Highland reel How Covid couldn’t stop film cameras rolling in Scotland
BAFTA Scotland is to celebrate the work of a location guru who brought the country’s unique charms to the big screen and TV on countless occasions
WITH an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of Scotland’s landscape, heritage sites and architecture, Lloret MacKenna Dunn has helped cast the nation in a starring role for a stream of household name films and television programmes.
As an award-winning location manager for nearly 30 years, she has scoured the country to find the perfect backdrop for movies ranging from Outlaw King to T2 Trainspotting, Fast & Furious 6 to Netflix comedy Eurovision, when she helped move the SSE Hydro from Glasgow and plopped it in the heart of Edinburgh.
While on television, she has found locations that have brought scripts to life, such as the stunning house on the edge of Loch Long which almost stole every scene in BBC One’s surrogacy thriller, The Nest.
Having put the nation’s scenery on the screen, Dunn – whose role will be showcased in a short film which will open the BAFTA Scotland Awards on Tuesday – admits there are challenges in finding unspoiled spots that haven’t been used before and, crucially, aren’t already occupied by campervans and tents.
“It’s not always easy to find new places,” says the Hamilton-based location expert. “But what is fascinating is no two scripts are alike. So, although we might have been to a certain house or place, one production will be distinct from the other.”
However, she adds, “a huge part of the location is dealing with the public.”
Such as on the Isle of Skye, where tourist numbers have shot through the roof meaning anyone trying to grab a perfect Instagram shot of the Fairy Pools, for example, will either have to rise at the crack of dawn or be content with having stray people photobomb their shot.
That can be tricky for anyone trying to capture Scotland’s wild beauty, never mind set up camp for a major production.
“Skye is an amazing island,” adds Dunn. “The people are fantastic. But the problem in Skye is that we can’t find accommodation.”
She will reveal how she finds the perfect location in a short film to be screened prior to the live-stream of the British Academy Scotland Awards, the annual celebration of the nation’s film, games and television industry.
EE Film Stories: BAFTA Scotland will follow Oban-born Dunn, location scout Amelia Jacobsen, from Edinburgh, and location assistant Evie Harkins, from Glasgow, as they visit five locations and reveal how the latest network innovations enabled them to work through the pandemic. It will show how behind-thescenes professionals like Dunn are vital to bringing a script and director’s vision to life.
Dunn’s credits include T2 Trainspotting, Sky Atlantic drama Patrick Melrose, Outlaw King, Stag, World War Z, The
Jacket and Doomsday. As well as searching for the best location, she handles necessary permits for filming, liaises with authorities over road closures, works with residents and businesses, and troubleshoots problems.
In the case of World War Z, it meant working around countless city shoppers and commuters as they transformed one of Glasgow’s busiest areas into Philadelphia.
“One of the issues with World War Z was that people take a train every day into Glasgow – how could we notify them in advance that they just can’t walk straight across George Square?,” she recalls. “So, you have to get to know all the Glasgow streets in the area and tell people which roads they can go down instead.
“Then there are the tourists in Skye and Glencoe. There’s a lot of planning and we try to work as far in advance as possible.”
There have been times when she’s had to approach campers who pitched up in a remote spot unaware that it was planned for a shoot the next day and advise them that they might want to move or risk finding themselves surrounded by 20 trucks and a film crew.
Luckily, she has almost total recall for just about every part of Scotland, and an eye for knowing how subtle tricks might transform even unlikely spots to fit the script. Such as turning Glasgow’s Barras into a New York meat market complete with carcasses and piles of rubbish for Sky Atlantic drama Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. George Square became Philadelphia for World War Z, while a road in Grangemouth doubled as a US highway, bringing locals in droves to spot Brad Pitt racing past the pipes and chimneys of the local oil refinery.
For Netflix’s biopic about Robert the Bruce, Mugdock Country Park near Milngavie became the scene of the 1307
Battle of Loudoun Hill.
She is currently working on finding suitable locations in Edinburgh for a film that will tell the story of how researcher Philippa Langley uncovered the final resting place of King Richard III underneath a Leicester car park.
Starring Steve Coogan as Langley’s husband, The Last King comes from the same award-winning team of Coogan, Stephen Frears and Jeff Pope who were behind 2013’s Philomena, which landed four Oscar nominations.
Despite the pressures placed on the most popular locations, Dunn says there are still fantastic spots for professional and amateurs to explore in Scotland.
Some are closer to home than we might think. “I have huge fondness for Perth, it has lovely architecture, rivers, castles, I love it,” she says. “And during lockdown I discovered one of my favourites places was right at home in Hamilton.
“I’d never entered Chatelherault Country Park from Barncluith. It was like something out of The Hobbit.”
What is fascinating is no two scripts are alike. So, although we might have been to a certain house or place, one production will be distinct from the other
The BAFTA Scotland Awards will take place on Tuesday, December 8 and will be live-streamed from 7pm on BAFTA’s Facebook and YouTube followed by highlights on BBC Scotland at 11pm