RIP to actor James Earl Jones who has passed away at the age of 93. Most well known for being the voice of Darth Vader. He also voiced Mufasa in The Lion King as well as staring in many films and appearing on Broadway, Field of Dreams is one of my favourites.
While many filmmakers always strive for authenticity in their films, hard economic truths often mean that compromises have to be made. Filming locations are usually one of the first budgets to get chopped, meaning that productions usually end up heading to a few film-friendly locations. Here are just a few of the most popular.
Malta
Thanks to a dry environment and excellent coastal scenery, Malta has long been a stand-in for virtually any setting around the Mediterranean Sea. Claims to fame include use in epics such as Gladiator and Troy, as well as a surprisingly effective role as the city of Jerusalem in World War Z, thanks to Middle-Eastern architectural styles.
Beyond the location and financial incentives for productions, Malta has invested heavily in specialist filming facilities like the Malta Film Studios, home to some of the largest water tanks in the world. These massive tanks allow for both indoor and outdoor filming above and below the water in carefully controlled environments. They have been used for everything from coastal storms to submarine shots in one location.
Atlanta
The American city in the southern state of Georgia isn’t the first thought in most minds about picturesque filming locations, but as a cityscape, it is incredibly popular. It has served as a backdrop for everything from blockbuster projects like Baby Driver to smaller recent projects that use winning the lottery as a plot hook in film and TV, like the recent Jerry & Marge Go Large.
What makes Atlanta attractive for filmmakers is partly its ability to stand in for major cities in areas like California but with a lower price for filming locations, amenities and all the other costs that come along with a production. There is also a healthy tax break incentive within the city, so financially it makes a lot of sense as a filming location.
Ireland
Another country with a tax credit incentive for filmmakers, this one at a hefty 32%, Ireland is also popular as a stand-in for all kinds of movies. Unlike the examples above, the Irish landscape is a lot more flexible in what it can represent. It was famously used for large parts of the Scottish highland scenes in Braveheart, has an iconic scene in the more recent Star Wars films, and even served as France in Saving Private Ryan.
What separates Ireland is how strong the local movie industry has become, with a large number of Irish stories reaching the silver screen over the years. Big productions like The Wind That Shakes the Barley have been noteworthy, while recent films like Belfast have even claimed some Academy Award glory. In turn, it means there’s a lot of interest in films in general in the country, making extras a lot easier to come by than elsewhere.
While film location can be limited by money, it’s important to remember that each location also has benefits of its own. Keep this in mind if you’re looking to direct!
Over the past few years I have found myself buying a new Christmas jumper, mainly for Christmas Day each year and have gone for film related ones in recent times. Although rather disappointing when hardly anyone actually knew that my Golden Girls jumper was in fact the Golden Girls. You can get some outstanding ones now which is why I decided to put together this blog post to highlight just how amazing some of the Christmas jumpers are and they appeal to pretty much every single fandom! Whatever you love the most you are guaranteed to find a jumper for that somewhere!
You can get a lot that are in sweatshirt style but I still personally prefer the proper trashy jumper style and when you add in film they really do have some great levels of detail on them.
Today Cinema First released a list of films that can be used at cinemas when they reopen in July. With Cineworld being the first to announce a date for England on 10th July they will then need films to show. The list has a very wide variety of genres as well as from all decades. I personally hope to see a lot of older films on the big screen for the first time, I don’t want recent ones given a release! Let’s appreciate some amazing films on the big screen for what could well be the very first time (Yes Casablanca and Some Like It Hot I am talking about you, not forgetting my all time favourite When Harry Met Sally!)
Here are the 450 films that could be shown in July at a cinema near you!
That’s right today is the legend that is Richard E. Grant’s 63rd birthday! He has been keeping everyone entertained on Twitter during lockdown with his Withnail & Isolation quotes, which really are a big highlight of this tough time!
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the many different roles he has taken on and hope that we get to see his amazing turn in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie film version in October!
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock (10082786ay) Richard E. Grant 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon – Portraits, Beverly Hills, USA – 04 Feb 2019
That’s right here we are again on May 4th which is Star Wars Day! May The Fourth Be with you! Disney+ are releasing The Rise of Skywalker today so I might just have to give that a second watch later!
Let's Go To The Movies 