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Hey, It's That Place!
aka: Here There Be Lions

Go To

A location that you just know you've seen in five other TV shows or movies.

Filming at a landmark is a separate trope when the scene is supposed to take place at that specific landmark (e.g. the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, famous courthouses), but it counts here when a landmark is used generically (e.g. any Vancouver landmark).

Sub-Trope of California Doubling. Kirk's Rock might be the single most-used That Place in American television, with Bronson Canyon and Caves and Down L.A. Drain as other very famous locales. The various BBC Quarries serve a similar role in the UK. See also Recycled Set, Eiffel Tower Effect, No Communities Were Harmed, and Real-Place Background.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    USA (mostly Los Angeles and California) 

California

Elsewhere in the USA:

    United Kingdom  

London

Elsewhere in England

Scotland

Wales

    Canada 

Vancouver (Stargate City)

Elsewhere in British Columbia

  • Hatley Castle/Royal Roads University, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, has featured in numerous films; The X-Men franchise and Masterminds are among the better-known titles. Other Victoria landmarks seen or at least used include Fan Tan Alley (seen in Bird on a Wire), and the Royal British Columbia Museum (which hosted an episode of MacGyver (1985)).

Ontario

Thanks to regional tax incentives, this happens a lot.

Quebec

  • Montreal has stood in for so many cities due to its well-preserved built heritage, it was reported that locals have jokingly asked, "which part of the States are we pretending to be today?"

    France 

Paris

  • On Le Métropolitain, Porte des Lilas station is frequently used as a go-to location for filming on the system. In 1921, a short shuttle line connecting Line 3 and 7 was built, but this closed down in 1939. In subsequent years this short stretch of track became a testing area, and the abandoned platforms at Porte des Lilas (fittingly named "Porte des Lilas - Cinema") became an ideal filming location due to its typical Paris Metro architecture, lack of public access, and the fact that trains can still easily enter it.

Département of Oise

This area right North of Paris has a high concentration of big 17th-18th century castles (more akin to palaces), which makes it perfect for films set in such eras.

Brittany

  • The coastal castle Fort la Latte, or Castle of the Rock Goyon, in the Côtes d'Armor department, was used for 1931's Le parfum de la dame en noir, The Vikings, The Three Musketeers (1961), Lancelot du Lac (1970), the series L'Épervier and another adaptation of The Three Musketeers, the 2023 one (Part II: Milady more precisely).
  • The port city of Saint-Malo is famous for its ramparts and tall 17th century buildings its inhabitants fought hard to rebuild near-identically after they were flattened during World War II. It can be seen in 1947's Cargaison clandestine, A Summer's Tale (1996), Claude Chabrol's La Cérémonie and 1999's The Color of Lies, 2001's Cet amour-là, 2003's Monsieur N., 2011's Headwinds, 2014's Never on the First Night, 2015's In Harmony, 2016's L'Avenir, the 2021 series Gloria, 2023's Flo and 2023's The Three Musketeers - Part II: Milady (where it doubles as La Rochelle).

Atlantic Ocean coasts (Western France)

Dordogne

The département of Dordogne is exceptionally well suited for Period Pieces set in either The Middle Ages or The Cavalier Years with all its preserved castles, old churches and abbeys, towns that retained medieval looks and forests.

Southern France

    Italy 

    Elsewhere 

Asia:

  • In many Hong Kong action films, there will be a fight in an abandoned industrial plant with a lot of pipes. This is actually a desalination plant that proved not be economically viable and is now used as a location for filming.
  • Tokusatsu fans are familiar with quite a few locations in Japan that seem to be used every year, no matter what the series. This practice goes back to the original Kamen Rider, which prided itself on picking outdoor locations like dams, quarries and coasts for elaborate fight scenes. A comprehensive list of recurring locations from Toei series can be found here.
    • Super Sentai often uses Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Dome. When these appear in Power Rangers, they obviously aren't supposed to be those locations. One notable example is the Power Rangers Zeo episode Rangers of Two Worlds. The Zeo Rangers and Alien Rangers perform their rollcall outside Tokyo Dome... or rather, Angel Grove Stadium. The following season, the Dome was the base for the Rescue Zords and Artillatron.

Africa:

  • The scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark with Indy threatening to blow up the Ark was filmed in the same canyon where R2-D2 was captured by Jawas in A New Hope. The canyon (which is located in Tunisia and is now known as "Star Wars Canyon") also appears in The English Patient.

Middle East:

Europe

    Sets 


 
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Bronson Cave Through The Years

In his Monster Madness highlight of the movie Robot Monster, James talks about the titular Cave, which appears in the feature, and highlights some of the many films and serials that have been filmed around the area.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (14 votes)

Example of:

Main / BronsonCanyonAndCaves

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