Hillcrest Ave (Eltham, Victoria) -
- Parliament Station Exit (Spring Street, Melbourne) -
- St Helier's Convent (Abbotsford, Victoria) -
- Victoria Docklands -