Earth's geography for WOT

[Red States Rule!]

Alright, everyone's thrown out their threads on who would play the characters in a movie.

 

Where would the lands be set in reality, under the impression that the movie doesn't have to be in one country like LOTR?

 

Sorry Zealanders.

 

Shayol Ghul- Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho (with a computer Shayol Ghul)

 

Spine of the World- Himalayas or Sierra Nevadas

 

Caralain Grass- perhaps the Russian steppe

 

the Aiel Waste- Great Basin Desert, Nevada

 

Tar Valon would be completely computerized.

 

Mayene- Everglades National Park, Florida

 

the Blight- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming..... near the steam vents. Blasted and sparsely tree lands, mountains. Take out the water. Yeah, I know. A stretch.

[Blade]

I'd have to say the aiel waste is more of an arizona place. I live in Arizona and everything it seems to talk about in the waste I can relate to some animal or plant in Arizona.

[Red States Rule!]

I thought so too, but parts of Arizona. Saguaro wouldn't work- too much life.

 

Maybe more like Monument Valley.

[aronsamma]

the blight - chernobyl

[Inara]

too cold, chernobyl is in russia

[Guest Majsju]

Chernobyl is in Ucraine, not Russia.

[flexxx]

Plus contrary to what you may think there's a lot of normal vegetation in the Chernobyl area. It dont look like the blight at all.

[aronsamma]

that's true, but it's still not safe to eat or anything. That's just the only place on earth that can compare to the blight; at least that I can think of...

 

and cold wouldn't show on a movie. I'm sure for the safety of the actors they wouldn't (or couldn't, legally) film there anyway.

[Guest cwestervelt]

I would say the lava fields in Iceland for Shayol Ghul.

 

http://www.lamedon.de/urlaub/island/is-o11_en.html

[Red States Rule!]

Good one, CW. My experience is primarily with US geography, as I'm the only fool I personally know that can name all 58 national parks.

[Luckers]

I think Australia for the Aiel Waster... something very like the rock formations mentioned in the book can be found in certain parts of central Australia.

 

The Two Rivers has an England-esque feel--so naturally film it in New Zealand.

 

Tear--the Niall (sp?) delta in Egypt.

[Guest Majsju]

The Two Rivers: I'd go with somewhere in the southern half of Sweden. The climate and vegetation is more is more similar to England than New Zeeland, and Sweden has the benefit of LOTR Not been filmed there...

 

The Borderlands: Northern India. The foot of Himalaya is free from snow in summer, but still with the felling of being a rather chilly place.

 

Aiel Waste: The Star Wars geek in me shouts Tunisia, and using the same location where the Tatooine-scenes were shot in ep4. The city used to portray Mos Eisley could easily be used to show a Hold.

But it's probably better to go with Australia, I suppose not everyone would appreciate such a nod to SW :D

[Kaznen]

I think all the landscapes in WoT could be done in New Zealand. A lot more then LotR was done in New Zealand. Hercules: The Lengendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess was all done in New Zealand and they used a variety of landscapes during their runs.

 

SG could be done in the same place as Mordor. And any special landscapes could be made in a studio like Dagoba(?) in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

[Blade]

I'm going to throw a few more arguements out there for why the aiel waste is Arizona. For one, there is the animal that the wise one is hunting when Egwene stumbles on her in TAR. The description of the animal was as far as I can tell, identical to javelinas which inhabit arizona. Also, there was the talk of the poisonous lizard, which matches up with the gila monster here. There are also a wide mixture of very poisonous animals that inhabit arizona, and the countryside described by it seems to be a pretty good match for it as well. plus Robert Jordan was an American, therefore, he's more likely to base it on the geography that he knows, thus southwestern u.s.

[Llewin]

This is a great question and a nice change from the role-casting tht seems to get done over and over and over :)

 

If we were being realistic I think everything in the movies would be shot in one country or one group of connected countries (Like the European Union)...

 

If we arent being realistic then of course you can pick anywhere you want for each place...

 

Keeping somewhat to realism though, the blue ridge mountains in the central east /southeast of the US is a small mountain range which regularly appears 'misty' and I think for that reason that a valley in West Virginia would be a great fit for the Two Rivers area...

 

I suppose MT Fuji and the surrounding area could be used for Dragonmount / Tar Valon, although I agree the city itself would probably have to be done with CG..

 

the various Ogier groves would have to be done in the old growth forests of the Northwest or in the Redwood National Park...

 

Actually to be honest apart from a SERIOUS desert environment I'm willing to bet that the Northwest region of the United States (and Washington State, in particular) could be used for the whole movie... WA state has within it every known climactic region in the world accept Saharan? True fact! :)

[Guest cwestervelt]

This is a great question and a nice change from the role-casting tht seems to get done over and over and over :)

 

If we were being realistic I think everything in the movies would be shot in one country or one group of connected countries (Like the European Union)...

 

If we arent being realistic then of course you can pick anywhere you want for each place...

 

Keeping somewhat to realism though' date=' the blue ridge mountains in the central east /southeast of the US is a small mountain range which regularly appears 'misty' and I think for that reason that a valley in West Virginia would be a great fit for the Two Rivers area...

 

I suppose MT Fuji and the surrounding area could be used for Dragonmount / Tar Valon, although I agree the city itself would probably have to be done with CG..

 

the various Ogier groves would have to be done in the old growth forests of the Northwest or in the Redwood National Park...

 

Actually to be honest apart from a SERIOUS desert environment I'm willing to bet that the Northwest region of the United States (and Washington State, in particular) could be used for the whole movie... WA state has within it every known climactic region in the world accept Saharan? True fact! :)[/quote']

 

I've always pictered the Mountains of Mist as being much more rugged than the Blue Ridge.

[Llewin]

I've always picture it as a sort of quiet, small, quaint area... and they are not the sort of mountain range you get in the Rockies or Alps...

[Red States Rule!]

The Cascades are the Alps of America.

[Llewin]

Living in Washington State I'd agree *grin* Though I hear the northern Rockies in Canada are said to feel very much like the Alps... but again... I dont picture the mountains of mist being that sort of mountain range...

[Red States Rule!]

So we have the Mountains of Mist being larger than the Blue Ridge, and yet smaller than the Rockies or Cascades.

 

By default that makes it also smaller than the Sierra Nevadas.

 

Perhaps something in the middle? Smokies and near Mt. Mitchell, NC? Higher than the Blue Ridge, yet way smaller than the Cascades or Rockies.

 

The height of the Black Hills would be good, but a different fauna.

 

I don't picture the Mountains of Mist with a snow line. Anyone know the lowest snow line in America?

 

I know that Mt. Olympus in Olympic National Park has an extremely low snow line and icefield, but that is because of the rain and where it is, so I can't compare it. Yet the height of Olympus (9000 ft range) is what I think of when I think of the Mountains of Mist, and perhaps even the upper reaches of the Blight.

[Llewin]

There are some smaller ranges in the south of oregon/north of california... check these images out of the kamath/siskiyou mountains...

 

http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~joel/g148_f05/readings/cal_veg/klamath_ranges1_mid.jpg

 

http://seis.natsci.csulb.edu/deptweb/SkinnyCalSites/overpics/P0000963.jpg

 

http://geography.sierra.cc.ca.us/booth/California/landform_provinces/thopeak.jpg

 

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/leveson/core/topics/sedimentary/display/graphics/klamaths_7.gif

 

http://www.tdl.com/~wako/bigblu.jpg

 

http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/geophoto/glacial/Oregon.jpg

 

http://www.roguerivertrips.info/photos/Mt_Thielsen.jpg

 

http://www.redwoodcoast.biz/images/photos/enlarged/biorgn3.jpg

[Guest cwestervelt]

The redwoodcoast.biz image tends to fit a little closer to what I always pictured form the Mountains of Mist.

[Llewin]

Well of course the clouds and mist can always be doctored in post-production though :)

[Red States Rule!]

Yes, that's a good height. South of Crater Lake and north of Redding, save Shasta, and to the west.

[susie]

Once again, I am surprised that I am not the only soul with thoughts along this line. I guess that I need to start getting over the surprise.

 

I never actually have taken the time to envision what things would look like or who could possibly represent these characters. I probably dismiss it as an unequivocal representation of what I hold in my head. It certainly wouldn't be the same as watching a movie for a singleton type of book - not to mention the story line and character development... could it really be accomplished? (There I go with my blah, blah, blah again – sorry.)

 

I am willing to agree that the Himalayas are stunning. Frankly, I know nothing of the Sierra Nevada range.

 

Given that, I have always envisioned the Spine of the World as something similar to the Rocky Mountains, personally. Along the lines of relating it literally to a spine, the Continental Divide exists there; you know the point in which the flows of the rivers divide.... :)

 

The division of the continent is not the only factor, but the span of the range has also made the correlation for me. Spanning from the north ends of North America through Central America (and since I am not that keen on geography, I would hate to forget that it might span into South America).

 

Now, a matter of filming - well, maybe up in Wyoming. Wyoming seems a bit desolate, compared to here (CO), and in my head, it is a suitable model for land not yet settled.

 

But hey, that's just me.