“A great script, a well-chosen cast, and a captivating storyline – these are all things that make a good film great. But what about the location? In our opinion, that’s just as important as who you cast for the lead roles or where you put the major twist in the storyline. To illustrate that point, many people have never seen any of the Rocky films, but they would recognise the stairs on which Sylvester Stalone trains. Likewise, even if you have no interest in hobbits, orcs or wizards, you will probably still know that the hobbits live in the idyllic ‘Shire’, punctuated by grass-topped houses with circular doors. In this blog, we want to highlight five of the most iconic filming locations in history, places that live on in the collective imagination of pop culture long after ‘Cut!’ has been called and the lights come on in the cinema. ”
It was once said that clothes maketh the man.
And on our screens at home or in the cinema, it could equally be said that the locations maketh the film.
They are, after all, often the main things that set a film apart from a play, providing context, interest, a change of scenery, and even a background cameo or two.
Alongside script writing, casting and directing, finding a suitable location in which to shoot is, arguably, one of the most important parts of moviemaking. Get it right and you win awards. Get it wrong and the whole project can feel out of place.
Take Castaway, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, for example. It was filmed on Monuriki, one of the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji, and was – you could easily argue – completely central to the action. It felt isolated but incredibly beautiful.
Now, imagine if instead of that Pacific island, the film location was swapped for one of the islands in the Outer Hebrides. Far colder, a little less idyllic, and a long way from our imagined desert island.
That change can shift the mood of the film and make certain actions simply feel unsuitable.
Equally, the hallowed halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry exude history and character, provided by Christ Church College in Oxford. Shooting the film series in a modern tower block would remove most of the mystique, not to mention betraying the original source material.
What’s the point in using Wingardium Leviosa if you can just take the elevator?
Aside from highlighting poor alternative choices, the importance of a filming location is also illustrated by the way we feel when we watch a piece of content where the location is spot on.
One of two things tend to happen. Either:
- We’ll sit there mesmerised like a child in a sweet shop, busily admiring the little details, colour and background action, while missing some essential dialogue from the main character; or
- We’ll forget the backdrop entirely, taking it for granted because it simply works.
As a result, we can be transported to the location at the very mention of the film’s name (the Death Star at the mention of Star Wars, for example). It takes its place in pop culture just as much as the film does.
Alt text: A clapperboard against a plain background. Certainly not iconic.
So, what are, in our mind, some of the most iconic filming locations in cinematic history?
Let’s begin in the early days of cinema, in the clutches of a prehistoric ape.
1) The Empire State Building – King Kong (1933)
Alt text: The Empire State Building, which King Kong climbed
Think of King Kong, and the image that probably comes to mind is the giant gorilla scaling New York’s most famous building. It’s there, at the top, with Ann Darrow (played by Fay Wray) firmly in his grasp, that King Kong faces a final battle with circling bi-planes swooping overhead.
The Empire State Building had been completed just three years before, but the combination of it being the tallest in the world and one of the most stylistically beautiful made it the perfect place for a monster showdown.
When Kong meets his demise, falling from well above the 102nd floor, Denham – one of Ann’s fellow protagonists – remarks that it was “beauty killed the beast”, and the curtain drops on an iconic piece of early cinema featuring a legendary filming location (much of which was actually shot in a California studio).
2) The stairs in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art – Rocky (1976)
Alt text: The Philadelphia Museum of Art from Rocky
At some point in our lives, we’ve all run up a set of stairs, reached the top and raised both fists in the air while imagining we’re Sylvester Stallone in the brilliant comeback film Rocky. If nobody else is around, we might also let out a few bars of its motivational soundtrack (if we aren’t too out of breath).
What makes this setting iconic?
Well, for starters, stairs provide visual interest, hence why sets have featured in other films like Hitchcock’s Vertigo and the more modern Joker by Todd Philips. From the top of this particular imposing set, we receive an impressive view of the city – as if by racing to the top, Balboa has conquered the whole of Philadelphia.
Following that analysis trail a little further, by training on this public staircase, director John G. Avildsen is demonstrating that Rocky is an every man. It builds into who he is, making us root for him even more than we might otherwise already.
The stairs epitomise so much of what makes Rocky great. So it’s therefore no wonder that movie buffs and tourists make secular pilgrimages to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to stand at the top of its staircase with their fists in the air.
Strong movie. Strong setting.
3) The Shire – Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring (2001)
Alt text: The Shire, home of the Hobbits
“If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been.” Those are the words spoken by Samwise Gamgee, the Robin to Fodo’s Batman, when the pair leave The Shire to embark on an adventure.
He’d never left before, and why would he?
It represented peace, tranquillity and a slow pace of life. It is the furthest possible thing from the contrasting world of evil in which Sauron and his orc army occupy. This location is one of safety, and our protagonists must leave it if they are to destroy the ring.
You can, depending on where you are in the world, step out of your door and travel to Hobbiton. It’s located within a 1,250-acre sheep farm in the heart of Waikato on New Zealand’s North Island.
The location was chosen following aerial reconnaissance by director Peter Jackson’s team of scouts. With its rolling hills and lack of 20th-century (we’re talking about 1999) power lines or roads, it was the perfect place to shoot the LOTR trilogy and its prequel Hobbit films.
What makes it so iconic? For us, it’s got to be the many circular doors built into the flower-bedecked hillscape, past which Gandalf travels when he visits Bilbo in the Fellowship of The Ring.
4) Doune Castle, Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
This wonderfully silly film is characterised by two things: plenty of quotable lines (“How could a 5-ounce bird possibly carry a 1-pound coconut?”) and considerable budgetary restraints.
*Spoiler alert*
The end scene, in which the entire cast charges towards Castle Aaaaargh (real life Doune Castle) and gets arrested by the police, was created less because it was a brilliant idea and more because the Pythons needed a cheap way to wrap up shooting.
As a result of its low budget (just $400,000), Doune Castle also doubled as Castle Anthrax, Swamp Castle, and the French Castle – in which the guards blow their noses in the general direction of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
We’ve included Doune Castle because it shows what can be achieved with a small budget.
5) Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia – Forrest Gump (1994)
Alt text: Chippewa Square, One of the main filming locations for Forrest Gump
It’s a film that has something for everyone – humour, action, romance, music – and spans the decades.
We see the Vietnam War, Elvis on TV, presidential assassinations, the March on Washington, Watergate, and Apple Computers going public on the stock market. We do so through the words of Forrest Gump, told to us from a non-descript bench in Savannah, Georgia.
People come and go, waiting for and boarding their buses, but our story continues, hitting on heartbreak, loss, the trials and tribulations of war, the triviality of life and everything in between.
It might not be a world-famous landmark like the Empire State Building, but what the bench in that simple little square expresses is the importance of storytelling.
And, after all, isn’t that what movies are trying to do?
Even outside of Hollywood, on the small screens of our phones, tablets and computers, brands are also trying to tell stories. But just like on the big screen, location is an important factor to consider when planning your corporate video production.
Our advice would be to find some experts who can help.
While you might not end up on the list of most iconic filming locations in history, you’ll certainly make a splash with your audience by getting it right.
Phil Caplin is the founder of Broadcast Revolution – a specialist broadcast PR agency providing a fresh and creative way to deliver quality coverage for brands. Services include event filming and live streaming, talent sourcing, media relations, corporate video production, podcast creation, media training, and much more.
