TF Issue 195: Is It Just Me? Movie Geography...

[Lizhawkins]

On page 145 of TF issue 195, Neil Smith asks:

"Is it just me... or is movie geography all over the place?"



Here are a few excerpts:

At the beginning of Trainspotting, Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner are both seen barrelling down Princes Street in Edinburgh, a pair of security goons hot on their heels. Seconds later, McGregor’s Renton takes some steps down to Calton Road, a good half a mile away from where he was previously. How on earth did he manage that?

Perhaps he has the same teleportation powers Pierce Brosnan employs in The World Is Not Enough to race his speedboat from the Houses Of Parliament in London to Tower Bridge in the space of an edit. Or maybe he can do what Henry Cavill managed in The Cold Light Of Day recently: namely, take in three separate landmarks in Madrid, in different parts of the Spanish capital, within one single breakneck chase sequence.

There may be another answer, of course. It could be that, when it comes to car chases, fight scenes and other staples of action cinema, all vestiges of recognisable geography go right out the window. Then again, it’s not as if action movies are the only culprits. In romcom Sliding Doors, Gwyneth Paltrow gets on the Underground at Waterloo and gets off at Fulham Broadway – a completely impossible journey, as anyone who’s tried to get across London in rush hour will tell you...

...

...So here’s what I’d say to filmmakers. You’re not only making pictures for audiences in Wyoming or Tacoma. Some of your patrons will come from the places where you filmed and will notice when you’re cheating. Don’t assume that every street, square and Tube station looks the same, or that people won’t care if you locate Notre Dame next to the Eiffel Tower. Sometimes it’s the little things that matter the most. Or is it just me?

Check out the full article in Issue 195 - on sale 8 June 2012.

Agree? Disagree? Have your say below - a selection will be printed in the next issue...

[TheDigitalZombi]

Obviously films have to make edits to cut out the tediousness nature of travelling anywhere, but when the film is set one place and features landmarks or geography from another, it's something else.

I'm thinking of Kevin Costner landing at the white cliffs of Dover and walking to Nottingham in the space of a morning for Prince of Thieves. Or the complete lack of Cairo and rubbish surrounding the pyramids at the end of Transformers 2 (not to mention the other bit featuring an ancient temple from a whole other country!)

I also read an interesting fact concerning the number of films which feature skyscrapers in the Washington DC skyline. Apparently, Washington DC doesn't have any skyscrapers...

[Firedragon76]

I've decided to have fun with this a long time ago. We tried to make a drinking game out of this some years back with a TV show that was shot in Vienna - we had to switch to tea or would have landed in the hospital.

Canadian TV show Flashpoint is also hilarious in some episodes if you know your way around Toronto. Why drive around and call an ETA of 40 minutes if walking around the corner would have brought you to the address in 2 minutes flat?

[kilgallon84]

Originally Posted by TheDigitalZombi

Obviously films have to make edits to cut out the tediousness nature of travelling anywhere, but when the film is set one place and features landmarks or geography from another, it's something else.

I'm thinking of Kevin Costner landing at the white cliffs of Dover and walking to Nottingham in the space of a morning for Prince of Thieves.

During that walk he also seems to walk the length of Hadrian's Wall, a good 300/400 miles north of him. Perhaps he craved a Newcastle Brown Ale?

[bencobra]

In the awful movie Green Street the hooligans are informed that a rival gang heavy in numbers are waiting for them at the rail station they are travelling to. Fortunately for the West Ham boys they manage to find a platform right next to where they have made an emergency stop on the train. How many unallocated platforms are on the rail lines in the UK?

[Punchbowl]

I never realised how little I cared until you brought it up.
It's the same reason James Bond et all can pull off all this crazy shit and why cars explode when you sneeze... It's Cinema!

[dojj singh]

The whole point of me going to the cinema or settling down on the sofa (or watching it on a computer monitor) is to enjoy what I'm watching
All these complications that people put in to make you think about stuff like this puts me off a fair bit
I don't really want to watch a film and have to think "you fools! Don't you know that routmaster buses don't travel in that direction!" or " you fools! We have stopped that phasing of the traffic lights since that cyclist was run over!" because that is too much hard work
If I wanted to do that I'd go and sit an exam
Obviously if it's a central part of the storyline then you must expect people to have an underground map or be nerds like some of them westeros lot who take 5 weeks to traverse the 5 inches they show on the maps in the opening credits
Rant over

[FranJester]

It is but not every location is going to be filmable or able to use! It depends on the scene and what they need from it! Plus it's what i like to call 'film/tv land' where the places are never going to be the same as in real life! Just watch them for what they are and don't focus on the little details that don't actually affect the plot or the storyline in any way!

[TheGuyver]

Originally Posted by dojj singh

The whole point of me going to the cinema or settling down on the sofa (or watching it on a computer monitor) is to enjoy what I'm watching
All these complications that people put in to make you think about stuff like this puts me off a fair bit
I don't really want to watch a film and have to think "you fools! Don't you know that routmaster buses don't travel in that direction!" or " you fools! We have stopped that phasing of the traffic lights since that cyclist was run over!" because that is too much hard work
If I wanted to do that I'd go and sit an exam
Obviously if it's a central part of the storyline then you must expect people to have an underground map or be nerds like some of them westeros lot who take 5 weeks to traverse the 5 inches they show on the maps in the opening credits
Rant over

[fortunesfool]

Or Avengers Assemble where they fly from the US to Germany ( i think) in the time it takes Loki to finish his business at the Opera.