Geek Cultural, a blog for discussion on all that's current in television shows, movies, comics, gaming and technology. Thanks a lot for stopping by.

Belfast, Northern Ireland. My Own Private Hollywood.

posted by Jonathan Mayne (Friday, July 27, 2012)

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Howdy folks.  And let me start with a brief announcement.  Starting this week I've decided to join the League of Extraordinary Bloggers.  Does this mean that over the past 7 days I've had delusions of grandeur and elevated my self importance on an epic scale?  Most certainly not I assure you.  Allow me to explain.  In its simplest terms, the League of Extraordinary Bloggers is a collective of like minded people that like to blog on a common topic.  This was something that I recently discovered through a blogging buddy of mine who's been part of said collective for a while now.  Why the sudden decision to do so?  Simple.  I started blogging primarily for one reason.  The opportunity to meet and chat with other like minded people, and what better way to do that than through a great initiative like this?

The format is simple.  Each week the league is given a topic (and usually a fairly open one) to discuss in their respective blogs.  Cool and Collected then collate these blog articles together and post links to their favourites on their site.  League members also post links to their favourites on their own blog posts in an attempt to better promote each other's work.  So starting this week I've decided to take part.  Obviously not every topic will be a perfect fit for Geek Cultural, but I'm hoping to contribute as much as I can.  Mostly though I'm just really looking forward to meeting other league members and promoting their work as I go.  So on to this week's league topic.  A photo assignment entitled "Things that are green."  In the absence of a lot of green coloured collectibles (I know, I can't explain it either), I decided to take a slightly different approach and think outside of the box a little.  So here's a photo of me standing in my green thing.





















"But it's just a forest" I hear you say.  Well that may be true, but this forest isn't just any old forest.  Right now this forest is also world famous.  Why?  Bear with me.  I'll get to that.  But let's start by talking about the country in which this forest is.  My place of birth and my current place of residence, Northern Ireland.

The modern history of Northern Ireland is well enough documented, so no need to overstate the fact or play the martyr.  But suffice to say that growing up in Belfast in the 1980's was a sobering experience.  The decade would see conflict on our streets reach the 20 year mark, not to mention the eventual decline of Harland and Wolff, one of Belfast's major sources of industry famous for building the Titanic.  These days the thought of hearing gunfire or explosions terrifies me, but at the time it seemed like normality.  The mid 90's would see an end to conflict and the beginning of a new era of rapid growth for Northern Ireland.  But even though the city may have began a period of political recovery, the thriving industry once brought to the city by Harland and Wolff never would.  So what's a large mass of baron wasteland to do?  They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  But what they don't tell you is that when a large mass of baron wasteland gives you a huge indoor space large enough to paint a ship, make movies.  Thankfully that's a conclusion we got to all by ourselves, as the decline of Harland and Wolff would have a strange side effect on the city.  A side effect that would bring a whole new industry to our shores.  The film industry.

And that's where the paint hall comes in.  Or as we call it these days, Titanic Studios.  What once was nothing but baron wasteland well..... still kinda is.  But that was little more than bad timing.  Huge growth opportunities were planned for the area right as global recession hit, so sadly we never got a chance to carry out the full redevelopment we had originally planned.  But hey, it's a start.  Seeing where the Titanic originally sailed from used to be a sombre affair.  Now we have this new museum, the height of which is said to be to scale with the Titanic.





















Down the road slightly and from roughly the same distance back in this photograph is Titanic Studios.





















What film studios realised was that this huge indoor space would be big enough for them to build their own locations to use as film sets.  Films including City of Ember and Your Highness.  These days however it's used to shoot a more minor cable show.  What's that show called again?  Oh that's right.  Game of Thrones!

Yes friends and fellow bloggers, my green thing is a forest in Northern Ireland.  The country which is home to 80% of the filming of Game of Thrones.  And what a beautiful win win situation that is for Northern Ireland, bringing an estimated £43 million into the local economy so far.  Long may this arrangement continue.  Oh, and as for my statement about the world famous forest I'm standing in?  That's Winterfell!

As an added extra (and just cause I like to shamelessly plug tourism in this county), the eagle eyed among you may also recognise the backdrop of this location from various shots in Game of Thrones.  Yeah it's missing a bunch of CGI buildings on top but you get the idea.  This is the Giant's Causeway in the North Antrim coast.  Plus it's also green.





















Anyone else in Northern Ireland thrilled that we play a part in the making of Game of Thrones?  How about the rest of you?  What geek related claims have you got in your own home towns?  Have your say in the comments section.

And now for some link related love.  My three favourite posts from the league this week and worthy of a click:

• Infinite Hollywood - With quite possibly my favourite collection of green collectibles from the league.  The kind of collection I wish I'd had before writing this post!
• shezcrafti - Showcasing the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures for the upcoming Nickelodeon show.
• Dork Horde - Who only recently opened some green zombie toys purchased at Comic-Con. Shame on you for not opening them sooner.  They look awesome!

Labels: Movies, Television Shows, The League of Extraordinary Bloggers

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