18th May 2012
Inception Begins in Bedford
Christopher Nolan’s much anticipated Sci-fi Thriller Inception, which filmed on location at Cardington Airship Hangar in Bedford, is released nationwide on July 16th
7th Jul 2010
Academy Award nominated Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a skilled thief who is the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious. With his rare ability costing him everything he has ever loved, Cobb is offered a chance at redemption, one last job that could give him back his life. Can the impossible be accomplished, not to steal an ideal but to plant one? This summer, your mind is the scene on the crime.
Written and directed by Oscar nominee Christopher Nolan, who was educated at Haileybury College in Hertfordshire, began creating the world of Inception almost a decade ago. After becoming fascinated with the subject of dreams, Nolan proceeded to apply this fascination to a grand scale action film. The production of Inception circled the globe, with filming taking place in six countries on four continents including Morocco, Canada, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and the UK.
For the third time, Nolan returned to Cardington Airship Hangars in Bedford, where he had previously filmed sequences for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It was the sheer scale offered by Cardington that allowed Nolan to accommodate the intricate sets that would test everyone’s perception of up, down and sideways. One of the most complicated sets was a long hotel corridor that was able to rotate a full 360 degrees to create the effect of zero gravity. There was also a revolving hotel bedroom set and a set for the hotel’s elevator shaft which, using Cardington’s existing infrastructure, the crew were able to construct the elevator chute horizontally along one uninterrupted wall of the hangar.
The film friendliness and diverse range of locations available in the East of England means that Hollywood blockbusters such as Inception are regularly filming on location in the region. Screen East, the regional screen agency for the East of England, estimates £38.5 million has been generated in the regional economy during 2009/10 as a result of film and television location filming, which includes films such as Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part I and Gulliver’s Travels, both of which are due for release later this year.
Kerry Ixer, Head of Locations and Inward Investment at Screen East, said: “Despite the challenging environment for television, which has had an impact on location filming activity in some areas, feature film is alive and well. This has resulted in a record year for location filming in 2009/10 giving local East of England businesses a valuable economic boost through location fees and the purchase of local skills and services. For that reason we are always on the lookout for new locations, regardless of the condition the property is in”.
