Showing posts with label Destinations. Show all posts

Spotlight on 4 anticipated films shot in Malta Assassin's Creed, The Lake, The Mercy & The Promise - VISIT MALTA

Visit Malta Film LocationsRecently I received an email about the gorgeous and stately island nation of Malta being the location of choice for many major upcoming releases - now usually I would have skipped over this email but a couple of things piqued my interest enough to post about it.

    Malta has been on our visit list for awhile, particularly as we constantly get updates about how great the diving on the Maltese Archipelago is. It's place in history merits a visit for anyone interested in European culture and it looks absolutely gorgeous with azure blue seas, natural beauty, old world charm and architecture as well as all the modern comforts. All of which would compliment any holiday rather well.

     So much so that earlier this year we had planned to visit Malta, as we were swept away by the elegant quaintness of the hotel and locations beautifully shot, by Cinematographer Christian Berger for Angelina Jolie's By The Sea.

     In the film Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt couple, Vanessa and Roland are seeking sanctuary in the South of France during the 70s.

By The Sea Malta Film Locations
By The Sea Malta Film Locations [enlarge]    

See Thor's Hammer Mjölnir & Thor: The Dark World Battle of Greenwich Film Locations – FILM LOCATION

Thor Dark World GreenwichTo celebrate the home release of Thor: The Dark World, Marvel Studio's have placed a huge replica of  Mjolnir, Thor's Hammer for all to see in Greenwich. But hurry as it will only be there till Friday 28 February.

Last week I received an email alerting me to the location of Thor's hammer, so over the weekend I grabbed my pants, jumped on the tube at Charing Cross station, jumped off in Greenwich 3 stops later. *Whilst exact travel details are further below pants are optional!

Kick-Ass Film Location - Hit-Girl attacks the lobby of Frank D'Amico's penthouse - FILM LOCATION

The Establishing Shot says visit the Kick-Ass film location of the lobby of Frank D'Amico's penthouseThe eagerly anticipated Jeff Wadlow adaptation of Mark Millar's Kick-Ass 2 will be in cinemas this week on 14 August so it seems timely that we take a look at one of the very easy to visit locations from Matthew Vaughn's 2010 Kick-Ass.

Back in 2010 the comic hero to film landscape was dominated by large scale big budget films then along came Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass made for £19 Mill, considerably less than your average blockbuster and raking in triple that at £62 Mill. Ensuring that in all likelihood we would see more of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) adventures as the costumed vigilante Kick-Ass. What did Hollywood learn from this financial case study ?

But there was no way a “super” hero film based on a Mark Millar comic adapted by Jane Goldman and directed by Matthew Vaughn would not to be seared into our shared collective/cultural consciousness.

Kick-Ass 2 like Kick-Ass was filmed in both the UK and Canada, with Toronto filling in for Kick Ass's New York City skyline and the bulk of the film shot against Blue screen at Pinewood Studios and some scenes at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood.

Kick-Ass Film Poster
Kick-Ass Film Poster [+]

The Servant James Fox's Tony Townhouse - FILM LOCATION

The Servant James Fox's Tony Townhouse - FILM LOCATION
The Servant James Fox's Tony Townhouse - FILM LOCATION


Joseph Losey's 1963 dark and ambiguous psychological drama The Servant is to be released onto DVD and Blu-ray Monday 8 April, so I thought it was high time to create a post about one of the iconic film locations of the 60s - the house at the centre of the power struggle between James Fox's upperclassman Tony and Dirk Bogarde's The Servant. Some thoughts on the 50th Anniversary restored re-release of The Servant can be found here!

The creative partnership between Director Joseph Losey and writer Harold Pinter heralded in a new era of  British Art Cinema and it started with their first collaboration  The Servant.

The story of The Servant is delivered through a taut battle of wills and seduction between two men on either side of the class barrier. Most of the film is set in Aristocrat Tony's (James Fox) Townhouse which becomes a metaphor for the mental state of Tony as he slowly spirals downward, the field of battle between the wills of the men as well as the prize of victory for the winner. Granted it is a very one-sided battle that will leave one of the men in a state of disorder.

Looking at the Townhouse that served for the location you would never guess the depth of the cinematic battle that place beyond its facade.

Uncle Monty's London home from Withnail and I - FILM LOCATION

Uncle Monty's London home from Withnail and I - FILM LOCATION Goodbye Uncle Monty. Montague H. Withnail or as he is more well known as Uncle Monty's London pad is about 5 minutes from where I live and I pass nearby regularly, if not daily. The exact film location is on a long list of posts that I have brewing but something always seems to get in the way of posting about it - however its timing now makes a fitting goodbye to Uncle Monty or rather the man who brought him to life so wonderfully - Richard Griffiths OBE.

Of course, one role does not make or tell the story of the man who brought almost a 100 memorable and colourful characters to life in cinema, on TV as well as on stage. Despite an illustrious career spanning 5 decades and participation in productions like; Milos Forman's Ragtime, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire, Superman II, Gandhi,The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Martin Scorsese's Hugo, the role that brought him to a new generation as Uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series and seeing him recently on stage with Danny Devito in The Sunshine Boys.
THE SUNSHINE BOYS AT THE SAVOY THEATER - DANNY DEVITO AND RICHARD GRIFFITHS
The Establishing Shot: The Sunshine Boys at The Savoy Theater - Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths

The Establishing Shot: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy The Circus Blythe House Film Location

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy LocationLast night Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film and Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan won the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as Mr John Hurt or Control won an Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema BAFTA.

To commemorate this occasion - this week I bring you a closer look at Tomas Alfredson's version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 's The Circus.

In John le Carré's books The Circus overlooked New Compton Street and Charing Cross Road and believed to be based at 90 Charing Cross Road overlooking Cambridge Circus from whence its name came from The Circus. Although the description is more well suited to the Palladium Theatre across the road with it's salt and pepper pot look outs.

For Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy an altogether different location was chosen for The Circus as it was relocated to West Kensington a more discrete location for the shadowy SIS offices.

Whilst all the interior shots for The Circus were done on a set in former army barracks in Mill Hill, North London the exterior of The Circus is Blythe House in Kensington Olympia, West London. You can read more about how the team went about designing The Circus here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/01/establishing-shot-tinker-tailor.html

Blythe House is the former headquarters of the Post Office Savings Bank and now used by The Science Museum to store a large part of their collections.

Visit the Ministry of Magic Entrance from Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Film Location - FILM LOCATION

Visit the Ministry of Magic Entrance from Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Film LocationHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final adventure in the Harry Potter film series, is a motion picture event, told in two full-length parts. Part 1 begins as Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s immortality and destruction—the Horcruxes. On their own, without the guidance of their professors or the protection of Professor Dumbledore, the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever. But there are Dark Forces in their midst that threaten to tear them apart.

The End Begins

Films on Foot: Film based walking tours of London

0506 - This is not a photo opportunity film location from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
15 Park Street, Borough, SE1, The gang's hideout from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

This autumn, the Ramblers, in association with Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival, will be holding an unmissable three week walking festival to celebrate London's world-class film heritage.

Timed to coincide with the Times BFI London Film Festival, the Ramblers second annual "Films on Foot" Festival (14 October-1 Novembwill er) see 9 walks focusing on different areas of London which have been stars of the big screen. The walks are free and open to everyone (new members are especially welcome). All the walks are led by volunteer members from the Metropolitan Walkers and the South Bank Ramblers Group.

The walks take place every Wednesday at 7pm, and every weekend at 1.30pm throughout the festival. There is no need to book, simply turn up at the meeting place indicated below.

An edit version of the programme is listed below:

Soho and the West End 'films on foot' walk - Wednesday 21 October 7pm
Join the Metropolitan Walkers for a 3 mile film stroll through Soho, the heart of the British film industry, and the West End with London's most famous landmarks captured on the big screen. The walk ends at a pub near Embankment tube station.

Notting Hill, Bayswater & Kensington Gardens - Saturday 24 October 1.30pm
Join the Metropolitan Walkers for a 8 mile film location walk This is a walk of contrasts taking in elegant 'Notting Hill' so popular with British romantic comedy film makers, the green space of Kensington Gardens and seedy Bayswater used in films such as 'Trainspotting'. The walk ends at a pub near Queensway tube station.

Isle of Dogs & Maritime Greenwich - Sunday 25 October 1.30pm
Join the South Bank Ramblers for a 5 mile film location walk through The Isle of Dogs - a frequent star of gangster and action films, and Maritime Greenwich - one of the most popular film locations in London. The walk ends at a pub in Greenwich.

Gangsters in the East End - Wednesday 28 October 7pm
Join the Metropolitan Walkers for a 3 mile stroll through the East End. This part of London was the play ground for real time villains, the Krays, and is a favourite film location for British gangster movies. The walk ends at a pub near Bethnal Green tube station.

Brompton Cemetery, Chelsea & Battersea Park - Saturday 31 October 1.30pm
Join the Metropolitan Walkers for a 6 mile film location walk. Brompton Cemetery and Battersea Park are two of the capital's most popular film locations, as well as being beautiful places to walk. The walk ends at a pub near Sloane Square tube station.

Westminster & the Royal Parks - Sunday 1 November 1.30pm

Join the Metropolitan Walkers for a 5 mile stroll taking film locations around Westminster and Belgravia, as well as the green spaces of St James's Park, Green Park and Hyde Park. The walk ends at a pub near Hyde Park Corner tube station.

For the full programme and information click here!

FLASHBACKS OF A FOOL FILM LOCATION - CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Flashbacks of a Fool Film LocationDaniel Craig stars as Joe, a hedonistic British actor whose Hollywood career is starting to nosedive. The death of his best friend from his English childhood causes him to journey back home for the funeral, and prompts flashbacks to his teenage experiences - including the tragedy that forced him to flee to the United States and a new life.

Flashbacks of a Fool Film Location
Takes me right back when you were young....

As well as playing the lead role, Daniel Craig is the executive producer of this film. It has been a pet project for a while. With the success of his new Bond fame the money came into place.

The part of the bitter and twisted film star was written with Craig in mind by his friend, Baillie Walsh, before the Bond star got famous.

"When he wrote the part for me about five or six years ago, I certainly didn't have the success I did now," says Craig, keen to stress that the tale of a successful but arrogant film star is not about him.

The film was mainly shot in Cape Town, South Africa and Malibu, California.

For the scene where Joe meets his agent and director of his potential next role. He meets the two at an upmarket restaurant overlooking the sea. Both the interior and exterior scenes were filmed at Salt Restaurant at The Ambassador Hotel in Bantry Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.

Flashbacks of a Fool Film LocationFlashbacks of a Fool Film Location

Where:
34 Victoria Road, Bantry Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, 8005

View Larger Map

Flashbacks of a Fool
Director: Baillie Walsh
Starring: Daniel Craig, Emile Robert, Olivia Williams, Mark Strong, Claire Forlani


The Establishing Shot: FLASHBACKS OF A FOOL FILM LOCATION - CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

28 Days Later Deserted Westminster Bridge location - FILM LOCATION

28 Days Later film locationIt has been twenty-eight days since Jim, a young bicycle courier, was knocked off his bike and injured in a car accident. When he wakes up from his coma, the world has changed. Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

A critical and commercial success, 28 Days Later is widely recognized for images of a deserted London. It spawned the 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, the graphic novel 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, and a possible third film.

28 Days Later Film Location
The Days Are Numbered

28 Days Later features scenes set in normally bustling parts of London such as Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Horse Guards Parade and Oxford Street. In order to depict these locations as desolate, police would close the roads at 4am and filming would begin immediately. It would last for one hour, and at that time the police would reopen the roads.

As well as having to deal with traffic, the producers also had to ask clubbers to find alternative routes home. In terms of the traffic, the producers correctly predicted that asking drivers to either wait for up to an hour or find another way might cause some considerable consternation. As such, they employed several extremely attractive young women (one of whom was Danny Boyle's daughter) to make the necessary requests. This plan had the desired results, as the drivers responded quite amicably to the young girls.

For the London scene where Jim walks by the overturned double-decker bus, the film crew placed the bus on its side and removed it when the shot was finished, all within 20 minutes.

The Establishing Shot: WESTMINSTER BRIDGE FILM LOCATION USED IN 28 DAYS LATER - WESTMINSTER, LONDON


28 Days Later Film Location
Where:
Westminster Bridge, Westminster and South Bank, London SE1 and SW1

Trivia:
It's not explained in the film but the infected are attracted to the tone in human voices.
The decision to film on DV (using Canon XL1 cameras) was both an aesthetic and a logistic choice.
- Danny Boyle felt that the harshness of the DV imagery suited the post-apocalyptic urban landscape and the grittiness of the film in general.
- All the scenes of the Infected in a particular style - using a type of slow motion feature on the Canon XL1 DV cameras with which the film was shot. Shooting at that speed on a film camera gives basic slow motion, but doing so on a DV camera produces the kind of staccato effect seen in scenes involving the Infected.
- "The police and the local authorities were quite happy to assist us because we could set up scenes so quickly. We could literally be ready to shoot with a six-camera set-up within minutes - something we would not realistically have been able to do if shooting under the restrictions of 35mm which takes a good deal more time to set up a single shot."

Westminster Bridge can also be seen in; Doctor Who (1964 & 2005), Monty Python's Flying Circus, 102 Dalmatians, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix


View The Establishing Shot Film Map in a larger map

Film Location: 28 Days Later

Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Alex Garland
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Christopher Eccleston, Brendan Gleeson


The Establishing Shot: 28 DAYS LATER DESERTED BRIDGE FILM LOCATION

The Establishing Shot: Notting Hill Film Location

Notting Hill Film LocationBeing obsessed with film, everything film related especially the more tactile aspects of filmmaking - I have loads of film related trivia to offer that will be of interest. One of my low maintenance hopefully high interest ideas is Friday Film Location. Every Friday I am going to put the spotlight on a location used in a film.

For the premiere Friday Film Location post I'm playing it slightly low key and bringing you a much loved local London location. This location has many, many fans and seems particulary popular with Japanese fans, or so my Flickr stats tell me.

Notting Hill Film LocationCan the most famous film star in the world fall for just an ordinary guy?

Notting Hill is a classic; boy meets vey famous girl and romance kind of follows. It's probably one of the most liked romantic films of the 90s. Notting Hill is the highest grossing British film yet released.

One of the characters in the film is Will's house at 280 Westbourne Park Rd which plays a pivotal role in Will & Anna's relationship. Many recognise the Blue Door as the entrace to Will's house. As seen in the scene where Spike is papped outside the door in his underwear.

The house behind the door is actually not used in the film and the house we see on screen is writer Richard Curtis's home.

The door has subsequently been sold to deter fans (and others) from mobbing or damaging it. The new door has been painted black and the entrance is no longer blue but cream.




Notting Hill Film LocationNotting Hill Film Location

Where:
280 Westbourne Park Rd, London, W11


Notting Hill Film Location
Director: Roger Michell
Writer: Richard Curtis
Stars: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Richard McCabe, Rhys Ifans, Dylan Moran

Upcoming: Preview of Big River Man and Q&A session with the Big River Man himself, in London


This formidable documentary follows overweight, middle-aged, alcoholic Slovenian daredevil environmentalist Martin Strel on a journey down the Amazon. Facing crocodiles, toxic waste, whirlpools, giant anacondas and piranhas, Strel attempts to swim the length of the mighty river, a seemingly impossible challenge that John Maringouin (director of a coruscating 2006 documentary about his father, Running Stumbled) captures in vivid style.

Preview Wednesday 2 September with a Q&A session featuring Martin Strel.




Preview of Big River Man and Q&A
Wednesday 2 September 2009 at 6:30pm
ICA Institute of Contemporary Arts
12 Carlton House Terrace
London, England SW1Y 5AH

Upcoming: Stephen Fry talks about his travels to America at the V&A, London


A conversation with the celebrated author, wit and comic genius Stephen Fry about his long-held fascination with America and its people, cultures, and landscapes. Questions cover some of the high points of the recent epic journey in which he travelled across 50 states in a black cab and explore a country that is at times magnificent, eccentric, beautiful and strange. The event coincides with the publication of his new book, Stephen Fry in America (HarperCollins 2008) and the television series of the same name.


Our Friday night Lecture Theatre programme features big names from the world of design, art and culture. All talks take place in the Lecture Theatre from 19.00-20.00 unless otherwise stated.

Stephen Fry - In America
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Lecture Theatre
19.00-20.00

Churros y chocolate (Mexican doughnuts & Chocolate) Wahaca, Covent Garden, London

Churros y chocolate Mexican doughnuts with a
rich chocolate sauce.

Daniel De-foe's grave, Bunhill Fields Cemetery, London

Daniel De-foe's grave, Bunhill Fields Cemetery, London.
“'Tis no sin to cheat the devil” - Daniel De-foe

Daniel Defoe (1659 — April 24, 1731)was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest practitioners of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain, and is even referred to by some as one of the founders of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote more than five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). He was also a pioneer of economic journalism.

William Blake's grave, Bunhill Fields Cemetery, London

William Blake's grave, Bunhill Fields Cemetery, London.
If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite.

William Blake was a poet, painter, visionary mystic, and engraver. During his life the prophetic message of his writings were understood by few and misunderstood by many. However Blake is now widely admired for his soulful originality and lofty imagination. The poetry of William Blake is far reaching in its scope and range of experience. The poems of William Blake can offer a profound symbolism and also a delightful childlike innocence. Whatever the inner meaning of Blake's poetry we can easily appreciate the beautiful language and lyrical quality of his poetic vision.

London Eye, Waterloo, London

The London Eye (Millenium Wheel)

The London Eye (Millenium Wheel) at a height of 135 metres (443 ft) [1], is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3 million people a year.[2]

At the time it was erected it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165m) on February 11, 2008. However, it is still described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (because the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only).[3]

Shell Mex House, 80 Strand, London

Shell-Mex House 80 Strand
Shell Mex House is at 80, Strand, London, UK. Broadly speaking in an Art Deco style, it was designed by Ernest Joseph, a Jewish architect who was a leading designer of synagogues, including the Art Deco-style synagogue at Sheepcote Street, Birmingham, and the classical-style synagogue in St. John's Wood Road, London (of which only the facade remains).

The current building was completed in 1930–31 on the site of the Cecil Hotel (so called because it was built on the site of Cecil House), and stands between the Adelphi Terrace and the Savoy Hotel.

Standing 58 m (190 ft) tall, with 537,000 sq ft (49,900 m2) of floor space, Shell Mex House has 12 floors (plus basement and sub-basement) and is immediately recognizable from the River Thames and the South Bank by the clock tower positioned on the south side of the building (flanked by two large, hieratic figures at the south corners). In the words of architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner, the building "is thoroughly unsubtle, but succeeds in holding its own in London's river front."

The Crypt, Holborn Circus, London

The Crypt, Holborn Circus, London

The sense of history lies heavy in the Crypt of St. Etheldreda's. Its foundations date back to the 6th Century; its rough stone walls, eight foot thick in parts, and its heavy blackened beams to the 12th Century when Ely Palace was constructed above The Crypt by the Bishops of Ely in Cambridgeshire as their London bishopric.

In 1531 Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon hosted a Grand Celebration in The Crypt which lasted for five full days and nights. They feasted on swans, stuffed with larks stuffed with sparrows.

The Crypt, Holborn Circus, London

The Crypt, Holborn Circus, London

With its History of Celebration and Celebration of History, the 600 year-old Crypt in Ely Place has been hosting celebrity parties ever since King Henry V111 held his three day wedding feast there in 1531. Adjoining Bleeding Heart Yard, the magical medieval Crypt, which can seat up to 130 for dinner, offers the same superb food, wine and service as the legendary Bleeding Heart restaurant.
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