SCOTLAND FILM LOCATIONS / AUTHOR: PHOEBE TAPLIN / PUBLISHER: PITKIN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
While it might not be every film fan’s idea of a perfect day out, many movie aficionados relish the chance to visit the real-life locations in which big-screen blockbusters or small-screen classics were staged and shot. For certain franchises, such as Lord of the Rings (New Zealand) or Game of Thrones (Northern Ireland), a tourist industry has sprung up to satisfy (and profit from) fans’ desire to wander through and photograph the places where screen magic was captured.
When publishers produce guides to filming locations, these tend to fall into one of two categories. The first offers a broad sweep through the environs selected by the location manager and director, illustrated with shots of the actual sites and punctuated with stills and posters from the production. These give the reader a flavour of the setting and some good hints about the necessary direction of travel for anyone wanting to get more specific.
The second type offers a much more detailed forensic breakdown of the locations, pinpointing places and camera positions, often with annotated maps, and providing guidance on how best to approximate the in-screen images captured by the production. Guidebooks for the dedicated location seeker, these in-the-field walkthroughs usually cannot afford the cost of licensed illustrations (or full colour printing, for that matter).
Scotland Film Locations is a clear example of the first kind. It’s a glossy, handy-sized whistle-stop guide to some of the more widely known film and TV filming locations across Scotland concentrating on the last few decades.
Contents are organised by geographic region, with each section offering a (very) short description of the locations used in films such as the Harry Potter and James Bond franchises, and cinema offerings such as Trainspotting, Highlander, Gregory’s Girl and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and TV shows including Monarch of the Glen, Outlander and Balamory. A useful list of the websites for many of the locations is included at the back, to help visitors plan their trips.
It’s a hugely selective presentation, and publishers Pitkin clearly intend that this booklet will sit on the shelves of Tourist Information Offices to attract the interest of those travelling through Scotland, rather than sell to the hardcore film and TV aficionado.
Few would-be readers picking up a slim 44-page booklet, in which photographs take preference over text, will expect more than Scotland on Film delivers. It won’t be the companion that directs you to the exact spot the cameras recorded the cinematic sequence you’ve often wondered about visiting; but it might kickstart a tour simply by the act of confirming the filming locations that can be found in close proximity to one another – beginning in the Highlands and Islands, moving down through Central and Eastern Scotland, and finishing up on the streets of the twin cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
