Lights, cameras, wrong location – the list goes on

By BRIAN FERGUSON
Published on 02/11/2012 02:37

THE annals of Scottish movie-making are littered with examples of films shot in the wrong location.

Perhaps the most famous example is Brigadoon, the Highlands-set MGM musical made entirely in its studios, despite being originally planned to be filmed on location in Scotland.

Another iconic film, Whisky Galore!, based on the novel about the real-life running aground of a ship with a cargo full of whisky off Eriskay in 1941, was filmed instead on the nearby island of Barra eight years later.

In more recent times, Braveheart is the best-known case of Scotland all but missing on a major production, with the vast majority of filming taking place in Ireland due to the tax breaks on offer at the time.

One of Scotland’s best-loved films, Local Hero, famously put Pennan, in Aberdeenshire, on the map, but a number of key scenes were shot elsewhere, in the West Highlands, including Moidart, Arisaig and Camusdarrach.

The majority of both Trainspotting and Shallow Grave were shot in Glasgow, despite being set in Edinburgh, due to their low-budget productions. Most of the filming of Loch Ness, Hollywood’s attempt to take Nessie to the big screen, took place in Diabaig, in Wester Ross.

Classic horror film The Wicker Man is set almost entirely on a remote Scottish island, yet most filming took place on in locations around Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire. The opening scenes were filmed above Plockton and the Isle of Skye.

Most recently, much of the finale of Bond film Skyfall was shot in Surrey, despite being set in the Scottish Highlands, after the original planned location, at Duntrune Castle, in Argyll, was leaked out.

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