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The Oscar Awards ceremony is tomorrow so you may be busy catching up on the nominated movies. As you watch a movie you may have wondered where the story was actually filmed. Often a quick Internet search to a site such as IMDB will give you the location of where a movie was filmed.
But what about the reverse? What if you visit a place that seems familiar and you want to know if a movie was ever filmed there?
Edmund Helmer, a statistics masters student at Stanford Univeristy wondered exactly that, plus some. He spent hours tracking down movie locations for films in the past 100 years on IMDB and then plotted them on Google Maps. You can search his map here: BoxOfficeQuant 100 Years of Movie Locations.
Warning: This site is addictive. Leave plenty of time to peruse your favorite places.
Helmer’s map includes the top 2001 movies on IMDB from 100 years (1910-2010) in 9736 locations. While some locations are general, such as Iceland or the State of Florida, others are quite specific. In some cases, Helmer tells you the street, building and scene where a scene was filmed.
A visit to London on the map shows a high concentration of movies filmed in the area. Fans of Harry Potter, James Bond, Rocky Horror, The Social Network, Austin Powers and many other films will have fun exploring the English countryside peppered with dots.
Anyone who has ever seen the movies Rocky or Philadelphia knows that the City of Brotherly Love is the home to many movie locations. M. Night Shyamalan, a resident of the Philadelphia area, has shot movies such as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Village, and Signs in the area. But you may surprised to learn that Dead Poet’s Society, Jersey Girl, Marley and Me, and Lovely Bones were filmed in the region as well.
Before you head out on your next vacation, check the map to see if you can find any movie locations at your destination. Who knows? The hotel where you’re staying may be the location of one of your favorite movies!
So if you’re interested in movie locations, have a look at this site. If you start now, you may or may not be able to pull yourself away in time for the Oscars!
Do you enjoy knowing where movies were filmed? Do you live near a famous movie location? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Sounds wonderful Carolyn!
Truly unbelievable and addictive, just as you said 🙂
Ever since I read about it, I am just busy spotting the places and viewing which movie was created there! Nice that someone thought of making this up, though must have taken a lot of time getting down to it 🙂
And yes, the weekends kept away for the Oscars, something I never miss 🙂
Enjoy your weekend watching it too 🙂
Hi Harleena, I know, I’m finding the map very addictive as well. It wasn’t easy to write about two addictive sites in one week!
The place I found particularly amazing was Iceland. I didn’t realize that so many movies were filmed there.
I love the Oscars too, though I haven’t seen most of the movies this year. It’s still a fun show! 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
You’ve seen my photos so it will be no surprise that no movie has ever been made any where near here! There was a film made about the town once; that was depressing. Check the second sentence in this post, you might like to add ‘have wondered’ to it. I can spot other people’s errors but not my own! I would make a good editor!
I took a few photos for a blog yesterday and they were dark and dismal. I have sunshine today and need to stay in; always the same! My new site is improving slowly and I’m posting blogs, there is still some work to do on it.
I wonder if I can write a film script. I know all the local locations for filming. I’ll set an adventure film on the canals! 🙂
Hi Mike, You’re right, good catch! I have edited it to fix my error. I’m the same way, blind to my own faults I guess! 🙂
I liked the photo on your post today. May sure you check out my Pinsanity post. You and Pinterest were made for each other!
I was disappointed to see that the location of Midnight in Paris was missed in Paris at St Etienne du Mont, rue de la Montagne Geneviève.
Bonjour Michael, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Midnight in Paris was my favorite film this past year. Thank you for letting us know where it was filmed.
Unfortunately, this map only covers the top 2001 movies for the 100 year period from 1910 to 2010. I hope Helmer updates it each year because the information is fascinating!
Here is a complete list of filming locations for Midnight in Paris from IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/locations
Very cool Carolyn! That guy had a lot of time on his hands 🙂
Hi Ruth, I wondered about that too. He’s a Masters student at Stanford University, so I would think he’s be too busy for a project like this. I guess when you find your passion you make time for it! 🙂
This iste is more than addictive! I have been to it earlier and was surprised by how much time I actually ended up wasting over there! And finding out each and every movie location… maybe the movie obsession of mine found another outlet!
I live near Dubai and a lot of movies were filmed here; Sex and the City, Mission Impossible -4 are most famous right now!
Loved this post Carolyn; you just can’t imagine what a huge movie buff I am!
Hi Hajra, I can see why a lot of movies were filmed in Dubai. There are so many beautiful locations for a movie scene. I was surprised to see The Exorcist was filmed in Iraq. I wouldn’t have guessed that.
I am spending way too much time on this map today! :-O
Wow, Carolyn, I can hardly believe it’s Oscar-time again! My oh my, it seems like not so long ago we were getting ready for last year’s Oscar events!
I guess that what they say about time flying when you’re having fun is surely the truth! 😉
I’m a bit of a Cineaste myself. I love love love a good movie. For awhile I have enjoyed IMDB to learn about movies and so forth, but I’ve never encountered this movie map til today! What a neat find!
Cat
Hi Cat, You’re really going to love this map. Between this map and Pinterest, I’m surprised I got anything done this week. I keep investigating different locations. I’m surprised at each one I find and the movies that were filmed there!
Have fun exploring! 🙂
Wow, Edmund must have spent many hours on his PC!
Hi Eleni, Yes, that project took him quite a while. Would it be too selfish of us to hope that he updates the map each year? 🙂
Well, I think he already went through the difficult part — adding some dozens movies each year is much less work, and it would contribute to an even better reputation for the site. “Nice site, but a little obsolete” is not such a good critique to get, right? 😉
Good news! I just received an email from him thanking me for this article. I will respond asking him about his plans for an update and will post it here.
That’s pretty cool Carolyn.
When my sister was in college there was a movie filmed there. She was actually dating the stunt car driver so we got exclusive passes on the set and got to watch a few of the scenes taped up close.
Timothy Bottoms was one of the lead actors in that movie although not a top notch one. The name of the female lead has now slipped my mind. Oh heck, that was only 27 years ago! It sure was fun though.
Might have to play around with this one. Thanks for sharing. Will come in handy for all those movie lovers out there.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, That’s a very cool brush with fame. It must have been a lot of fun to have that kind of access and then to see the movie on the big screen later! 🙂
Carolyn, aloha. Living in Hawaii for as long as I have, I have been around where many a film or series was filmed. Some locations in Hawaii are so spectacular that they appear in many films.
Off to share this site with all my move loving friends. Enjoy the Oscars. Until next week, aloha. Janet
Hi Janet, I thought of you when I wrote this article. Living in paradise must mean you are seeing film crews constantly for movies and TV shows. Is it exciting for you to see a movie set or is it annoying by now?
Thanks so much for sharing, Janet!
Carolyn, aloha. After so many years of seeing both movies and series being filmed over here, I must admit the novelty has worn off.
The only time it annoys me is if I don’t realize they will be shooting in a certain area and I get “stuck” either in traffic or from where I want to go.
Minor annoyances are a small trade off for what the movie industry does for the Hawaii economy–with production and employment as well as all the people who visit as a result of seeing Hawaii’s beauty.
Hi Janet, It sounds as if you take it all in stride, which is a good thing. I imagine the movie and television industry is a great boost to the economy in Hawaii which helps people accept disruptions due to filming schedules. The cast and crew must hate to leave when filming is over!
I just saw Journey 2 this weekend with my girls and recognized your beautiful state as the setting. 🙂
Wow. This looks awesome. And it reminds me of the time when I was in New York and I saw a lot of people on what looked like a movie set. And I asked a guy. He said it was a movie with Robert De Niro, I believe it was called 15 minutes or something similar. What we should get as well, is a map of the movies being recorded right now, so we can visit the movie sets. Do you know if this service will do that too?
Hi Jens, Yes, when I was living in New York I constantly ran into movies, TV shows and music videos being filmed. It happened quite a bit in London too.
Great question about current movie locations. Here is a site you will enjoy: On Location Vacations Daily Filming Locations. http://www.onlocationvacations.com/category/daily-filming-locations/ Not only does this site list filming locations, it also provides notices of Extras being needed at the locations. You can follow them on Twitter @olv.
Let us know if you’ll be starring in a movie soon, Jens! (*)
That’s very interesting, and I’ll keep you posted about me starring in a movie 🙂
I would probably be the worst actor ever 🙂
Positive attitude, Jens. Positive attitude. :-bd
Parts of Edward Scissorhands was filmed in Lakeland, Fl. I watched the movie just to see the recognizable locations. This is pretty cool, huh?
You are so smart………..:)
I’ll have to watch Edward Scissorhands again, it would be awesome to see where you live.
I’m wondering if Bill has maintained the proper pruning on his shrubbery since the camera crew left. 😕
Hey Bill, When I saw Edward Scissorhands I knew it had to have been filmed in Tampa because of the light. That part of Florida has very distinctive light.
Did you recognize any of the locations, Bill? You would have made a good Extra in the film. 🙂
Hi Carolyn
That is very cool. I am already pretty addictive to IMDB already, but know I have another movie site where I can spend a lot of time, thanks kind of 😉 I even found a couple of Danish location on the map. I am so going to share this post.
Hi Thomas, I agree with you, this site is very cool. I didn’t check Denmark, but I’m not surprised there have been movies filmed there, it’s such a beautiful country!
Thanks so much for sharing this article, Thomas!
This is something that I always wonder when I am watching movies, I am always thinking it looks like a place I lived or where I grew up. It’s nice to know that there is a way to find out!
Hi Chris, I’m glad I’m not the only one who has wondered this. When I lived in England, I would often visit charming villages and think that they looked like a place in a movie. I wish I had known about this site then. I hope you have fun exploring!
What a great idea! I come from London and I love to watch movies that feature the sights that I see all the time. I used to work near Tower Bridge and that seems to be in so many British movies, makes me feel at home.
I have also wanted to travel to New Zealand after finding out that the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed there. Beautiful scenery and landscapes, I have to visit.
Hi Matt, You will really love this site living in London. You’ll have to zoom in quite a bit as London is covered with filming location dots. I wish I knew about this site when I lived there as it’s fun to know which movies were filmed at the various locations in the area.
New Zealand would be a wonderful place to visit. I hope you get to go soon! 🙂