Diksha Sundriyal
HBO is known for creating some of the best shows in the business, and a lot of time, money and effort goes into the production. The network never shies away from bringing the best for the audience and gives its all in creating the shows that everyone grows to love. The latest in this line is ‘Watchmen’. Created by Damon Lindelof, it is based on the comic series of the same name by Alan Moore. Despite its connection to the world created by Moore, the show takes a different tone and setting and creates its own unique story in the process.
At the centre of it is a woman named Angela Abar who is secretly a police officer. Secretly because the cops have the danger of being attacked, so they have to cover up themselves with masks, in order to protect themselves from the criminals who will not hesitate from coming after them and their family.
The show scrapes off the concept of people with superpowers but does deal with vigilantism and the need for masks. Racism is one of the most important themes of the story, and keeping in sync with it, the story has been set in Tulsa. Meanwhile, there is also an arc regarding a reclusive aristocrat who lives in a castle and entertains himself by writing plays and making his clones play it out for him.
Watchmen Filming Locations
The scale of the story presented by ‘Watchmen’ is staggering. It creates an alternate world where things are somewhat like they are in our world, but still very different. To bring such a story on the screen, an equally impressive background is needed. For any show or film to work wonders, the locations must complement the storyline. Of course, HBO recognises that responsibility, which is why they allowed their team to seek out places that would bring out the soul of the story in the best way possible. You can watch all episodes of ‘Watchmen’ on HBO. Here are the locations used for filming the series.
Atlanta, Georgia
‘Watchmen’ is primarily set in Tulsa, and the place that served for most of its location is Georgia, Atlanta. The series begins with the horrific Tulsa massacre, an event which is of great significance for the plot of the show as well of the message it wants to send. The filming for the scene took place in Cedartown in Polk County. Another important flashback scene in the series is that of the squid disaster in New York City.
In the fifth episode, we are taken to Hoboken where millions of people die after a giant squid falls out of another dimension on New York City. The filming of the street fair took place in Newnan in Washington Street.
Decatur served as various important locations in the show. The funeral scene for Crawford was shot at the Decatur Cemetery. The Milk and Hanoi Bakery, which serves as the cover job for Sister Night, and also as sort of her Batcave where she keeps her costume and interrogates her grandfather is located in the East Court Square. The Peachtree City East Point was used to film the trailer park scene, which comes into play in a couple of episodes at the beginning of the series. Other filming locations for the series include places like Macon, Fayetteville, Palmetto, Brooks and Tucker. For interior shots, Atlanta Metro Studios in Union City was employed.
Wales, UK
While most of the scenes of ‘Watchmen’ have Tulsa as the background, there is a section of the story that takes place in an as yet unidentified location in the world of the show. This section follows the story of Adrien Veidt, who has been spending his days alone, with his clones, in a castle that seems to be in the middle of nowhere. He is forbidden to get out of its boundary, and it acts as his prison, to escape from which he uses all methods possible, including throwing himself on Jupiter’s moon to ask for help! This particular location plays an important role in the story, and it is the place that has not been used on the screen before.
The Penrhyn Castle and its gardens in Bangor serve as the majestic abode of the mysterious billionaire who is responsible for a number of bad things in the world. Situated in Wales, the castle had seen better days, but after becoming a key location in the HBO show, it has caught the fancy of fans and travellers who want to visit the place. Though many scenes were shot on location, there were times when they had to recreate the place using a 3D model, especially when it came to the filming of CGI scenes. The scene where Veidt goes out into the lake and comes back with a foetus for the clone is filmed in Atlanta. The rest of the arc is all in Wales.
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