THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 523 OF "ONCE UPON A TIME". Do not continue reading or viewing the photos or article if you do not want to see/know anything about the episode prior to viewing it and have not yet seen the episode.
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Once Upon A Time filmed scenes for the season 5 finale at the Vancouver Art Gallery in late March, Its a location that pretty much every production in Vancouver has used at 1 time or another. It is easily 1 of the 5 most used locations in Vancouver, and maybe top 20 in North America with 2 large stair cases one on each side of the city block sized building, and an old courtroom inside (it used to be a courthouse) it is 1 of the most versatile locations around. It is quite common during TV season to come across more than 1 production using the location in a week. I even made note of it to a friend only a couple weeks prior to this shoot that "basically every show ever shot in Vancouver for any length of time has shot here but OUAT as far as I can recall"... and then voila, 2 weeks later they were there.

An early scene was done with Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Jared Gilmore as Henry Mills and guest star Olivia Steele-Falconer as Violet. The scene sees Henry and violet sitting outside a fountain in New York City. Emma comes up to the pair and speaks to the pair, Violet then gets up, allowing Emma to sit down and talk to Henry for a couple minutes. The scene clearly looks like a set up to the next scenes that were shot there that day that you will be able to find in future blog posts HERE and HERE (links will be added once they have been created)

While this scene was winding down and finishing off their last takes, cast for the next scene showed up in the form of Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold and Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills.

Once Upon A Time has a TWO HOUR season finale on Sunday May 16, 2015 on ABC in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada.

You can find all our Once Upon A Time previous blog posts including ones for episode 522 (the first half of the finale) HERE

The first scene they shot on the day had Robert Carlyle going to Mr. Golds shop. It didnt last long, and didnt really reveal much of anything. Shortly after, they filmed a scene with Sean Maguire as Robin Hood and Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills walking together thru the streets of this slightly different looking Storybrooke. they are stopped, or stop to talk to a man that I was told by a production person had the character name "Black Tooth". I cant say what the scene really revealed except for a couple of the shops there were definitely different than the ones in Storybrooke. After they finished filming that scene, Sean and Lana went over to the middle of the street where the fallen clock tower laid, and posed for a photo in front of it so they could post it on their social media accounts later.

A bit later in the day, A scene was shot with a large portion of the main cast walking together thru the streets looking at the carnage, and looking like they were preparing for a possible attack as the group carried bows & arrows and guns with them. Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Jennifer Morrison, and Jared Gilmore joined Carlyle, Parrilla and Maguire for this scene.

Once Upon A Time airs Sundays on ABC in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada.

You can find the stars of Once Upon A Time on their Social Media accounts
Once Upon A Time Twitter facebook
Lana Parrilla Twitter facebook
Sean Maguire Twitter 
Ginnifer Goodwin facebook
Josh Dallas Twitter 
Jennifer Morrison Twitter facebook
Robert Carlyle Twitter 
Jared Gilmore Twitter 

THIS BLOG POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS TO EPISODE 505 "DREAMCATCHER" FOR THE SERIES ONCE UPON A TIME. If you have not watched this episode and do not want to see or read any possible spoilers prior to it airing, please do not continue reading or viewing the photos.
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Once Upon A Time shot a couple more scenes in Steveston for episode 505 "Dreamcatcher"

The earlier scenes (posts here part 1, here part 2) contained several cast members at a time. This 1st evening scene only had 1 cast member however.

Newcomer Amy Manson as "Brave" character Merida was shooting a scene on Moncton Street outside of Mr. Golds shop where she shoots an arrow at the door of the shop and it opens for her. She then goes inside.

It was 1 of several scenes MOST fans that day in Steveston never saw due to the way the crews would knowingly mislead fans by telling them they could "watch" from specific areas which had absolutely no view of the scene at all. I keep waiting for OUAT fans to stop listening to the crew after the amount of times they have been purposely lied to in the past, but they constantly keep following what they are told like sheep. Its baffling.

The later scenes were shot after the sun went down.

First up was a scene with Olivia Steele-Falconer as  and another newcomer Ryan Robbins as Sir Morgan watching as Jared Gilmore rides  horse into the area where the block party was taking place. Morgan seems to be thanking Henry for his efforts before he takes the horse away, leaving his daughter there to show Henry her thanks in her own way as she gives him a kiss on the cheek. Shortly after, Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin as Prince Charming and Snow White stop the new young couple and chat to them briefly. A variety of other characters including Joana Metrass as Guinevere, Liam Garrigan as King Arthur and Emilie de Ravin as Belle are around during this scene, but I never quite figured out where they were really situated in this scene. I would just notice them afterwards during the breaks.

Later another scene was shot, with several cast sitting around a table enjoying drinks. I didn't really get any decent shots of that, so I didn't post any of them, but it included Liam Garrigan, Josh Dallas, Colin o'Donoghue as Captain Hook and a couple others that I now cant recall.

You can find the stars of Once Upon A Time on their social media/networking accounts
Once Upon A Time twitter facebook
Amy Manson twitter
Ryan Robbins twitter
Jared Gilmore twitter
Josh Dallas twitter
Ginnifer Goodwin facebook
Liam Garrigan twitter
Joana Metrass twitter facebook
Emilie de Ravin twitter
Colin O'Donoghue twitter facebook

Once Upon A Time season 5 is on Sunday nights currently on ABC in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada.

Part 2 (pt 1 is here) of our look at Once Upon A Time in Steveston for episode 505 sees several cast, including Lana Parrilla, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Colin O'Donoghue, Sean Maguire, Emilie de Ravin, Joana Metrass, Liam Garrigan and Jared Gilmore shooting a scene together.

The scene has Emilie as Belle coming from 1 direction along Main Street in Storybrooke, while the group of 8, with Colin as Hook, Lana as Regina, Josh & Ginny & Snow & Charming in a front group, while Liam as King Arthur, Joana as Guinivere, Sean as Robin and Jared as Henry trail a few steps behind in a 2nd group.

The scene consist of the 8 listening to Belle tell them something about Rumple. Eventually the group all leaves, in small groups, Robin 1st, then Regina and Henry, then Snow & Charming etc, leaving Belle standing there.

Between takes, there was some goofing around by some of the cast at times, namely Josh and Colin. Much of the cast spent their breaks just hanging out, sharing laughs with each other. Ive seen this cast be very tight knit over the years, but over the last year it felt like they had maybe split off a bit more into little cliques. But this day, I felt the old cast that all hung out together on set was back.

You can catch the stars of Once Upon A Time on their social media platforms

Once Upon A Time twitter facebook
Ginnifer Goodwin facebook
Josh Dallas twitter
Lana Parrilla twitter facebook
Colin O'Donoghue twitter facebook
Sean Maguire twitter
Emilie de Ravin twitter
Jared Gilmore twitter
Joana Metrass twitter facebook
Liam Garrigan twitter

Once Upon  A Time season 5 is airing right now on Sudays on ABC in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada.

*correction - Post originally stated this was for episode 503, I have since then realized this is 502 and corrected it where I could.*
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 502 OF ONCE UPON A TIME. If you have not seen the episode and do not want any knowledge of the scenes prior to viewing the episode, do not view the photos or read the blog post below.
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last warning
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In a rare double treat for visiting fans of Once Upon A Time, the show filmed for a 2nd time in less than a week in Steveston back in July. Usually, theres 2 or 3 weeks in between shoots, but with only 5 days between their 1st & second shoots there, the fans in town got an extra chance to see some of their faves shoot. This time for episode 502. Directed by Romeo Tirone.

The first scene of the day had the public debut of Liam Garrigan as King Arthur. The scene had King Arthur and two others ride into Storybrooke. They are soon confronted by Lee Arenberg as Grumpy and other actor as Happy with pick axes in hand. The dwarves soon find though they are no match for the King and his men and find themselves on the ground at Arthurs feet.

Below I posted a photo of just how far away I was to shoot some of these pics, to give you some idea how far away I sometimes have to be to shoot scenes as the crew of OUAT have been given an unusually large (and I suspect at times, not legal) amount of leeway by the City of Richmond & the RCMP over having fans out of sight of the scenes for the most bullshit reasons most times ("we can see your reflection" being their new fave - No, you cant...and even if you can theoretically.... NO ONE even on a movie theatre sized screen will notice it since they are already a block away from where you are shooting... and if shows that actually win EMMYS can shoot with 400+ people right across the street. Once Upon A Time should be able to do it with 150-200 people). This might be the saddest statement about the show. The crew treats their fans THIS BAD ON PURPOSE, and all in the name of making the scenes "better", and the show still never gets nominated (aside from costumes & VFX...which people watching them film is never going to impact), let alone wins, major awards. Comical and pathetic all at once, to say the least. Anyways, rant aside.... this might give you an idea why sometimes these photos seem small, or blurry. In this particular instance, this was about 3 city blocks away.

After the morning scene, a couple other scenes were shot. One I completely missed because they did it so fast. it included Josh Dallas, as pictured below showing up at the set. But I have almost no info on the scene since it happened while I was out of sight of the street.

A little while later though, another scene around the corner, out of sight of the majority of fans was 1 with Jennifer Morrison dressed as Dark Emma and Colin O'Donoghue as Captain Hook. In the scene Emma walks towards Hook with a sinister grin on her face & they meet beside Emmas bug and she pulls him in close to her. The body language of Hook in the scene gives the impression he isn't impressed with whatever Emma is doing/saying. I did not hear any of the dialogue, so my interpretations COULD be off... so don't take what I saw/interpreted as fact.

In the evening, 1 final scene was shot. Out on the pier at the end of the Steveston docks with Jared Gilmore, Jennifer Morrison and Lana Parrilla.

The scene was quite heavily blocked, but little moments could be caught if you moved around enough to see around their heavily blocked scene. It appears Emma, Regina and Henry are on the pier having a chat. At the end of the chat Regina and Henry leave together looking quite unhappy/sad and Emma is left standing alone.

Similar to the early scene, this was shot far away from the fans. At least with this one, they didn't have to make up excuses for why they didn't let people closer. They simply closed the pier to public access.

During the break Lana acknowledged the fans with a wave & held up some type of fan made scrap book that she was given from someone there I'm guessing.

Once Upon A Time returns to ABC in the U.S. and to CTV in Canada for season 5 on September 27, 2015

You can follow the show & cast on their social networking sites
Once Upon A Time Twitter Facebook
Lana Parrilla Twitter Facebook
Jennifer Morrison Twitter Facebook
Colin O'Donoghue Twitter Facebook
Josh Dallas Twitter
Jared Gilmore Twitter
Lee Arenberg Twitter
Liam Garrigan Twitter

Once Upon A Time season 5 started filming last month. The small village of Steveston in South Richmond was again transformed into Storybrooke for a day of filming for episode 1.

The first scene I came across in downtown Steveston for the 1st day of shooting for Once Upon A Time season 5 in the town involved an odd sight.

Granny's diner had been transformed into a beer garden. whether this is a temporary situation, or permanent was not yet known. More off, was Gabe Khouth as Sneezy wearing an Emma Swan style red jacket & driving the Sheriffs car. He shows up to what appears to be a ribbon cutting ceremony with several other dwarves in attendance including Faustino DiBauda, Mig Macario and maybe others.. I couldn't see the whole scene from where I was, but there was at least 3 or 4 of the dwarves there. Most notably missing was Lee Arenberg.

After that scene, the production moved 1/2 block down to an intersection. In the intersection they set up a scene with several cast members including Rebecca Mader, Sean Maguire, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Ginnifer Goodwin, Colin O'Donoghue, Emilie de Ravin and Jared Gilmore.

In the scene, we see Lana as Regina Mills marching towards Rebecca and Sean as Zelena and Robin Hood. Regina is flanked by several of the locals, Hook, Mary & Dacid, Belle and Henry all follow her to the middle of the street.

It seems that Zelena has robin captive somehow and demands a wand from Regina for the release of Robin. Regina does whats asked of her, and gives Zelana a wand. Robin is then let go & instantly taken in by Regina to their side of the battle.

Zelena proudly waves the wand around, attempting perhaps to create magic or a spell? But its appears to be a fake. Zelena realizes it wont work, but before she can react, Regina moves in & puts a cuff around her arm and seemingly stops Zelena dead in her tracks.

Once the cast did a couple rehearsals of it, they went back to their trailers & got into wardrobe for the actual filming.

A little while later, the group returned to film the scene in their full wardrobes for the day. By that point, the crowds swelled well over 150 and at times, over 200 people, as the combination of the 1st shoot of the season and nice weather drew a larger than usual crowd. No surprise with the size of the crowd, none of the main cast came over to meet any fans at all this day. while the main cast is becoming less & less receptive of coming over in the past year or so, its rare that NONE of them do. Guess the absurdly large crowd was just too much for any of them to consider.

While they were shooting this scene, my battery on my camera died so I left while they were still shooting. so I don't know if more happened in this scene afterwards, but the amount of times they shot this, I doubt it.

you can follow the stars of Once Upon A Time on Social Media sites
Once Upon A Time Twitter Facebook
Lana Parrilla Twitter Facebook
Sean Maguire Twitter
Rebecca Mader Twitter Facebook
Colin O'Donoghue Twitter Facebook
Josh Dallas Twitter
Ginnifer Goodwin Twitter Facebook
Emilie de Ravin Twitter
Gabe Khouth Twitter
Jared Gilmore Twitter
Faustino Di Bauda Twitter
Mig Macario Twitter

Once Upon A Time returns for season 5 on ABC in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada starting Oct  2015