Here's What You See On The Intense And Magical Paramount Studios VIP Tour
Behold the iconic gates guarding Paramount Pictures — the oldest surviving studio still located in Hollywood.
Inside the gates, visitors are greeted by water fountains and palm trees.
Near the entrance is a screening theater where Michael Bay watched "Transformers" 31 times to tweak it before release.
The studio also displays the actual bench on which Tom Hanks muses "life is like a box of chocolates" in "Forest Gump." Years later, Tom Hanks came back to sit on this bench and pass out chocolates to Paramount employees.
Here's the courtyard where they often film "Community" and "Glee." Inside the buildings are actual offices.
There is a large warehouse where sets are constructed on-site for shows like "Glee" or "Rizzoli and Isles." Dozens of sets are being worked on at a time.
Stage 18 is where most of Hitchcock's "Rear Window" was filmed. The large studio doors are called "Elephant Doors."
This is the special effects room where all "Glee" signage is made.
This special printer can print on any material, including a 2-inch wood door. The ink dries immediately.
It can event print faux stained glass.
Fake brand names are often used in films to save costs. The products are printed here but must look 20-30% different from the original branding.
Name tags for speaking engagements on the lot are also printed here.
Studio signs are constantly being updated.
This is the cafeteria set on "Glee." All food used in shots is fake.
We even spotted "Glee" star Lea Michele on our tour!
The iconic water tower is 150 feet tall but no longer contains water. Sometimes actors are dared to climb it. It once took Michael Keaton 20 minutes to get up but an hour to get down.
This parking lot can be filled with water to film ocean scenes. It takes 950,000 gallons of water to fill it.
The last movie that used the Waterloo was Brad Pitt's "Benjamin Button" in 2008.
Sets on site are often made to look like other cities, such as New York. Sprinklers on top of buildings create rain.
These buildings are supposed to resemble New York's SoHo neighborhood. "Ghost" and "Vanilla Sky" have been filmed on these streets.
Each production is responsible for everything from choosing door knobs to which trees they want to use.
This police station is currently used in "Rizzoli and Isles," but in the past was featured on "The Addams Family."
Look vaguely familiar? This exterior was Kristen Wiig's shuttered Cake Baby shop in "Bridesmaids."
This building was the exterior of Angelina Jolie's office entrance in "Mr. And Mrs. Smith." It was also used to create the Financial District in "Transformers."
Dr. Phil, who shoots his daytime talk show on the lot, customized his golf cart to have flames.
Dr. Phil's audience area fits 160 people. The shows are shot live-to-tape.
Here's the intense light set-up for Nickelodeon show "Marvin Marvin."
Stage 25 is known as the "lucky stage" because long-running shows "I Love Lucy," "Cheers," and "Frasier" all shot on it.
Stage 19 is said to be haunted by a little girl.
This is what is called the "magnetic tape vault room."
The "M Room" also holds 35mm film.
Today, most films arrive to theaters on encrypted hard drives.
The archive room stores props and costumes from past Paramount films — like Tom Cruise's leather jacket he wore in 2005's "War of the Worlds."
Justin Bieber's 2010 "Never Say Never" 3D concert movie attire.
Beyoncé's dress from 2006's "Dreamgirls."
Will Ferrell's ridiculous "Zoolander" costume.
And Brad Pitt's original bust from "Benjamin Button."
There is even an archive devoted to costume jewelry.
But at night, the studio often turns into a party scene — hosting events for their many TV and film projects, such as "The Newsroom."
Now see which stars visit Paramount's storied studio lot ...
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