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Post-apocalyptic locations


Ruairi Robinson

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Well last year walking around the 9th Ward in New Orleans LA I felt like I was in a post-apocalyptic wasteland...

I heard it's still pretty messed up...maybe you can shoot down there.

 

Although it's very sad when you realize these were people homes...

& it's been 3 years since the flood & hurricane and that area is still not recovered.

Edited by Rik Andino
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Well last year walking around the 9th Ward in New Orleans LA I felt like I was in a post-apocalyptic wasteland...

I heard it's still pretty messed up...maybe you can shoot down there.

 

Although it's very sad when you realize these were people homes...

& it's been 3 years since the flood & hurricane and that area is still not recovered.

 

 

I guess the idea of shooting in New Orleans for something like this seems kind of exploitative and tacky... (though there is the argument that it could help bring money into the area)

 

I heard there was a low budget zombie/mutant movie being shot near Chernobyl - any truth in this? Just how safe is that area now?

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> You mean the kind of place that could double as several other planets on British sci-fi tv shows?

 

One of the writers (I believe) of Red Dwarf is on record as saying something along the lines of: "Nobody in the UK likes shooting sci-fi because you always end up in a gravel pit in Wales pretending it's the planet Qwarkzeegle XVII"

 

This is something I've always found interesting, because if you watch (for instance) Star Trek, their alien worlds tend to have a dusty, scrubby sort of look which seems amazingly exotic and high-production-value when you sit here in the UK and watch it, but I should imagine looks a good bit less convincing to inhabitants of sothern California.

 

Phil

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That island looks amazing. Do you know what it was used for & why it was abandoned?

There were this coal mine that was abandoned when coal became obsolete as oil took over as the engery source.

 

another gallery

 

EDIT:

I think Battle Royale 2 was set there, havn't seen it yet though.

Edited by klas persson
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> You mean the kind of place that could double as several other planets on British sci-fi tv shows?

 

One of the writers (I believe) of Red Dwarf is on record as saying something along the lines of: "Nobody in the UK likes shooting sci-fi because you always end up in a gravel pit in Wales pretending it's the planet Qwarkzeegle XVII"

 

This is something I've always found interesting, because if you watch (for instance) Star Trek, their alien worlds tend to have a dusty, scrubby sort of look which seems amazingly exotic and high-production-value when you sit here in the UK and watch it, but I should imagine looks a good bit less convincing to inhabitants of sothern California.

 

Phil

 

 

Hello Phil,

 

Check out "Queen of Outer Space". The Star Trek look is right out of the movie.

 

Queen of Outer Space

 

Cheers,

Marc

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There's also a great location in Barstow, CA that has had a long history. 50 yrs ago it was an airfield, then 20 yrs later it was turned into an antenna base. Now, everything has been stripped and left are cinder block buildings and concrete pilings covered in graffiti. The antenna base was built up on a hill so there's a great "underground" area with dilapidated structures and more graffiti.

 

Here are some pictures from a scout I did for a music video:

 

dsc0081de3.jpg

 

dsc0109yw6.jpg

 

dsc0090ue4.jpg

 

copyofdsc0094ck1.jpg

 

And the final product:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X81ttCDTHu8

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A friend just got back from Khazakstan, and the ukraine, He was telling me there were towns that were cold war era manufacturing that are abandoned. He had some photos of a high rise that was totally empty but some deer.

 

I gaffed a post-apocalyptic feature in Huntsville. www.likemoleslikerats.com check it out. We shot in caves, an old quarry, an old Hydraulic power station, and an overpass. Our Digital effects guy has been adding digital mattes to cover the skylines in some shots.

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You could easily shoot in Afghanistan, unless the picture has a lot of sex or something. There are neighborhoods like Khosh al Khan Mina near Kabul that are totally bombed out like you are talking about. They'd be happy to welcome a production, especially if you employed some locals and spread some money around to local shopkeepers and business people, etc... most Afghans only make $2 a day, so you could have a huge "crew" no problem :)

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You could easily shoot in Afghanistan, unless the picture has a lot of sex or something. There are neighborhoods like Khosh al Khan Mina near Kabul that are totally bombed out like you are talking about. They'd be happy to welcome a production, especially if you employed some locals and spread some money around to local shopkeepers and business people, etc... most Afghans only make $2 a day, so you could have a huge "crew" no problem :)

 

Try and get insurance to cover that...

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Hey - got a question. If one was to shoot a post apocalyptic movie, and imagine for a moment our budget is unlimited (hah!), where on the world are the most stunning, desolate, post-apocalytic locations imaginable? Ruined towns or cityscapes, destruction everywhere. (or at least enough to work with that you can augment the rest with CG)

 

I'd say Afghanistan (particularly since the light there is so stunning) but obviously you could never shoot there.

 

Suggestions welcome!

 

Cheers,

Ruairí Robinson

 

 

Hello Ruairi,

 

If you are relocating to LA "soonish" the entire southwest US offers virtually limitless locations that would fulfill your needs.

 

You will be close to experienced crew, all the rental gear you can imagine, as well as a multitude of labs and post facilities.

 

Good Luck!

 

Cheers,

Marc

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  • 5 months later...

Sorry for bringing up a dead topic but apropos Chernobyl, I shot part of a film there recently. We were looking for the exact some thing, a post-apocalyptic type city, and Pripyat certainly works, although Soviet-style towns that were built in the 70s and 80s from scratch are a bit odd in that when they're empty they seem more like full-scale model cities than actual real organic cities. The radiation isn't a big deal as long as long as you don't overdo it. And someone somewhere mentioned something about it affecting film somehow, well, it doesn't. The Russian x-ray machines at the airport in Kiev on the other hand...

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am 99% sure that there must be some desolate locations near you. Drive around, go into unfrequented nooks, wander around with any sense of direction or planning... that usually does the trick. ;)

 

If you're David Lean and has a massive budget, go to Central Asia. But really, I think in our historical age we have plenty of post-apocalyptic locations all over the world.

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