Written by new-contact on Feb 10, 2012. Posted in General Interest

Editor’s Weekly

It’s been a busy week for ads and we’ve covered spots filmed in Iceland, Buenos Aires and California. A popular TV story has been news that the BBC will be filming a new period drama in Dublin, doubling the city for the East End of London in the late 19th Century. In the real London there’s the popular filming estate that’s less enthusiastic about its screen image.

We begin in Iceland, where Honda has filmed its new Spark commercial. This is a strange one because although the landscapes used in the spot are eye-catching they’re also pretty anonymous and the whole thing looks like it’s been graded to look darker than it was; Iceland’s distinctive black sand beaches aren’t as striking as they could be. On the flip side, the behind-the-scenes stills photos are spectacular. Clearly the emphasis is on the spark rather than the landscape, but it’s a shame that the full impact of the location has been muted.

Honda's Spark is a strange case because although the landscapes used in the spot are eye-catching they’re also pretty anonymous and the whole thing looks like it’s been graded to look darker than it was.

Buenos Aires is of course a popular filming city and it’s been used as a generic metropolis for Axe’s latest spot. It’s an ambitious piece of work with a lot - almost too much - going on, including colliding vehicles, vandalised landmarks and burning clowns.

In a sense it’s a shame Buenos Aires isn’t allowed to play more of a starring role - it’s very much a background entity that looks a bit like New York in some shots - but in a broad trend advertisers seem reluctant to use the city as itself when the spot’s playing internationally. Do they think North American and European audiences will find it harder to connect to a story set in a South American city? That’s the indication at the moment, so it’ll be interesting to see if the city’s use changes with time.

Moving up to North America and MINI’s latest viral was filmed in Los Angeles and the nearby Cuddeback Dry Lake. It’s a fun spot with a nice sense of humour, although the inventiveness of the campaign’s origins masks a fairly run-of-the-mill filming location in the dry lake bed.

Do advertisers think North American and European audiences will find it harder to connect to a story set in a South American city? That’s the indication at the moment, so it’ll be interesting to see if the use of Buenos Aires changes with time.

The reality is that there aren’t too many ways to make an impression with a car commercial. If you want the product travelling at speed against a nice backdrop it pretty much has to be either a frozen lake or a desert, as they’re the only locations that offer the space and control you need. Urban locations get complicated with permitting and street closures and so they tend to involve a more creative element and faster cutting, all of which creates more logistical challenges. Still, it’s a decent effort from MINI.

Back across the Atlantic and one of our popular stories has been news that Dublin will be standing in for 1880s London in a new period BBC drama set in the aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders. Ireland’s buzzing at the moment and it’ll be interesting to see whether other productions follow the BBC’s lead in the next few months. Dublin could be a particular appeal this year for producers with a period project looking to avoid Olympics mayhem in London.

The reality is that there aren’t too many ways to make an impression with a car commercial. If you want the product travelling at speed against a nice backdrop it pretty much has to be either a frozen lake or a desert.

Speaking of London, two council estates in the south of the city are turning their noses up at filming projects. The Heygate and Aylesbury Estates are popular filming spots, but they’re favoured by crime dramas that don’t exactly glamorise local life and they’re concerned about their image.

The estates are mainly used for British TV drama, but it seems they might make exceptions for high-profile projects that deliver large cash injections; World War Z recently doubled them for Philadelphia project housing. Still, the whole thing adds fuel to the debate about the portrayal of public spaces and how the screen image affects the people who actually live there.

Also this week we spoke to Tobi Lampard of SaskFilm about location filming in Saskatchewan, Canada, while Location Manager Campbell Mclean talked to us about filming on Macau in south-east China. We chatted to Czech Film Commissioner Ludmila Claussova and Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante gave us a behind-the-scenes view on an ambitious Stink shoot in Malta.

The Heygate and Aylesbury Estates in London are popular filming spots, but they’re favoured by crime dramas that don’t exactly glamorise local life and they’re concerned about their image.

As always, The Location Guide’s Film-Friendly Locations database continues to grow. This week we added Cheltenham Racecourse near Birmingham in the UK, which offers full conference facilities, an auditorium and 12,000 free parking spaces among its facilities.

If you manage a building or a location that you think qualifies as film-friendly, or you’ve filmed somewhere recently that you think should be listed on our website, please contact Ewa.

If you’ve got some great location filming stories to share and you’d like to be part of our profile section, or you have an idea for an article please contact Murray.

If you've been working on location anywhere in the world and you're looking for some press coverage, please contact Nick. We’d all be happy to hear from you.