Tag Archives: Islington Film Locations Map

That’s a Wrap!

24 Jan

This post is the first one in a very long time and I write it with a certain melancholy.

Like with all movies and TV series, after months of planning, preparation, research, location scouting and filming, comes the last day of shooting and with it, the director’s final words: “That’s a wrap!”

After writing almost every week for the first 14-15 months, 2015 was a fairly quiet affair. During the first part of the year, although some posts were ready on paper, I did not have a computer. Then, when back online and roaring to go, I was offered the opportunity to move abroad for an internal promotion… and I spent August packing. End of September, after 15 years in the UK and the last 6 in Islington, I took my suitcases and head off to Spain!

I will publish the few posts drafted early 2015 but after that it will be tricky to carry on from Spain and not being able to walk around Islington to take pictures. Talking of which, the Islington Film Locations Map will now be opened to everyone who knows and wishes to share with us an Islington film location. I hope to see this map growing and growing.

Thanks to everyone who dropped by at some point, followed the blog, enjoyed it and commented on it! You never know what the future may have in mind and maybe we’ll have a Lights, Camera…Islington! sequel in a few years time but for now, it is …So long, farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!

To Islington with Love, Xavier

4 Weddings & Funeral - Highbury Terrace - Final Kiss - FILM

 

 

 

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Cally Movie Tour: 7th September

2 Sep

To celebrate The Cally Festival 2014 on Sunday 7th September,

in collaboration with the organisers,

Lights, Camera…Islington! present

A FREE short Movie Tour of The Cally!

From black & white to colour, from award-winning movies to TV series, join us to discover The Cally from another angle!

 

Cally Movie Tour

FREE but Registration requested: See Eventbrite button on the right

When: Sunday 7th September 2014 @ 3PM

Depart: West Library, Bridgeman Road, N1 1BD

For more on The Cally Festival 2014 visit www.thecallyfestival.com 

Cally Movie Tour here we come!

Cally Movie Tour here we come!

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Buses to Caledonian Road

Caledonian Road Tube Station (Zone 2)

Caledonian Road and Barnsbury Overground (Zone 2)

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Closed for Extended Bank Holiday Weekend!

28 Aug

Making the most of the last UK Bank Holiday before Christmas, yours truly is… enjoying a few days off!

No new Islington Film Location this week then, but feel free to peruse our previous posts and Islington’s Filmography to choose a movie to enjoy, discover which Movie Stars ‘Live’ in Islington, find out which of our Tube Stations appears on screen and which Films were recently shot in the borough!

If walking and wondering around Islington is more your thing, wherever you live or whichever area you fancy we will have covered it at some point. From Clerkenwell to Finsbury, Tufnell Park to Highbury or Holloway to St Luke’s, you can plan your walk with our Islington Film Locations Map.

 

  ‘Coming Soon’

To whet your appetite, in the next few weeks we will be spotting Gary Oldman’s House, having a date with Ricky Gervais, and travelling back in time with a 1933 black and white movie featuring not only a scene but also a song to the glory of one of Islington’s iconic landmark!

 

Usherettes 1

 

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at LightsCameraIslington(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

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Islington Film Locations: The Story so Far

5 Jun

As you get to read this post, yours truly is…

@Come_September PHOTO O

 

Although a film location, I am afraid to report that, as some of you may have noticed, it is not an Islington one. Indeed, I am enjoying a few days on the Italian Riviera, and San Fruttuoso in particular: the very same spot where Colin Firth had (another) swim in A Summer in Genova (2008).

Since this is the first break since launching Lights, Camera…Islington!, I thought it would be a good time to look back at the last few months.

So far we have talked about:

From comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Ladykillers and Happy Go Lucky to dramas such as Closer, Notes on a Scandal or V for Vendetta as well as documentaries, The London Nobody Knows, TV series and adverts, Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Mc Donald’s. Even Harry Potter stopped by!

  • 2 Filming in Progress Suffragette with Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter and Carrey Mulligan, and Absolutely Anything directed by Terry Jones with Simon Pegg in the lead role.
  • Awards Winners and Nominees ‘Made in Islington’: Golden Globes, BAFTA, Oscars, Berlin Film Festival you name them, we have them: Islington can be proud of its filmography.
  • A plethora of movie stars: Cate Blanchett, Dame Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Liam Neeson, Joan Collins, David Suchet, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, James Mason to name but a few.

I want to acknowledge here the collaboration of many of the blog’s followers who, by email, tweets, pictures, tips or spreading the word have and are contributing to Lights, Camera…Islington! Needless to say that the same goes for the public and private venues that have opened their doors to us.

Thank you as well to the follower who presented us recently with a very kind little detail.

MrX - iPhone Cover I

And there I was, hoping to remain anonymous when walking around the borough!

 

Usherettes 1

 

Fade Out

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

 

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The Shepherdess Café: Storm in a Tea Cup

29 May

This week, we are back in City Road flirting with our Hackney neighbours to visit one of our favourite Islington film location. In fact, one of our favourite Islington spots, full stop.

In Islington Arts & Media School Star among the Stars we saw how Richard Eyre’s Notes on a Scandal (2006) had used extensively IAMS, central to the story of teachers Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) and Barbara Covett (Judi Dench).

When not in classrooms or preparing lessons, what do teachers do? In some cases, and like most of us, they enjoy a good old cuppa. And where best to enjoy a good old cuppa than The Shepherdess Café on City Road?

Towards the beginning of the movie, after a hard day’s work, Barbara, Sheba and their colleague Sue (Joanna Scanlan) head off to their nearby caff. Not sure when looking at our Islington Film Locations Map, that The Shepherdess is the nearest local from Islington Arts & Media School nearby Finsbury Park but that’s movies for you!

 Notes on a Scandal - Shepherdress Cafe - FILM 02

Notes on a Scandal - Shepherdress Cafe - FILM 01

Notes on a Scandal - Shepherdress Cafe - MRX 01

Undoubtedly very characteristic The Shepherdess, which recently celebrated its 31st birthday, has become an institution in its own rights and counts numerous guest stars and VIPs among its customers as can be seen on its walls. Plus, bonus for Lights, Camera…Islington! It has starred in a number of films and adverts along the way.

Either as a starting point or a final destination for an Islington film locations tour, not only you can enjoy a cuppa in this good old greasy spoon, but you can also sit in Cate Blanchett or Judi Dench’s seat while enjoying an award-winning breakfast!

A BIG THANK YOU to Hussein and the Café staff for welcoming us and allowing us to take a few pics!

Shepherdress Cafe - MRX

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Sheperdess Café

221 City Road EC1V 1JN

Old Street Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to City Road and Old Street

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Cowcross Street: Jude Law lives Closer than you think

10 Apr

In our first post on Closer (2004), we left Dan (Jude Law) and Alice (Natalie Portman) outside Anna’s studio (Julia Roberts) in Westland Place, off City Road. We find Alice and Dan back in Islington later on in the movie.

After heartbreaks, affairs, and a few arguments along the way, Alice and Dan are eventually back together. However, one evening, as Dan keeps asking Alice the same question, the couple argues. In the end, Dan apologies and goes to make tea. While in the kitchen, Alice disappears.

When he realises it, he runs down the stairs behind her only to find out that she has vanished in the night.

The first shot we see from Jude Law outside his flat does not tell us much. We primarily see him, in the dark, with an open door behind him.

Closer - Cowcross Street - FILM 01

Closer - Cowcross Street - MRX 01

However, the following one, from a different angle, allows us to recognise the Victorian structure of Smithfield Market which is all lit up. Yes, Ladies & Gents, Jude Law lives in Cowcross Street!

Closer - Cowcross Street - FILM 02

Closer - Cowcross Street - MRX 02

That’s the Wrap!

This post is our last one on Closer but if you know otherwise, please do let me know.

 

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Cowcross Street EC1M 6DR

Farringdon Station (Zone 1)

Barbican Tube Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon Road and St John’s Street

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Liam Neeson rushes through Camden Passage

3 Apr

You may recall that in From Angel Station to Milano, we left Peter (Liam Neeson) a worried man. Following the passing of his wife, he had discovered that she probably had a lover. He wanted to find out who The Other Man (2008) might be and we had left him exiting Angel Station.

But then what next? Would we be lucky enough to spot him again in Islington?

Cinema has always been very good at tricking us, pretending to be somewhere when in fact the scene was shot in a studio or on the other side of the world. It would therefore not have been very surprising to see that on the next shot Liam Neeson was (already) in, say, Greenwich!

However, I am delighted to say that he stayed in Islington. In fact, Neeson follows a route that hundreds of locals and Londoners know very well. Once out of the station he walks past The Royal Bank of Scotland and goes through…Camden Passage!

The Other Man - Camden Passage - FILM

The Other Man - Camden Passage - MRX

Once one of London’s leading antique market destinations, Camden Passage has in more recent years welcomed a diverse range of vintage shops, cafes, restaurants, not to mentioned a British cheesemonger and a Chocolatier extraordinaire. If you haven’t done so already, it is definitely worth a visit the next time you come to Islington!

Having featured a number of times on the big screen Camden Passage will become another hot spot on our Islington Film Location Map. Just as well since I am yet to try half the cheeses on display there. You can take the boy out of France but…

That’s the Wrap!

This post is our last one on The Other Man but if you know otherwise, please do let me know.

Since the two sequences we talked about follow each other, here they are as they appear on screen.

The Other Man - Angel Tube Station - FILM

The Other Man - Camden Passage - FILM

 

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Camden Passage N1 8EA

Angel Tube Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel and Islington

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Myddelton Square’s Week with Meryl Streep

27 Mar

Today I was due to talk to you about a film shot in Myddelton Square and outside St Mark’s Church. I had it all planned for months, set in stone in my blog calendar: Thursday 27th March, Myddelton Square, The End of the Affair (1999) with Julianne Moore and Ralf Fiennes.

Hummm… maybe not. Let’s put it this way, we will still visit Myddelton Square and St Mark’s Church but for the time being we’ll forget about Julianne More and Ralf Fiennes. All this because I realised a few weeks ago that although I had drafted the text, selected the pictures from the movie, I was actually missing those from the location itself! As a result, making the most of a sunny afternoon, I made my way to yet another beautiful square of our borough.

As I arrived Myddelton Square some familiar yellow signs grabbed my attention.

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 01

Well, well, well…Parking spaces booked …for Filming…24 to 26 March… How interesting…

Back home, I started searching the Internet for any information I could possibly get. Eventually, some light at the end of the tunnel:  Suffragette…Biopic on Emmeline Pankhurst… First film to get permission to shoot inside Houses of Parliament…Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, not bad, not bad…MERYL STREEP? Oh oh oh…Now we’re talking.

Islington has had its fair share of Oscar and BAFTA winning movies and stars as we have seen on our blog, but this was different: filming was taking place on our doorsteps within days!

Another cause for celebration maybe is not only the fact that the shooting and such cast were coming to Islington this week, but also that Ruby Film and Television, an Islington based production company, based a stone’s throw from Myddelton Square, is behind such project. Although Islington Film Studios (later Gainsborough Studios) and Highbury Studios have long gone, Islington’s cinema industry is still going strong!

Ruby Film & TV Offices

Ruby Film & Television Offices

My initial excitement was short lived. The 24th, 25th and 26th March were all weekdays, i.e. workdays. I enlisted the help (and camera) of LadyPinkLondon who already contributes to this blog and who went to Myddelton Square during her spare time.

We are proud to present, ‘exclusively for the readers of Lights, Camera Islington!’ some behind the scenes pictures of what has been going on this week in Islington. This should keep you going until the release of Suffragette in 2015.

 

Before

Myddelton Square Before…

and After!

and After!

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 02

Setting the scene

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 06

Banners for the Suffragettes being delivered

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 09

A few vintage cars

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 08

a Police van

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 07

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 04

Lights ready and THE balcony…

And the Oscar goes to…

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 10

An Oscar ‘Made in Islington’ for Meryl?

Finally, some cast and suffragettes having a well deserved break between scenes

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 13

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 11

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 18

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 14 15 16

Selfie Time - Sadly no Meryl on this one!

Selfie Time – Sadly no Meryl on this one!

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 20

Extras outside St Mark’s Church

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 19

St Mark’s Church

CALL OUT: You live or work on Myddelton Square or nearby? You got involved in the shooting in one way or another? Maybe as an Extra or as a location? Was Meryl standing on your balcony? Carey outside your house? Should you be happy to share your experience with Lights, Camera…Islington!, we would LOVE to hear from you!

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Myddelton Square EC1R 1XP

Angel Tube Station (Zone 1)

King’s Cross Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel, Pentonville Road, Rosebery Avenue and St John’s Street

 

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Copenhagen Tunnel: The Ladykillers Part 2

20 Mar

In Frederica Street: Sweet Old Lady in 60,000 bank robbery! I explained how Ealing Studios’ classic The Ladykillers (1955) was dear to me: One of the first movie I saw after landing in the UK, one that reminded me of a bygone era and that I was over the moon when I realised it had been partly filmed in Islington’s Frederica Street.

Sadly, we also saw how this excitement was short lived when I walked to Frederica Street and realised that shortly after the filming the area had undergone a major redevelopment to give way to the Nailour Estate: Nothing remained from 1954.

Nothing? Hummm, maybe not. Despite all the changes around Frederica Street, if you look carefully, you will find that 60 years on something is still here: The Copenhagen Tunnel. The bridge and the mouths of the tunnel that stood right at the back of Mrs Wilberforce’s house, so crucial in the final stages of the film, can still be seen today.

The LadyKillers - Federica Street - House and Bridge - FILM

The LadyKillers - Bridge - FILM 01

Alec Guinness (Professor Marcus) and Herbert Lom (Louis)

The LadyKillers - Bridge - FILM 02

The LadyKillers - Bridge - MRX

Yes I confess, it is particularly difficult to reach since Frederic Street is no more but…where there is a will, there is a mean. The long option will take you via York Way and then Yale Road through the industrial estate.

A shorter and maybe more comfortable route might be to simply catch the Overground from the Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Station towards Camden Road. Within seconds of departing, looking north, you’ll see it.

The mouths of Copenhagen Tunnel from the Overground

The mouths of Copenhagen Tunnel
from the Overground

A final option might be to know someone living in the Bunning Way flats (off the former Frederica St) and who may let you have a sneak peek from their window or car park… you know my email.

CALL OUT: In an interview available online Tom Pevsner, Assistant Director on The Ladykillers, recalls that in Frederica Street, the crew “used rooms in various houses as dressing rooms, rest rooms for the artists, make-up, hair and all that fitted in and we were there for quite a long time.” (…)  I should think probably 3 or 4 weeks and the people got quite used to us and enjoyed it (…) I think all the people in Frederica Street or a lot of them knew each other (…).

Pictures found online show a tea party organised by the producers and attended by the cast for the schoolchildren of Frederica Street as a thank you for their co-operation during the many weeks of location shooting.

Frederica Street - The Ladykillers - Tea Party

Do you know anyone who lived in Frederica Street or the area back then? Anyone who may have opened their doors to the crew? Attended the tea party? We would LOVE to hear from them!

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Vale Royal, N7

Caledonian Road Tube Station (Zone 2)

Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Overground (Zone 2)

Many buses to Caledonian Road and York Way

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On Holloway Road, Mind the Driving Instructor #Enraha

13 Mar

In our first Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) post, we left Poppy (Sally Hawkins) confronting Scott (Eddie Marsan) about an earlier incident, outside her house in Mountgrove Road. Once in the car, with Scott behind the wheel, they disappeared onto Wilberforce Road towards Finsbury Park.

Where are they off to one wonders: Hackney? Islington? I am glad to say that you do not have to wait long to get the answer as it lies in the next shot. Here they are again, right in the heart of Islington: Holloway Road.

In fact, Poppy and Scott are at one of Islington’s busiest junction. we can spot them on Tollington Road, turning right onto Holloway Road towards Archway.

Happy Go Lucky - Holloway Road - Waitrose - FILM

Happy Go Lucky - Holloway Road - Waitrose - MRX

And if they have just turned right towards Archway, it would be reasonable to believe that they should next be seen around there, wouldn’t it? Well… they may still be in Islington, but not quite where ‘Enraha’ might expect them… To be continued!

Fade Out

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Holloway Road N7

Holloway Tube Station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Holloway Road

 

Related Happy-Go-Lucky posts

Mountgrove Road: A Vintage Sally Hawkins Lived Here

At Highbury Corner, Keep Your Lane!

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

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