On Fri, 23 Sep 1994 09:19:00 EST Pam Wilson said:
>I'm exploring some issues of active audiences and fandom, and am
>particularly interested in the intersections between fandom and
>tourism. I thought I would see if some of you might know of
>tourist sites which owe their popularity to films or TV series.
 
I don't know how "officially" the site is promoted, but the ranch
that was used for the exterior locations for DALLAS used to be
a popular tourist attraction.  I believe it is outside Dallas
somewhere.
 
Also, the NY TIMES published an article listing locations used in
Woody Allen's MANHATTAN.  Had a map and everything.
 
And, locally here in Tuscaloosa, folks are *still* talking about the
site of a smokestack that was destroyed for Burt Reynolds' HOOPER
(1978).
 
And, Pam, what if the site in question was already a tourist attraction
before it was featured in a film/TV?  There's obvious ones like Hitchcock's
use of landmarks (Mt. Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, the Fourth Bridge,
etc.), but what of situations like UNDER SIEGE's use of the U.S.S.
Alabama (permanently moored as a tourist attraction in Mobile) as a
stand-in for the U.S.S. Missouri?  For fans/tourists in the know, this
use of the Alabama provides for a certain frisson when they visit it.
 
I know we're getting off topic since you're specifically looking for
sites which owe their popularity to films or TV series, but the
use of familiar sites which bring their own "popularity" to a
film/TV series provides an interesting flip side of what you're
exploring.  Perhaps?
 
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| Jeremy Butler - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [log in to unmask] |
| SCREEN-L Coordinator                                                   |
| Telecommunication & Film Dept * The University of Alabama * Tuscaloosa |