10.11.12: Le Musée Miniature et Cinéma

Saturday 10th November 2012

Last week, I made a list of things that I wanted to do in Lyon that I hadn't already done, so that I would have something to write about on my blog. There was twelve things on my list, and the aim was to do at least one a week.

Saturday morning was very gloomy. I could see the sky was heavy with clouds and it was becoming darker and heavier, but at that specific time, it wasn't raining. I didn't like the thought of spending the day in my room, but the great outdoors wasn't really that appealing either. However, I hadn't done anything that was on my list that week, and I didn't want to be late before even starting the plans I had to do. So, I forced myself to leave my room in my winter coat and my waterproof boots. I was not taking the risk.

I took the funicular to Old Lyon. Here, I casually wandered the cobbled streets of the neighbourhood, and took photos. There was hardly any light; you'd have thought it was late in the evening rather than the middle of the afternoon. As soon as I found my destination for the day, Le Musée Miniature et Cinéma, I started to take photos of the outside of the museum for my blog. The 'low battery' notification popped up on my camera. There's always a problem with my camera.

There's a little casino and a little supermarket next to the museum, so I went there to buy some batteries. A part of me wished that I hadn't bought the camera and that I'd randomly decided to buy something with rechargeable batteries instead. Hindsight, huh. I found the supermarket and I bought some batteries for six euros. Whilst changing the batteries, rain droplets began to fall. The shopkeepers ran to bring everything inside, and everybody opened their umbrellas.

I decided to not wait around for too long, so after taking two or three photos, I went to the museum. Just outside, I was welcomed by a big statue of the Star Wars character C-3PO and other kinds of sci-fi and fantasy film characters. After having looked around the entrance, I approached the office to buy my ticket. It was 5€50¢ for students. I noticed a sign that said minimum card payment is 10€, and as I'd used my last note for the batteries, I had to withdraw some cash form a bank.

I'd seen a bank near the museum that I'd walked by beforehand. Unfortunately, it began to rain harder, like torrential rain. The bustling streets of Old Lyon became almost empty as everybody dashed into shops and restaurants. I didn't have an umbrella, but luckily I did have a hood, which was better than nothing. I quickly withdrew money and rushed to the museum. I bought my ticket at the entrance and started my visit.

There were eight rooms to see. You have to see them in numerical order, and you also have to make your way through small corridors and steep stairways to get there. The organisation was a bit weird, and when we'd found the eighth room, we had to go back down all the stairs.

The first two rooms were dedicated to the 2006 film 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' starring Dustin Hoffman which tells the story of a man with a heightened olfactory sense in the 18th century. There were a few sets up that were used for some of the scenes in the film; it was incredible to see all the detail and all the work the designers did to recreate the era and bring it to life on set. As I'd never seen the film before, the sets didn't catch my eye straight away, but I could really appreciate the designers' work.

I didn't spend a lot of time in the first two rooms, so I hoped that I'd spend more time in the rest of the museum. I was not disappointed.

The third and fourth rooms had statues, masks, and all sorts of accessories and characters for lots of Hollywood films. They were mainly from sci-fi films but I suppose this genre is the type of film where you need weird costumes and accessories.

There's one room which has a model of the train used in the film 'Hugo'. It also has a model of the White House, which was used in the film 'Independence Day' starring Will Smith. There was a video that explained how objects were incorporated in the film using green screens and computer effects.

In another room you can find accessories and costumes. I was pretty surprised to find Harry Potter's magic wand!

I must admit, it was a bit strange to see props from Harry Potter as I thought everything would have been in the Harry Potter Studios in England, not in a little museum on a small street in Old Lyon! There was even Harry's acceptance letter to Hogwarts!

I didn't expect to find anything from such popular films, I thought they'd all be objects from French films, but there was even the snake from the Indiana Jones films!

In this part of the museum, there was a little room just room adults, although some kids did ignore the sign. Here, you can find all the wounded bloody limbs and scar-ridden dead bodies. I don't think I need to explain any more! There was another room with artistic things from the world of film, which is where I saw a Gremlin!

There were other rooms for the exposition which had miniature objects and miniature scenes set up, for example there was the artists' studios, and also bedrooms that were decorated from different time periods. Some things were so small, they provided magnifying glasses so that you could see them! The detail was incredible. Every little thing was made so well and was so realistic. I could appreciate the work and the time the artists spent to create everything. I remember I read that one of the restaurants took the artist 2, 700 hours to complete; that's 112. 5 days! I know I wouldn't have the patience to do something like that.

I'd say that the museum is worth going to visit if you're interested in the world of film or miniature models. Although there wasn't a huge variety of objects from different films, it was better than what I thought I was going to find in there. Although the miniature models were interesting, after a while they got a bit boring... but I was hungry.

All the exhibitions in the museum were displayed in a orderly fashion, but I think they would have been better with more information. If the entry fee had been more expensive, I would have been pretty disappointed. However, it is a small museum, it isn't part of a big organisation, and it's managed well, so I was pretty happy. Also, I avoided the rain for a while. I would say that the museum is perfect if you're searching for something simple and quick to do.

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