Geeklog Site

ANH - updated

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:01:45 -0400

In 2004, my girlfriend and I made a tour through Mexico. We crossed the country from Mexico City to Cancun, visiting tens of ancient Maya sites. We extended our vacation with a trip to Yavin IV, aka Tikal - Guatemala.

We didn't stop there. We have successfully travelled to Middle Earth and The Matrix.

Movie Set Locations.net

-- UPDATE --

My Star Wars : A New Hope page has been updated with lots of Tunisia set photos and movie reference pictures. With many thanks to Mark Dermul, who organized 3 Trips to Tatooine (Tunisia).

http://www.movie-set-locations.net/films/ANH.htm

7Norfolk - Tunisia

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:20:05 -0500

This website was originally published at:
http://www.7norfolk.co.uk/alex/tunisia/ and http://www.soton.net/7norfolk/alex/tunisia/

Here is a version that was archived before it went down, click here.

Tataouine Tours: On Location Guidebook

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:38:00 -0500

The Tataouine Tours: On Location Guidebook is now available as an eBook in PDF format.

See here for more details

Tataouine Tours is back

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:08:00 -0500

This website was originally published at:
http://www.tataouinetours.com/

Here is a version that was archived before it went down, click here.

I recently won the tataouinetours.com domain in an auction so it nows points back to this site. One cool thing of owning the domain is that the code on the Banner Exchange page now works again.

The site that is archived here is mostly what was on the site when it went down but I brought back a few things from the first version including the photo gallery and a few other things.

In the Links -> Star Wars pages section there was a link to an Aint It Cool News article that I couldn't find on thier site anymore so I have archived it here as well.
Ain't It Cool News - Location Revelations

I have been working with Jeremy Beckett to get this site ready and hopefully very soon we should also have the Tataouine Tours: On Location Guidebook available as an eBook.

ReelStuff - Redwoods trip

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:58:00 -0500

This website was originally published at:
http://webpages.charter.net/reelstuff/jedi.html

Here is a version that was archived before it went down, click here.

A visit to Sevilla, Spain

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:13:00 -0500

In Sevilla, Spain (or Seville for you Anglophiles), you will find the Plaza de Espana, a location seen in Attack of the Clones. While it was only in the film for a few moments, you may explore the site at your leisure, and it's completely free!

Video section

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:22:07 -0400

A video section was just added here. They are all embedded videos from other websites. So far I have only added videos from YouTube and MySpaceTV but I plan on adding new videos from other sites as I find time. If you have any comments or suggestions, I have created a new forum topic to post in.

Star Wars trek: Whippendell Woods - November 2001

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 04:13:00 -0400

One of my big disappointments in my 1999 Star Wars trek was not finding the right spot at Whippendell Woods. We managed to find the woods but ended up just walking by all of the filming locations. I guess we never guessed how hard it was going to be to find one specific tree in the middle of the forest. Plus the pond that they swam into in the movie doesn’t really exist and we had walked about an hour looking for it before finally coming out at Cassiobury Park and realizing that we were never going to find it. So when a friend of mine said he was going to London for some autograph hunting I jumped at the chance to join him and take another crack at Whippendell Woods.

On my second visit I contacted Mike Rush who had created a great website documenting all of the locations there and he graciously agreed to show me around. I met him at a train station nearby and he drove us the rest of the way. With a guide, the locations were very easy to find.

There is nothing in Cassiobury Park, everything is in Whippendell Woods. The shots are split into 3 separate areas. The main area that they did most of the filming is actually very small. They used a lot of different angles to make it appear as a much larger location.

1. Across the street from the parking area is where Amidala and the rebels planned their attack on the city of Theed towards the end of the movie. It’s easy to see once you look around and the shots are easy to line up.

2. Inside the park to the right of the parking area is where most of the scenes on Naboo were filmed. You don’t have to walk too far in. Just take your time and look around at different angles. Some of the trees have knots and markings that are identifiable. Plus there is a gully that the STAP droid crashes through.

3. The lake they jumped in is really just some bushes and trees a little further in the park, the water was added in digitally afterwards. This is one of the hardest of the locations to find since it is separate from all of the others and the trees are small and not as distinctive. If you walk more then 10 minutes into the park though, you've probably gone too far.

Star Wars trek: Death Valley - April 2001

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:14:00 -0400

The Star Wars Road Trip article in Star Wars Insider back in 1999 got a lot of people interested in Star Wars filming locations. For those of us in California it also made a trip to one of these locations much more feasible. You didn't have to travel thousands of miles to Tunisia or Norway. There are great places right here in our backyard and the best one has to be Death Valley. There are quite a few locations to see there and most are very easy to find. You can even do the trip in a day if you get there early, but its best to stay a night at a hotel or camp out.

There are already lots of great articles and webpages detailing trips to Death Valley.

The original Star Wars Insider article written by Scott Chernoff and David West Reynolds that started it all.

Tatooine or Bust I and II by Kolby "Kahunna" Kirk

SWFO's Western U.S. Quest by Carl Cunningham

SWFans in Death Valley by Brandon Alinger

Google Earth - Death Valley locations are included

R2's Sand dunes

Just past Stovepipe Wells is where you'll find the sand dunes. You need to walk in a little until the shot lines up right. The key is lining up the small peaks in the mountains to the right of R2.

Sandcrawler Station

This location is easy to miss since the mountains you are trying to line up are behind you. Stop a little before the turn off for Artist's Palette and walk around a little on the left side of the rode. You should be able to line up the 3 mountains in the background of the frame.

R2's Arroyo

Artist's Palette is very easy to find. Just follow the one-way loop on Artist's Drive and the location is very clearly marked. Then park and walk up to the sign and look left. If you walk into the entrance of the canyon a little you can also find some other angles that were filmed.

Bantha Canyon

After the end of Artist's Drive make a right, back towards Furnace Creek. Not too far on the right is a small turn off for Desolation Canyon. The film crew didn't go to far into the canyon since they had all of their gear and an elephant dressed up like a Bantha. There are lots of different angles filmed here so bring lots of screenshots and take your time lining them up. The trick is to look for unique looking rocks, erosion patterns, and mountain peaks.

Mos Eisley Overlook

Dantes View is a major attraction in Death Valley and easy to find. It is a little farther out of the way then the rest of the locations but just follow the signs and you'll be there before you know it,

Jabba's Palace Road

On the way to or the way back from Dantes View drive down the dirt road for Twenty Mule Team Canyon. About a quarter of the way through, the mountain in the background will start lining up. You can even see the opening to a Borax mine shaft in one of screenshots which helps line things up.

Landspeeder locations

These scenes are hard to find exactly because the background is blurry and out of focus. Plus I've can't remember ever seeing any behind the scenes photos from the Landspeeder pickup shots. They're somewhere along either West Side Highway or Salt Pool Road though.

Star Wars trek: Tikal, Guatemala - April 2004

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:46:00 -0400

Tikal National Park in Guatemala was used for a small scene showing the rebel base on the jungle moon of Yavin 4 in Star Wars: A New Hope. It is an easy location to find and a very popular tourist destination but I don't think very many Star Wars location hunters make the trip. I probably would have never made it myself but it turns out my wife is from Guatemala and I found out she had never visited Tikal so we planned a little side trip after visiting family.

To get to the location, just climb to the top of Temple IV and look out over the jungle canopy where you can see the tops of Temples I, II, and III poking through the trees. Check out the map of the park below for more detail.

In March of 2000 my cousin visited Guatemala for charity work and was able to visit Tikal while he was there. He sent me a few photos back and one lined up with the scene from the movie perfectly. He didn't even have any reference pictures with him which shows you exactly how easy this spot is to find.