“On Location” Filming in San Diego County from 1985–2005: How a Cinematic Landscape Is Formed Through Incorporative Tasks and Represented Through Mapped Inscriptions

Abstract

The form of San Diego County's cinematic landscape is shaped by processes of inscription, whereby particular representational techniques are brought to bear, but also by processes of incorporation, which can be understood as the off-camera decisions, tasks, and events that allow for filming to take place. One of the primary tasks involves selecting sites with a high level of production value while minimizing costs and fulfilling the needs of the script. The San Diego Film Commission (SDFC), which aids filmmakers in the tasks required to produce films, is a key entity in shaping this region's cinematic landscape. Where geography often focuses on how a film inscribes meaning and identity into its form, I show how the form of a region's cinematic landscape extends beyond a single filmic event to engage a multiplicity of representations, tasks, and practices. I use a mixed method approach, including spatial analysis to examine and map the inscripted form of San Diego's cinematic landscape. In-depth interviews and fieldwork were used to evaluate how a location's production value plays a key role in the formative process of incorporative tasks of an ever-changing landscape.