Location, location, location

A house with a round door built into the side of a hill on the set of The Lord of the Rings

From the picturesque landscape of New Zealand that we affectionately know as ‘Middle Earth’ to the harsh environment in Iceland that forms the planet that is explored by the crew of Prometheus, find out how the perfect filming locations are chosen.

While special effects and computer generated images (CGI) can create worlds and landscapes that go beyond your imagination as seen in Avatar, directors often choose to film in location often in harsh environments.

A long table set with plates cutlery and glasses on a sound stage at Leavesden Studios.

The Great Hall in Harry Potter was all filmed on a sound stage at Leavesden Studios.

Sound stages such as Pinewood Studios offers filmmakers impressive backlots that allow for a variety of scenes to be filmed on either sound stages or in front of a green screen, they are often too artificial and lack the visual spectacle that the English landscape of a Hawaiian beach can offer.

Location Works is Europe’s largest locations company and have scouted the perfect location for hundreds of both film and TV productions including, Philomena, Jupiter Ascending and W.E.

But choosing the perfect location isn’t as simple as selecting a grand country house or an impressive mountain range in Italy.

So what is involved in being a location manager? According to Location Works, ‘Anything and everything that it takes to make a location shoot go smoothly. It’s a job that can require many talents and great patience. There’s no such thing as the “typical” job’.

A location manager takes the clients brief, whether it be a big-budget feature film or a modest photo shoot in London, they find the perfect location to suit all their needs. this means that the location has to work perfectly not just from a visual perspective but also logistically.

In some more harsh terrain the problem of safety and accessibility is something that needs to be thought about. After all, there is no point in finding the ‘perfect’ landscape if it is impossible to get a camera there to film any shots.

For example for the 2013 release, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, most of the filming was done in Atlanta, Georgia. The reason behind this was due to the tax breaks the state offers to film makers in that area and less with the natural landscape in the surrounding area.

Sam Claflin diving into the ocean while filming a scene with Jennifer Lawrence in Hawaii for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Filming the scenes for the ‘Arena’ in Hawaii, stars Jennifer Lawrence and Sam Claflin of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The film then moved to Hawaii, with a much smaller crew, due to budgetary reasons, to film on location instead of in Georgia where they were using mainly back lots and sets.

So what Atlanta offered the filmmakers in a practical sense was something that while very useful, could not be matched by Hawaii’s golden beaches and lush jungles.

Whether it be a luxurious Spanish villa located in London for an independent movie or an active volcano, it is the job of the location manager to find that perfect location to be the perfect backdrop to the biggest cinematic moments.

Events, offers and releases 30/12/13

Several lego minifigures run away from an explosion in a lego town.
Several lego minifigures run away from an explosion in a lego town.

Image via Forbes.com

Welcome to the New Year (nearly)! 2014 is a big year for film with lots of big releases. The Lego Movie comes out in February. The CGI stop motion style action comedy has been in development since 2008. With an all-star cast including Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Ferrell, it’s sure to be a hit.

At the end of March, Noah is released. It stars Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Watson and is based on the story of Noah’s Ark.

April is a big month for comic book films with both the long awaited Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider Man 2 being released. The Winter Soldier is the fifth Marvel film following Thor: The Dark World (October 2011). Set two years after The Avengers we see Steve Rogers adapting to his contemporary surroundings, the action begins when a SHIELD compatriot is attacked. The Amazing Spiderman 2 features Electro and Rhino.

In May, Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Maleficent join our screens.  Godzilla promises to be thrilling, retelling the story of Godzilla in modern times. The monster looks bigger than ever, and if the trailer is anything to go by, this is one to look forward too. The seventh film in the X-Men film series, Days of Future Past is a sequel to both The Last Stand (2006) and First Class (2011) and takes place in two time lines. Maleficent is a re-imagined take on Sleeping Beauty. A dark fantasy from two time Academy Award winner Robert Stromberg who worked on the production design of Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013).

In June 22 Jump StreetHow to Train Your Dragon 2. In the sequel to 21 Jump Street, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum go undercover at high school to explore a drug problem. Another sequel featuring Jonah Hill is How to train your dragon 2. This animated action fantasy film begins five years on from the first film. Now with dragons on their side, the Vikings are exploring the Northern Hemisphere.

In the second half of 2014, you can look forward to; Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jupiter Ascending, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Expendables 3, Jane Got a Gun, Gone Girl, Dumb and Dumber To, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Horrible Bosses 2, Exodus, and The Hobbit There and Back Again.

What a brilliant year of film to look forward too!