NEWS 12.26.07

Holiday Movies Feature Shining Locations  

Several of this year’s holiday movies don’t just feature shining stars but also shining locations. Among them are The Pursuit of Happyness filmed in San Francisco and Rocky Balboa which continues Rocky’s saga in Philly. Our favorite, The Holiday was filmed in Surrey England.

 

 

A New Guide to Filming Locations

Borys Kit sums up on location filming in ‘06 for The Hollywood Reporter. From filming in Africa to three new guides of popular filming locations, Kit looks back at where movies were made this year.

NEWS 12.18.06

 Most Travel Inspiring Movies

Budget Travel has released this year’s top ten most travel inspiring movies. Check it out and see if your favorite made the cut.

 Liman Filming at the Colosseum

Director Doug Liman recently finished filming scenes for his new movie Jumper at the Colosseum. As Peter Kiefer explains, this is a rare honor for any filmmaker.

Holiday Movie Guide

If you weren’t able to take our “Holly Jolly Road Trip” check out Tivo’s guide to classic holiday movies for a cinematic escape.

NYC Filming Update

In New York City news, the drama The Girl in the Park, starring Kate Bosworth, is continuing filming in Central Park this week.

OLV Road Trip: Holly Jolly Road Trip

Christmas is a hectic time for everyone. Our Holly Jolly Road Trip lets you get away while still enjoying the season. This trip starts in Cleveland, OH, the real home of A Christmas Story. The house used in the film is now open for tours and after a tour you can stop by Higbee’s Department Store to say hello to Santa. There is  plenty to do  in the Cleveland area during the holiday season, check it out here.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is not only the setting for the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street but also an unforgettable experience everyone should have. If you decide to go to the parade remember to get there early and don’t forget your mittens, it is New York in November after all. If Thanksgiving is a little too soon to start your Holly Jolly Road Trip there is plenty to do in the Big Apple throughout the holiday season. Check out the windows at Macy’s, see the Rockettes, or watch the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center. New York is magical at Christmastime and you don’t want to miss a thing!

One snag in planning a great holiday movie road trip is that many of these classic films were made on studio stages, not actually on location. We try to capture the same cozy atmosphere of New England in winter that we feel when watching Holiday Inn, White Christmas, and Christmas in Connecticut by exploring two different inn tours that capture exactly what we are looking for, snow on the window, a cozy fire, and plenty of treats! The Inn to Inn Cookie Tour in New Hampshire is just as it sounds, quaint and delicious, a great way to kick off your holiday season. Seventeen local Inns in the Mount Washington Valley provide sweet treats to sample. You do not have to stay at one of the inns but if you do your pass for the tour is free.

The Holiday Inns Tour is another way to experience a bit of New England holiday charm. This tour offers refreshments at eight historic inns in Southern Vermont. This holiday road trip is a great getaway for couples, families, or singles, to enjoy the holidays without the hustle and bustle.

Here is a link for directions. Happy Road Tripping and Happy Holidays from all of us at On Locations Vacations!

Featured Essay, Set-Jetting

 Set-Jetting Takes Off

 by Christine Bord

Perform a search for the phrase ’set-jetters’ in Google and you will receive about 19,000 results. Not bad for a relatively new term. A set-jetter is someone who travels to a location because it has been featured  in a movie, TV show, or novel they enjoy.

Movies do have a way of making places that are already stunning seem magical. Last week I went to see the movie A Good Year starring Russell Crowe which was filmed in the south of France. Thinking about the movie now, all I can picture is that beautiful countryside. I catch my self daydreaming in my cubicle about riding a bike over those country roads with a basket full of flowers or watching the sunset over acres of grape vines. How wonderful it would be to escape to that fantasy.

As travel becomes more accessible and information more viable travel to these locations is on the rise. Tourism to New Zealand has increased 50% since the release of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy which was made in the country. In the U.S. this phenomenon took off after the movie Sideways was nominated for several academy awards and became a commercial success. The movie,which was filmed in the wine country around Santa Barbara, CA, helped wineries featured in the film see a 42% increase in business after the film’s release.

I know I have been drawn to locations in the past because of their starring roles in movies. Take a trip I took to the south a few years ago. I knew it wouldn’t have been complete without a stop in Savannah, GA. After seeing Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil the city was put on my radar and I am grateful, since I had a wonderful time. The city is grateful too. Tourism there has certainly expanded since the popularity of the film. Every tourist shop and convenience store sells copies of both the book and the movie, postcards featuring the most popular locations in the film, and guide books to help you find them. Why are we so captivated by these locations?

In most news articles this set-jetting movement is chalked up to celebrity obsession. Though this may be true in some cases, I think it is about something more.

The best part of the best films is the ability to take the audience somewhere else, to live out a fantasy, connect with someone, be scared, be restless, or be moved. They are pure magic and since movies are so magical, maybe we are just trying to catch our own lighting in a bottle? Like my fantasy of A Good Year, I want to capture the magic and romance of the south of France!

A few popular Sociologists compare movies to religion; particularly the similarities of ritual and the community felt when we become part of the collective audience. Some even look at movies as the source that teaches us right from wrong, shows us how to live, and reinforces our values. If this is true that film functions like religion, maybe set-jetting is our pilgrimage to a pop culture Mecca?

I don’t know for sure what it is that keeps me or any other set-jetter traveling from movie location to movie location but it has been a wonderful way, or wonderful excuse, to see the world. Set-jetters also bring tourism dollars to places that may not have made it on to anyone’s travel itinerary without the movies that feature them. To me this is a win-win no matter what the reason.