“On Location” Filming in San Diego County from 1985–2005: How a Cinematic Landscape Is Formed Through Incorporative Tasks and Represented Through Mapped Inscriptions

Abstract

The form of San Diego County's cinematic landscape is shaped by processes of inscription, whereby particular representational techniques are brought to bear, but also by processes of incorporation, which can be understood as the off-camera decisions, tasks, and events that allow for filming to take place. One of the primary tasks involves selecting sites with a high level of production value while minimizing costs and fulfilling the needs of the script. The San Diego Film Commission (SDFC), which aids filmmakers in the tasks required to produce films, is a key entity in shaping this region's cinematic landscape. Where geography often focuses on how a film inscribes meaning and identity into its form, I show how the form of a region's cinematic landscape extends beyond a single filmic event to engage a multiplicity of representations, tasks, and practices. I use a mixed method approach, including spatial analysis to examine and map the inscripted form of San Diego's cinematic landscape. In-depth interviews and fieldwork were used to evaluate how a location's production value plays a key role in the formative process of incorporative tasks of an ever-changing landscape.

La forma del paisaje cinemático del Condado de San Diego está moldeada por procesos de inscripción, en los cuales técnicas representacionales particulares son puestas en acción, pero también por procesos de incorporación, que pueden entenderse como las decisiones fuera de cámaras, tareas y eventos que permiten que la filmación tenga lugar. Una de las tareas primarias tiene que ver con la selección de sitios con alto nivel de valor de producción pero minimizando costos y cumpliendo con los requerimientos del libreto. La Comisión Fílmica de San Diego (SDFC), que ayuda a los cineastas en las tareas requeridas para producir películas, es una entidad clave en la configuración del paisaje cinemático de la región. Allí donde la geografía a menudo enfoca la cuestión de cómo una película inscribe significado e identidad dentro de su forma, yo indico cómo la forma del paisaje cinemático de una región va más allá de un simple evento fílmico para capturar una multiplicidad de representaciones, tareas y prácticas. Utilizo un enfoque de método mixto, que incluye análisis espacial para examinar y cartografiar la forma inscrita del paisaje cinemático de San Diego. Se utilizaron entrevistas a profundidad y trabajo de campo para evaluar cómo el valor de producción de una locación juega un papel clave en el proceso formativo de tareas incorporativas en un paisaje siempre cambiante.

Key Words:

• cinema
• landscape
• on-location filming
• San Diego
• taskscape

关键词:

• 电影
• 景观
• 现场拍摄
• 圣地亚哥
• 劳作场景

Palabras clave:

• cine
• paisaje
• rodaje en exteriores
• San Diego
• paisaje de tareas

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to many people for making this article possible. I am indebted to the assistance of Cathy Anderson, Kathy McCurdy, and Rob Dunson at the San Diego Film Commission. Without them, this research would not have been possible. GIS research assistance was provided by Scott Kelley, Drew Lucio, Jennifer Peters, and Jagadeesh Chirumamilla. The transcription of some of the interviews were done by Ann Fletchall. Sincere thanks go out to those who helped with drafts of this work: Stuart Aitken, Deborah Dixon, Larry Ford, Keith Clarke, James Proctor, Kevin McHugh, Karen Lukinbeal, Daniel D. Arreola, John Finn, Audrey Kobayashi, and the anonymous reviewers.

Notes

^aMust have three points to run analysis.

1. I use the term cinema to include three mutually related cultural products: television shows, television movies, and feature films. I do so because the taskscape, or “the entire ensemble of tasks” (Ingold 1993, 158) of location production related to these products share many similarities.

2. Locational data for three feature films that occurred before 1985 are included: Some Like It Hot (1959), Stunt Man (1980), and Scavenger Hunt (1979). Prior to 1985, locational data were not collected in a consistent manner.

3. The phrase filmed site is used to reference an absolute location where filming has occurred. A filmed event refers to a site that has been used on more than one occasion.

4. Manhattan rather than Euclidean distance was used for all pattern analysis because it better reflects travel along street networks that would be used by film producers when shooting on location.

5. Feature films had a nearest neighbor index score of 0.5, a z score of –20.01, and a Moran's I score of 0.29, and a z score of 0.03. Television shows had a nearest neighbor index score of 0.37, a z score of –42.02, and a Moran's I score of 0, and a z score of 0.03. Television movies had a nearest neighbor index score of 0.594, a z score of –16.11, and a Moran's I score of 0.05, and a z score of 0.44.

6. Montage sequences used at the beginning of episodes can be found on YouTube for Renegade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x94hc46MfX4&feature=related; last accessed 24 September 2010), Pensacola Wings of Gold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPqBbB2MlKk; last accessed 24 September 2010), and Silk Stalkings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssN9cLnlahk; last accessed 24 September 2010).