World Film Locations: Vancouver

Rachel Walls

Description

World Film Locations: Vancouver highlights the work of such Canadian filmmakers who have received less attention than they merit, whilst bringing insight into how so-called ‘runaway’ productions from Hollywood use Vancouver to stand in for other locations, from Seattle, USA to Lagos, Nigeria. Analyses of 38 different film scenes reveal the cinematic city in its myriad forms, while spotlight essays provide insight into the creativity and contradictions of Vancouver’s film industry throughout the ages. The essays examine the following topics: the masking of Vancouver’s indigenous stories in filmic representations of the city; Australian screenwriter James Clavell’s Vancouver-set debut The Sweet and the Bitter; Sylvia Spring’s Madeleine Is..., the first female-directed feature in Canada; Jonathan Kaplan’s The Accused, for which Jodie Foster won an Oscar; and, the use of Vancouver locations in a number of US television crime series. World Film Locations: Vancouver offers new perspectives on the west coast city and in doing so sheds further light upon the relationship between the movies and the metropolis.

Maps/Scenes Scenes 1-7 1927 - 1973 Scenes 8-14 1975 - 1987 Scenes 15-20 1988 - 1996 Scenes 21-26 1996 - 2003 Scenes 27-32 2004 - 2006 Scenes 33-38 2007 - 2011 Essays Vancouver: City of the Imagination - Colin Browne Thoughts on Making Places: Hollywood North and the Indigenous City - Kamala Todd James Clavell's The Sweet and the Bitter (1967) - Michael Turner Vancouver Is...: Defining the City in Sylvia Spring’s Madeleine Is…(1971) - Randolph Jordan The Body of the Accused - Amy Kazymerchyk Kink, Pot and Sushi: On Representing Vancouver in Bruce Sweeney's Films - Ger Zielinski The Haunted Pacific: Vancouver on Crime Television - Lindsay Steenberg

Sujets

• Película fotográfica
• Reference
• History of film
• Film
• Culture cinématographique

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 24
• EAN13: 9781783203116
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 12 Mo

Extrait

WORLD
FILM
LOCATIONS
VANCOUVER
Edited by Rachel WallsWORLD
FILM
LOCATIONS
VANCOUVER
Edited by Rachel Walls
First Published in the UK in 2013 by All rights reserved. No part of this
Intellect Books, The Mill, Parnall Road, publication may be reproduced, stored
Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, First Published in the USA in 2013
mechanical, photocopying, recording, by Intellect Books, The University of
or otherwise, without written consent.Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA A Catalogue record for this book is
available from the British LibraryCopyright ©2013 Intellect Ltd
World Film Locations Series
Cover photo: Blade Trinity © 1960
ISSN: 2045-9009Warner Bros / The Kobal Collection
eISSN: 2045-9017/ Limot
World Film Locations Vancouver
Copy Editor: Emma Rhys ISBN: 978-1-84150-721-7
eISBN: 978-1-84150-803-0
Printed and bound by
Bell & Bain Limited, GlasgowWORLD
FILM
LOCATIONS
VANCOUVER
editor
Rachel Walls
series editor & design
Gabriel Solomons
contributors
Neale Barnholden, Elvy Del Bianco,
Colin Browne, Diane Burgess,
Karrmen Crey, Scot Jordan Harris,
Flick Harrison, David Hauka,
Edward Hyat, Randolph Jordan,
Amy Kazymerchyk, Peter Lester,
Laurynas Navidauskas, Alex Nicola,
Angela Piccini, Lindsay Steenberg,
Kamala Todd, Michael Turner,
Carl Wilson, Ger Zielinski
location photography
Andy Ji, Maia Joseph, Dennis Ha,
Sarah Banting, Dianne Burgess,
Flick Harrison, Paolo Bacaro,
David Hauka, Kevin Doherty
(unless otherwise credited)
location maps
Joel Keightley
published by
Intellect
The Mill, Parnall Road,
Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
T: [phone]
F: [phone]
E: [e-mail]
Bookends: Robson Square (Pic: Paola Bacaro)
This page: Juno (Kobal)
Overleaf: I, Robot (Kobal)CONTENTS
Maps/Scenes Essays
10 Scenes 1-7 6 Vancouver:
1927 - 1973 City of the Imaginat ion
Colin Browne
28 Scenes 8-14 8 Thoughts on Making
1975 - 1987 Places: Hollywood North
and the Indigenous City
Kamala Todd 46 Scenes 15-20
1988 - 1996
26 James Clavell's The Sweet
and the Biter (1967)
62 Scenes 21-26 Michael Turner
1996 - 2003
44 Vancouver Is...:
Defning the City in Sylvia
78 Scenes 27-32 Spring’s Madeleine Is…
2004 - 2006 (1971)
Randolph Jordan
94 Scenes 33-38
2007 - 2011 60 The Body of the Accused
Amy Kazymerchyk
Kink, Pot and Sushi: 90
On Representing Vancouver
in Bruce Sweeney's Films
Ger Zielinski
92 The Haunted Pacifc:
Vancouver on Crime
Television
Lindsay Steenberg
Backpages
108 Resources
109 Contributor Bios
112 Filmography
3World Film Locations | Vancouveracknowledgements
I am extremely grateful to all
the writers who contributed
essays and scene reviews as
well as additional information
and ideas. Many thanks also
to the photographers who
provided the contemporary
shots of Vancouver and to the
flm-makers who imparted
information and help on
request. Finally, thanks to the
series editor, Gabriel Solomons,
for his guidance and to other
Intellect team members
involved with the project.
rachel walls
published by
Intellect
The Mill, Parnall Road,
Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
T: [phone]
F: [phone]
E: [e-mail]
World Film Locations Vancouver
the world film locations series has brought to readers iconic scenes and
settings from global metropolises such as New York and Paris, and has uncovered the
cinematic riches of smaller cities including Reykjavík and Dublin. Situated on the west coast
of Canada in the province of British Columbia, Vancouver is the fourth largest flm and
television production centre in North America. It regularly hosts international flm crews,
yet its home cinema has received less recognition than it deserves. Tis edition, therefore,
has a dual role: sharing the imaginative reinventions of Vancouver as international locations
in Hollywood movies, and highlighting an impressive range of independent flms that reveal
Vancouver’s multifaceted identity.
Trough the lens of these flms, this volume introduces you to Vancouver’s diverse
neighbourhoods and populations, its triumphs and injustices. Best known for its magnifcent
natural surroundings, Vancouver’s urban environment has been shaped by a combination of
First Nations, European and Asian infuences, plus the imprints of industry and its decline,
planning and design (‘Vancouverism’) and mega-events (Expo ’86 and the 2010 Winter
Olympics). Tis volume gestures towards the city’s complexity by highlighting locations
iconic and unknown, new and old (some now destroyed), downtown and suburban, wealthy
and deprived.
Your cinematic tour of the city begins with Colin Browne’s ‘Vancouver: City of the
Imagination’, an introduction to early Vancouver flms, the beginnings of the industry and
achievements of flm-makers since. Subsequently, the scene reviews shed light on scenes in
38 flms, made by local and international flm-makers between 1927 and 2011, using City of
Vancouver (and adjacent University Endowment Land) locations. Tese are accompanied
by colour images of the scenes in question, alongside contemporary comparison shots taken
especially for this book. Interspersed are six spotlight essays which focus on the following
topics: the masking of Vancouver’s indigenous stories and communities in Hollywood
representations of the city; Australian screenwriter James Clavell’s Vancouver-set debut Te
Sweet and the Bitter (1967); Sylvia Spring’s Madeleine Is … (1971), the frst female-directed
feature in Canada; Jonathan Kaplan’s Te Accused (1988), for which Jodie Foster won
an Oscar; the representation of Vancouver in the flms of Bruce Sweeney; and the use of
Vancouver locations in US television crime series.
As the book’s concluding scene reviews demonstrate, Hollywood continues to bring
big budgets and talent to Vancouver. Moreover, the city continues to inspire productions
made and set in Vancouver. At the time of writing, sci-f series Continuum (Simon Barry,
2012–present) concluded a high-rated debut run on Showcase, while flm-maker Loretta
Todd prepares to pilot television series Skye and Chang on the Aboriginal Peoples Television
Network (APTN). Bruce Sweeney’s Te Crimes of Mike Recket , Tt erry Miles and Kristine
Cofsky’s In No Particular Order and Mark Sawers Camera Shy premiered at the 2012
Vancouver International Film Festival.
For those intrigued by Vancouver and flm, the future looks promising. For now, I hope
you’ll enjoy the images and insights provided by this volume. From downtown danger
and railroad run-ins to roadside romance and high-rise heartbreak, here is your guide to
Vancouver’s flm locations. {
Rachel Walls, Editor
5World Film Locations | VancouverText by
COLIN
BROWNeVANCOUVER w
City of the Imagination
built over and around several vital Far East. Te cast and crew, from the Edison
Coast Salish villages, the city of Vancouver is Manufacturing Company in New York, made a
barely 125 years old. Its incorporation as a link in dozen promotional dramas on location during that
the global economy resembled the launching of a summer, establishing a pattern that continues to
space station, coinciding with the publication of this day: Vancouver as a location.
Rimbaud’s Illuminations (1886), the surrender of Te CPR was one of two dominant producers
Geronimo, and the development of the rotating of flms in British Columbia until the late-1950s.
scanning device that laid the ground for television. Te other was the Dominion government through
Vancouver was an early manifestation of the the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada and
virtual city – fuid, fragmented, provisional and its precursor, the Canadian Motion Picture
always becoming – always the city of the future. Bureau. Queen of the Coast (1920), the Bureau’s
New immigrants projected onto its scenery frst Vancouver travelogue, established a template
their dreams of a second chance, and real-estate for the travelogues and industrials that followed.
investors prospered. Newsreels from Vancouver began to appear afer
Te frst cinematographer to arrive in World War I. NFB wartime productions like War
Vancouver was 27-year-old Billy Bitzer. In 1899 Clouds in the Pacifc (1941) and Gateway to Asia
he travelled through British Columbia with a (1945) were screened across North America. When
hand-cranked movie camera for the American the NFB opened its Pacifc Studio in Vancouver
Mutoscope and Biograph Company. None of in the late-1970s, it became a hub for regional
his Vancouver reels remain; the two that have documentary and dramatic productions including
survived are thrill rides shot from the point of those by independent flm-makers.
view of a steam engine’s cowcatcher. Te Canadian By the 1920s, Vancouver was being marketed
Pacifc Railway (CPR) quickly recognized the as the ‘Film Capital of the British Empire’, a claim
promotional value of these reels and over the promoters hoped would be underwritten by the
next two years produced at least 21 of its own 1926 British quota legislation. Investors were
featuring the railway and British Columbia’s wooed, money passed hands and the promoters
fshing, canning, logging and export industries. ofen fed, but Vancouver did not give up on the
Distributed as ‘educational’ flms, they were more idea of becoming ‘Hollywood North’, and the
accurately promotional reels, selling Canada and dream eventually came true thanks, in part, to a
the railway to prospective tourists, immigrants and favourable exchange rate. Te ‘service industry’
investors. arrived in Vancouver in the late-1970s and its
Travelogues were popular. American presence (think Te X-Files [Chris Carter, Fox,
cinematographer William Harbeck flmed through 1993–2002], Stargate SG-1 [Brad Wright and
the front window of a streetcar travelling down Jonathan Glassner, Showtime and Sci-f Channel,
Hastings Street in May 1907, four months