Random Play by Graham Reid

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Random Play: This land is your land . . .

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  • Ian MacKay,

    On a recent trip to Scotland, Iceland, Sri Lanka, UAE we kept on saying this could just as easily have been in various places in New Zealand. Sure the building practices varied but the people were the same. Different language, different social habits but really the same in the end. So the film industry is a great asset for NZ but economics speak a much louder international language. I don't think that Peter Jackson is doing any more than stating a reality, without any malice. Watch out Actors Equity!

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • Bruce Wurr,

    great column again graham.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 97 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    You also don't have to be too long in Vancouver, Canada before you stumble over a Hollywood crew.
    This site lists over 200 films shot there and the city has stood in for Boston, the Bronx, Chicago, Washington DC . . .

    Vancover infamously stands in for the Bronx in 'Rumble in the Bronx'. In some of the long shots later in the film, you can clearly see a snow-capped mountain range in the background. A view that might surprise your average New Yorker.

    Still, a two-for-one offer of urban decay and breathtaking scenery is not ot be sniffed at.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    I take your point, Graham, but I do wonder if there are as many places in the world where you can find all those things in one place within quite a short distance of each other. Maybe there are. I wonder, also, if there are more NZers than most other people - and I'm not saying this is unique - who have a corporeal sort of connection to the whenua. I know I do, and I know I'm not alone. Once again, perhaps I'm wrong. I had a conversation once that has always stuck with me, and it sums up beautifully my feelings about where I live in the world. It was a Belgian guy, who when I asked him - as you do - why he chose to live in NZ after only spending a couple of weeks here on holiday, said that he was driving down SH1 in the South Island. And the mountains spoke to him. I know exactly what he means.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Leopold,

    ...and swimming in the morning and skiing in the afternoon is far more feasible in Beirut
    I agree, we are inclined to oversell our attractions

    Since Jan 2007 • 153 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Whilst the scenery in LOTR was beautiful, it wasn't that which made me the most proud of the film. It was that NZ had managed to make a movie of that magnitude, under the direction of a New Zealander. I kept thinking from abroad not of the wonderful landscapes of NZ, but more of the teams of NZers behind the scenes making the whole thing happen. NZ is great for scenery, sure, but I've spent most of my life in the city, so landscapes aren't what NZ means to me.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    btw, I believe that in California you can swim and ski on the same day too, maybe that's why Hollywood is there.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    btw, I believe that in California you can swim and ski on the same day too, maybe that's why Hollywood is there.

    ditto Vancouver, as Rich noted above...
    I thought the Snow in California
    mostly went up the nose... :- )

    anyway I'm surprised they just don't green screen the landscape (a la Avatar) these days ...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Much cheaper to use the landscape that god created.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Lindberg,

    Meh, I've never understood the attraction of being able to swim and ski in the same day.

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I don't think Avatar was green screened. Motion capture onto a rendered world is a whole different kettle of fish. The absence of background in their sets was more to do with the total lack of need, rather than any trick played with color and backdrop. All they were interested in was those little dots on the actors.

    It's also way more expensive than just pointing a camera at a cool landscape and some costumes.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I actually wonder how many USians think NZ isn't an actual country, but a dramatic construct used when a scriptwriters needs to invoke a remote and rural place. Where they talk funny.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    Meh, I've never understood the attraction of being able to swim and ski in the same day.

    I don't think it's something people really do so much as shorthand for "Yes, we are just that awesome."

    I actually wonder how many USians think NZ isn't an actual country, but a dramatic construct used when a scriptwriters needs to invoke a remote and rural place.

    In British TV and fiction it's still the place everyone goes when the plot requires them to have moved conveniently far, far away.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    btw, I believe that in California you can swim and ski on the same day too, maybe that's why Hollywood is there.

    Indeed, California is well proud of its history of snow-bound cannibalism.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    As depicted in the "Donner Party Snow Globe"

    There's a Maccas up there on the Donner Pass now, ensuring marginally better food choice for the Reno-SF traveller.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Lindberg,

    I don't think it's something people really do so much as shorthand for "Yes, we are just that awesome."

    True, but the intended awesomeness is lost on me. There are lots of cool and awesome things about NZ, but that particular one seems a bit desperate.

    ETA: Although in the context of needing different types of locations for filming it's probably very handy.

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I actually wonder how many USians think NZ isn't an actual country, but a dramatic construct used when a scriptwriters needs to invoke a remote and rural place. Where they talk funny.

    Kind of like Timbuktu? A weird, fantastic place at the other end of the earth, the end of a long and eventful voyage, probably beset by many hardships. When I was last in Germany, they thought about Australia like that, and NZ was merely an add-on. Not one person I met said they would ever even contemplate going so far. People considered themselves widely traveled if they had been to France.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Indeed, California is well proud of its history of snow-bound cannibalism.

    hmmmm Donner Kebabs...
    ...I'll pass!

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • dyan campbell,

    Meh, I've never understood the attraction of being able to swim and ski in the same day.

    I don't think it's something people really do so much as shorthand for "Yes, we are just that awesome."

    Yeah, but if you really, really loved swimming and skiing it would be why you lived there. You can squeeze in a lot more than two activities in too, if you are so inclined. A lot of us are.

    The last time Paul and I (in our mid fifties) visited my brother Jim & sister in law Annie (in their late 50s) we hiked up a mountain, rode mountain bikes, rode horses, ran trails with the dog, swam in the lake, picked berries and helped a neighbour load hay bales. In the same day.

    This was just normal for Jim and Annie - it's why they never wanted to work more than 3 days a week, why they have horses, why they have a dog that loves that kind of life. It's their idea of fun. They do a lot, lot more than that - white water kayaking, rock climbing, skiing- cross country and downhill, ice skating, hunting. And their dog sure is happy. It's just the way some people live.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    I don't think it's something people really do so much as shorthand for "Yes, we are just that awesome."

    Well, if you really wanted the trifecta, you'd live in Tolouse. Skiing in the Alps, swimming in the med, and high culture right on your doorstep.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    dyan, you must have a Ring of Power stashed away. I thought you were early 40s, at the most.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I don't believe you would want to swim and ski on the same day in NZ unless you liked either rock dodging in slush, freezing in icy water, or both.

    If one was dedicated to try such things and had the wealth of a John Key, the French ski resort of Isola 2000 has helicopter service to Nice.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Toulouse: rioting, Concorde, space rockets and a Stranglers song.

    It's the city that's got the lot!

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Move to France: what have you got, Toulouse?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I have two loos, but they are at opposite ends of the house.

    Which makes them like a French painter. Two loos le trek.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

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