Can anyone ID this skyscraper?

Amanita · #1 Posted **Nov 1, 2015, 7:28 AM**

So I was watching San Andreas, and there's one rather unfortunate skyscraper I'm trying to ID- it's the one on the right, which appears to be having a VERY bad day! Can anyone guess the mess and figure out which building this is?

Labridniv · #2 Posted **Nov 1, 2015, 11:38 AM**

I located the ones in the bottom left corner on Google earth but the other ones don't seem to be there. I think they are most likely non-existent. If you look at it, it kind of seems that when it was intact it had a blocky rectangular shape to it. I cant find it anywhere either. Maybe its there but just not on Google earth or Google all together.

King Kill 'em · #3 Posted **Nov 1, 2015, 4:50 PM**

It looks like 550 South Hope but that's in Los Angeles. Maybe they used movie magic to put it in San Francisco.

animatedmartian · #4 Posted **Nov 1, 2015, 9:30 PM**

^
The darker neighbor getting obliterated in the movie (and also the one I think the OP was asking about) is the Paul Hasting's Tower. Also in Los Angeles.

(screengrab from a few seconds earlier in the scene) The helipad is clearly visible and there's also a few other high rises 'inserted' into the surrounding area. Most look like altered scale versions of some notable LA high rises. I think the one on the far right is the Gas Company Tower, but with a crane and some scaffolding to make it look under construction.

Amanita · #5 Posted **Nov 2, 2015, 1:59 AM**

Looks like they also changed up the roof sign as well- while partially obliterated, the one in my image appears to read "San Francisco Trust" or something.

San Francisco has so many nice skyscrapers of its own, I don't know they they felt the need to borrow a few of the Los Angeles crowd and stick them in here. Especially since the LA skyscrapers (Including Paul Hastings tower) all got their asses kicked earlier in the same movie- Paul Hastings fell right into its sibling, taking them both down, Aon did a spectacular faceplant, it was a real mess. In the words of a friend of mine "Structural engineers should feel offended at how flimsy this is making their work look" and "In an earthquake strong enough to pancake a modern skyscraper, you wouldn't be able to stand up, let alone run!"

Paul Hastings Tower- the skyscraper so nice they had to kill her twice!

animatedmartian · #6 Posted **Nov 2, 2015, 3:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amanita

San Francisco has so many nice skyscrapers of its own, I don't know they they felt the need to borrow a few of the Los Angeles crowd and stick them in here. "

Obviously in real life, the helicopter the movie camera was attached to isn't going to fly straight into a building expecting it to split as it approaches. So it actually helps that there's some shorter buildings and (at the time) vacant spaces where they can just CGI in a building that's tall enough for the camera to 'pass through' as it falls apart.

Plus, the scenes happen so fast in real time that most people on first viewing aren't going to notice that they added in a few buildings. It happens all the time.