A couple travels around the world to perfectly re-create movie and TV scenes

Sophie-Claire HoellerJun 8, 2020, 19:24 IST

They re-created this scene from "La La Land" in Los Angeles, California.Secret Famous Places/Lionsgate

- Robin Lachhein, 31, and Judith Schneider, 30, travel the world together re-creating famous movie scenes.
- They often spend hours combing through blogs, Facebook groups, and Google Maps to find more under-the-radar locations.
- They say they refuse to use Photoshop for anything other than minor corrections.

Some couples like to cook together, others like to work out, and others will engage in DIY projects.

Robin Lachhein, 31, and Judith Schneider, 30, from Hofheim, Germany, have a slightly more involved hobby: They travel the world together re-creating famous movie scenes.

They post their re-creations on their Instagram page, Secret Famous Places, which has amassed a following of more than 26,000 people.

However, Instagram fame was never the plan. For years, the only images people got to see were the ones they had hung up in their living room.

"This is our hobby," Schneider told Insider. "We just did it because it's a lot of fun. But after four or five years, we realized that everybody looking at our pictures is laughing a lot and having fun, so we decided to publish them on Instagram."

Keep scrolling to see some of their favorite shots so far.

Robin Lachhein, 31, and Judith Schneider, 30, met at a friend's birthday 10 years ago, and have been re-creating movie scenes for six years. They estimate that they've shot over 70 scenes to date.

"Game of Thrones" in San Juan De Gastgatxe, Spain. Secret Famous Places/HBO

They say they get a lot of comments on their posts about whether they ever work (Lachhein is a mechanical engineer and Schneider works at a radio station) and want to reiterate that re-creating TV and movie scenes around the world is just a hobby.

They say they're simply tactical about how many photos they take, and when they post them, which is approximately every three weeks.

Robin Lachhein, 31, and Judith Schneider, 30, met at a friend's birthday 10 years ago, and have been re-creating movie scenes for six years. They estimate that they've shot over 70 scenes to date.

They say they're simply tactical about how many photos they take, and when they post them, which is approximately every three weeks.

When it comes to choosing movie locations, they say they're picky.

"Thelma and Louise" in Moab, Utah. Secret Famous Places/MGM

"We always think it should be a good movie or a good TV series, we don't want to take a picture of a scene from a movie that's not good," Lachhein said.

They take pains to find scenes with a male and female actor, which they say is harder than it sounds.

"Lord of the Rings" in Mount Sunday, New Zealand. Secret Famous Places/New Line Cinema

"We realized there are often more male actors than female actors… many more," Schneider said. "I often have to be a male extra, and Robin hasn't been a female actress yet! That's very unfair."

We realized there are often more male actors than female actors… many more, Schneider said. I often have to be a male extra, and Robin hasn't been a female actress yet! That's very unfair.

Besides finding the right movie and the right scene, they also plan vacations around each shoot.

"Alien" in Milford Sound, New Zealand. Secret Famous Places/ 20th Century Studios

"We combine taking the pictures with holidays," Lachhein said. "When we travel to a country, we want to visit the country and want to see great sightseeing spots. The cool part of this hobby is that we don't just visit sightseeing spots where everyone in the country is, we see spots where movies are filmed, which are so much cooler."

We combine taking the pictures with holidays, Lachhein said. When we travel to a country, we want to visit the country and want to see great sightseeing spots. The cool part of this hobby is that we don't just visit sightseeing spots where everyone in the country is, we see spots where movies are filmed, which are so much cooler.

Once they've decided to visit a certain country, they try to find as many locations and scenes as they can to make the trip worthwhile.

"P.S. I Love You" in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland. Secret Famous Places/2007 Cupid Distribution, LLC

While some filming locations are easy to find — like say, the infamous New York City stairs in "The Joker," others can be tricky.

They spend hours combing through blogs, Facebook groups, and Google Maps.

While some filming locations are easy to find — like say, the infamous New York City stairs in The Joker, others can be tricky.

They spend hours combing through blogs, Facebook groups, and Google Maps.

They use screenshots of scenes they want to re-create, which they study for clothes and positioning.

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in Iceland. Secret Famous Places/20th Century Fox

Between shots, they'll take a look at what they have and adjust as necessary, taking photos until they're satisfied with the results.

CGI sometimes makes things difficult, as places in films often look nothing like they do in real life.

"The Hunger Games" in Berlin, Germany. Secret Famous Places/Lionsgate

Schneider explains how they thought a scene from "The Hobbit" was in a certain area of New Zealand because of where Mount Cook was in the background, to then find that the mountain was edited into the scene, which was filmed hundreds of miles away.

Schneider explains how they thought a scene from The Hobbit was in a certain area of New Zealand because of where Mount Cook was in the background, to then find that the mountain was edited into the scene, which was filmed hundreds of miles away.

Finding similar-looking clothing isn't always easy, according to the pair. They usually ask friends and family before hitting a thrift store or making pieces themselves.

"Downton Abbey" in Newbury, England. Secret Famous Places/PBS

Other obstacles include the weather (which doesn't always play along), curious bystanders, schlepping extra suitcases full of equipment and costumes, and Schneider never being able to keep a straight face.

Finding similar-looking clothing isn't always easy, according to the pair. They usually ask friends and family before hitting a thrift store or making pieces themselves.

They say they try to use Photoshop as sparingly as possible, really only for color correction.

"Forrest Gump" in Monument Valley, Utah. Secret Famous Places/Paramount Pictures

They won't even let themselves remove objects, like when their "The Fault in Our Stars" shot had a stray motorcycle in the background.

At first, they got annoyed when places didn't look exactly as expected, but they grew to embrace the differences.

"Skyfall" in Glen Etive, Scotland. Secret Famous Places/Columbia Pictures

"We think it's cool because we show how places really are, how they changed. Every time you're there, it's unique, there are different people, a different situation," they said.

We think it's cool because we show how places really are, how they changed. Every time you're there, it's unique, there are different people, a different situation, they said.

What they love about their project the most is exploring places in a unique way: seeing things that not every tourist sees, and visiting slightly more off-the-beaten-path locations.

"Inception" in Paris, France. Secret Famous Places/Warner Bros. Pictures

When they re-created a scene from "Inception" on a bridge, they said they found an incredible, alternative view of the Eiffel Tower.

What they love about their project the most is exploring places in a unique way: seeing things that not every tourist sees, and visiting slightly more off-the-beaten-path locations.

They now watch movies with a more critical eye, always looking for the next scene to re-create, taking screenshots, and collecting them in a folder of next trips to take.

"Star Wars" in Lake Como, Italy. Secret Famous Places/Lucasfilm

Still, to them, their project is nothing more than a hobby.

"I like that we are making people smile," they said. "That's really, really cool."

They now watch movies with a more critical eye, always looking for the next scene to re-create, taking screenshots, and collecting them in a folder of next trips to take.

Still, to them, their project is nothing more than a hobby.

I like that we are making people smile, they said. That's really, really cool.

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A couple travels around the world to perfectly re-create movie and TV scenes

Robin Lachhein, 31, and Judith Schneider, 30, met at a friend's birthday 10 years ago, and have been re-creating movie scenes for six years. They estimate that they've shot over 70 scenes to date.

When it comes to choosing movie locations, they say they're picky.

They take pains to find scenes with a male and female actor, which they say is harder than it sounds.

Besides finding the right movie and the right scene, they also plan vacations around each shoot.

Once they've decided to visit a certain country, they try to find as many locations and scenes as they can to make the trip worthwhile.

They use screenshots of scenes they want to re-create, which they study for clothes and positioning.

CGI sometimes makes things difficult, as places in films often look nothing like they do in real life.

Finding similar-looking clothing isn't always easy, according to the pair. They usually ask friends and family before hitting a thrift store or making pieces themselves.

They say they try to use Photoshop as sparingly as possible, really only for color correction.

At first, they got annoyed when places didn't look exactly as expected, but they grew to embrace the differences.

What they love about their project the most is exploring places in a unique way: seeing things that not every tourist sees, and visiting slightly more off-the-beaten-path locations.

They now watch movies with a more critical eye, always looking for the next scene to re-create, taking screenshots, and collecting them in a folder of next trips to take.