Abstract
This chapter examines the phenomena of the London film location walking tour based upon research undertaken in 2019. Taking a production studies approach and examining the phenomena from the perspective of those who work within the sector, I conducted four in-depth interviews with tour guides who deliver, amongst others, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Paddington Bear, Harry Potter and Mary Poppins walking tours and undertook participant observations of five different tours. The film location walking tour is an experience in which participants perambulate the city landscape, visiting various sites that have been used as film locations and film sets, as well as taking in key tourist spots and landmarks. Through their performance and interactions with the tour participants, the guides, who inhabit multiple subjectivities, labour to effectively overlay a cinematic imaginary onto the urban cityscape. Within this chapter, I situate the tour guides at the intersection of film production, film-induced tourism and London place-branding, which I will go on to argue, all co-exist within a mutually reinforcing cycle in an increasingly interdependent economy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | London as Screen Gateway |
| Editors | Elizabeth Evans, Malini Guha |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Chapter | 7 |
| Pages | 115-138 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781000918021 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781032197968 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Jul 2023 |