It’s not every day you have the Infinity War playing out in your own backyard. Here in Edinburgh that’s exactly what’s happening as Marvel shoots key scenes from Avengers: Infinity War in Scotland’s capital city.
This normally does not happen. Edinburgh is hundreds of years old. Parts of Edinburgh, the parts you’d like to film, are many hundreds of years old. It’s not easy getting permits, getting filming crews into narrow closes (streets) or even persuading superstars to put up with the Scottish weather (it’s not that bad!).
As a result local social media fills up with clips of the film being shot.
It’s interesting. The habit seems to find a location and build something entirely new in it. That Husnu pizza place doesn’t exist. Marvel simply took control of Miss Katie Cupcake on Cockburn Street – I’m sure that cost – and turned it into a pizza takeout for the movie.
There’s also the chance of all sorts of weird snaps of the movie stars themselves. The following shows Elizabeth Olsen who plays the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) clutching a polka dot hot water bottle!
https://twitter.com/OlsenArchives/status/849528511039713281
While quirky photographs are great there’s always the risk of spoilers – carefully avoided here – and the traffic chaos that large scenes can bring to the city.
The experience of having an Infinity War in my city has led me to believe it would be much better to visit a real life set once the cast and crew are long gone. I’m not alone, there’s a whole industry which caters to trips like this and Dealchecker recently published a map of some of the more popular locations and famous shows.
There’s a reason why movie and TV production companies go to the bother of finding the perfect set. They can be gorgeous or atmospheric, just look at shows like Game of Thrones, or they can be both accessible and iconic as some of the new Sherlock locations are. Either way I can understand why fans would travel just to see them and I can certainly see why holiday makers in the area anyway would put them on the to-do list.
It may just be that we see fewer and fewer big locations used in blockbusters. This will make moments like Edinburgh appearing in the Avengers even rarer. We have the growth of computer animation which, eventually, will be better and cheaper than using the real thing for production companies.
Until then there’s always the chance of bumping into a Vision on your way to the shops and always the opportunity of booking a holiday to a dragon’s playground or alien battle site.
Sponsored Post: Opinions, experiences and typos remain mine. All money from sponsors goes to into the blackhole of hosting costs.
