Setting the Scene...

Here's some serendipity for you. A few months ago, my brother messaged, 'You'd really like Bruges, Nicky.' (He was in Bruges at the time.) Out of mild curiosity, I idled over to the Eurostar website, just to see the logistics of getting there at some point. Can you believe? It was only the last day of a Eurostar sale, with slashed prices and top notch deals. I booked a return train there and then. Bruges, here I come!

Actually, that should read, Bruges, here I came! Because, just to make clear, I'm currently in Bruges. Yes, like the film!

Obviously I watched In Bruges during the week. This time, the hitman plot, and cat and mouse storyline didn't resonate as much as the 'ooh that's the square near our hotel' type comments. Regardless it was marvellous and reminded me how much I love a movie location. Because I really do, you see. Often, the reason I'm drawn to a story is its setting. Think Ferness in Local Hero, Vienna in Before Sunrise, or Boston in Spotlight. The place is part of the story. Whether it's fictional or geographically authentic, the setting of a movie can be just as thrilling as the plot.

The Man With The Golden Gun 
in Thailand

It was different in the past. If you watched a film, and wanted to know what the location was like, you had to visit that location. As most people couldn't do that, film locations seemed glamorous and aspirational. Viewers travelled vicariously through the cinema screen and saw far away places around the world. Think James Bond. Tropical paradise or snowy mountainous terrain - all elitist and fancy pants. 

I understand the thrill of seeing somewhere exciting and unreachable. I'm just more about the everyday. The fact a movie has been filmed in a particular location, automatically elevates that place as exciting. Every time I watch a film or TV drama, I'm straight onto IMDB afterwards, looking up the town it was filmed. Then I'm dragging the yellow Google figure about the map, trying to find the same roads and buildings that I've seen on screen. 

Slough House
from my very own Google Maps

It's easy with Bruges. There are obvious landmarks that make it easy to recognise . In fact, I walked past the Belfort (the tower that features in the climax of In Bruges) about an hour ago. What's less obvious is when a place contains no landmarks; when the streets and houses are commonplace and standard. They're harder to find on the map but just as interesting. That they've been used to tell a story I've enjoyed, makes them worth looking up. I'm thinking the residential Chicago street in Home Alone, or even scruffy Slough House in Slow Horses. 

That's all well and good for films already in existence. What about stories that remain on the page? With the Leeza McAuliffe Stories, I've created my own location. The setting is the fictional Cumbrian village of Applemere Bridge. I've visited several Cumbrian villages in my life, but they're mostly the touristy ones in the Lake District. Applemere Bridge isn't like that. It's decidedly non-touristy with no landmarks to make it recognisable on a map. And yet! It's home to the twists and turns of three books* of Leeza's life. The mini supermarket, the pub, the country lane that becomes the high street, the bus stop, the new estate... these are the backdrops of Leeza's story. They're the backdrops to the action. I can picture the place so clearly in my head, it's frustrating not be able to look it up online.

Shap - small, just off
the motorway and one
main through road.

This train of thought always leads to the same place. Where would the dramatisation of Leeza McAuliffe be filmed? OBVIOUSLY I've thought about it. In the end, I think it'd end up being a Local Hero sitch. Did you know, the town of Furness depicted in the film is a composite of two separate places? You get the beach in one location and the town in the other. Maybe that's what would happen for Applemere. There's a small town called Shap, that I've loosely had in my head - you may have seen it mentioned in the UK news last week when there was a train detrainment? That was the starting point for my fictional village. But my head has embellished it repeatedly, so now it bears no resemblance. 

I suppose the good news is, this isn't a problem I need to ponder. Mainly because there's no film on the cards. Also, if one were planned, a location scout would be deployed. I can rest easy and stop thinking about towns and settings and locations.  Yet that's the hook for me. The hook for a good story. Can I picture the place it's set? Do I want to visit? Do I feel I HAVE visited through the ups and downs of the narrative? Maybe it's just me, and everyone else watches a film and forgets about it. All valid thoughts to ponder. Meanwhile, I'm off out to explore a bit more Bruges. Hopefully avoiding the hitmen and gangsters that brought this place to life for me, years ago.

Have a lovely week, folks.

*For clarity, two books are published, one's coming soon.