Crafting a Sense of Place: Media's Use of the Bonneville Salt Flats

Abstract

Filmmakers and television producers use the Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats to portray an amazing variety of places. The Salt Flats' magnificent scenery and neutral background qualities allow filmmakers to create almost any image or sense of place they desire for their productions. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that make the Salt Flats so appealing to filmmakers, and to classify the types of places they create using this location as a backdrop for their productions. Data for this paper come primarily from records of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). An analysis of a representative sample of motion pictures, videos, television programs, and commercials identify four major themes: a land of human triumph, a land of destruction and desolation, a playground, and a surreal world of the strange and bizarre. Filmmakers' attention to presentation of landscape indicate the industry's awareness of landscape's emotional importance to film viewers and its importance to the overall success of a project. The unique characteristics and versatility of the Bonneville Salt Flats are a filmmaker's dream.