Location Managers Guild International

Fall 2018

The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) is the largest organization of Location Managers and Location Scouts in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries. Their membership plays a vital role in the creativ

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48 • LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2018 by Shaun O'Banion Shadow Hunters: Celebrating Five Years on Location in Gotham P icture a boardroom at 20th Century Fox—a long shiny table surrounded by people in suits. It's 2014 and the creators of Gotham are pitching their bold new series. In this new chapter of Batman's original story, the hero wouldn't be Bruce Wayne or his vigilante alter ego. In fact, Wayne would be 12 years old in the pilot, meaning there would be little likelihood of him becoming a man during the series, much less the legendary Dark Knight. Gotham without Batman, a counterintuitive take that posed a clear risk for one of DC Comics most famous franchises, not to mention possibly alienating a loyal fan base. But in 2018, as the cast and crew return to work on their fifth and final season, it's clear those risks paid off. Gotham City was first mentioned in 1940, and in the better part of a century since then, some of film and television's brightest cre- ative teams have put their stamp on the legendary creation, from the kitschy '60s Batman series shot in sunny Los Angeles, to Tim Burton's gothic, art deco '80s films shot in England. In the '90s, Joel Schumacher brought neon to Gotham's streets (and nipples to the bat suit) in films like Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, lensed in New York and L.A. From there, moviegoers explored the gritty realism of Gotham City in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilo- gy, shot in Los Angeles, Chicago, Hong Kong, England and Iceland, among other locations. More recently, Zack Snyder presented his brooding and heavily CG-enhanced films like Batman v Superman, shot in Michigan, and Justice League, filmed in locales, including Iceland, L.A., Chicago and Greece. All of these projects featured Bruce Wayne/Batman in the lead role. Fox's Gotham was the first addition to that pantheon with no help from the iconic character who put the city on the map. If you don't know much about the Batman mythology, imagine the New York of Serpico, but with bad guys who are a bit more … col- orful. In the pilot, viewers were introduced to a young Jim Gordon (Benjamin McKenzie), at this point just a detective, and his world- weary partner, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue). Marquee villains Je- rome Valeska (future Joker), Selina Kyle (future Catwoman), Edward Nygma (future Riddler) and Oswald Cobblepot (future Penguin, played by series standout Robin Lord Taylor) were introduced. But despite a who's who of characters to build the series around, the show also put the fictional city itself front and center as a lead char- acter, posing a new challenge for the location team charged with bringing it to life. Shepard Hall – City College, Manhattan

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