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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LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2017 • 15 O N A L the Chocolate Factory was every bit as fun as it looks. Unbelievable sets from Alex McDowell, stunning costumes and props and, of course, some exquisite locations. I scouted 87 factories and warehouses before we chose number 13 for the Veruca Salt factory. Conversely, the first house I knocked on in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, became the Violet Beauregarde interior almost without any set dressing or construction. I was a great fan of Chris Nolan since Memento pierced our retinas with its ingenuity back in 2000. When I got the opportunity to work with Chris and production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas on Inception, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven—or at the very least, fallen asleep and woken up on Level Five. It was the first of several scouting gigs with Chris and Guy and both are talented, precise and extraordinary. Amongst the locations in the U.K., were the Mombasa drug den, the college where Leo meets Michael Caine, various airports around the world(s), and the sleek office building where Guy and his team constructed the truly incredible (and completely real) Penrose Steps. The most glamorous scouting gig on Inception was looking for a hotel toilet for a fight scene. No toilet was left unchecked in South East England as I hunted down and flushed out something suitably Kubrickian and clean. I think you'll agree that the toilets in Inception were next level and you can visit them (men only I'm afraid) when you attend the Ascot Races. After long scouting sessions on Pirates of the Caribbean and X-Men: First Class where I finally got a film to shoot at the magnificent test site at Farnborough, the signal shown in the night sky once more. Nick Daubeny and I were to work with Chris Nolan again on The Dark Knight Rises. On the dance card was finding a new Wayne Manor, Bane's Lair, Gotham Museum for a luxurious ball and subsequent kangaroo court and Gotham General Hospital. Now in my story, this is where it should really end (and I know some of you are hoping it is) as the location I found for the hospital was a stone's throw from where I was brought up in South London, so I went from running around the streets dressed as Batman to bringing Batman to Croydon. One of the highlights of my career was working with one of my filmmaking heroes, Michael Mann. My daughter had just been born and after some time at home, I was ready for adult company—tantrums, disturbed sleep, constant whingeing and drinking, all of these welcomed me on my return to the North Face-wearing bosom of the film crew. Whilst traveling back from Liege on a scout for Guardians of the Galaxy, I received a phone call just before entering the Chunnel. "Would I like to come to Malaysia for two weeks to scout with Guy Dyas and Michael Mann?" "Would I!" "Hello, hello, can you hear me?" Thirty minutes later, I was out of the tunnel and said yes. Twenty-two weeks later, I returned to London… Blackhat was everything I could possibly hope for as a Michael Mann experience. Speedboats, helicopters landing on top of skyscrapers, 4x4s through the jungle, scouting at night, scouting at height, massage parlours— altogether a happy ending. Ultimately, it was a pleasure to be working with a triumvirate of filmmaking legends— Michael, the renowned location manager Janice Pol- ley, and my third collaboration with Guy Hendrix Dyas. After some time in Malaysia, I was summoned to Hong Kong to find a "safe house" for the film. I hit the streets day and night, scouted 49 different buildings and eventually, we found the right look. As always, nothing is ever easy, the eventual location was a fully operational "massage parlour" so we had to pay the workers to move out and take a holiday whilst we gutted the location to turn it into our Scouting Hong Kong for Blackhat. All photos courtesy of David O. Reilly/LMGI Mark Somner and Reilly in Fuerteventura