Bristol's Top 7 Shooting Locations
Bristol is a place that will seduce your audience, it will anger it, upset it, engage it and inspire it. It provides a whirlwind of emotions and settings that even video marketing becomes easy. It has been named a UNESCO City of Film, it is the place where Del Boy and Rodney became Batman and Robin, notorious graffiti artist, Banksy was born and UK hit teen drama, Skins was filmed. To us Bristol is the perfect location for any production.
Cumberland Close
This is a place even too good for Lonely Planet to know about; this is Cumberland Close. On the other side of the river, away from the bustling city centre, is one of Bristol’s hidden gems. It is here that nature and city life cohabit, with it’s beautiful colours, views of the river and big open archway. Rain or sun, it is a place that will give any video production what it wants. It can be a place of stories and adventures or it can be a place of melancholy and thought.
The Bear Pit
By day it is a place that shouts for justice and equality and by night it is a gathering place for the homeless community. As the sun goes down, homeless people gather in the tunnels and start settling in to prepare for the night, a time which sees them playing music, arguing, and shooting up. It becomes the dark reality of living in today's society that supposedly prides itself on democracy, equality and it’s support of those with mental health issues. It is Bristol’s sad yet greatest truth.
St.Andrews
In the words of Voltaire; ‘‘Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.’ To us this is St.Andrews, a place where city and nature coexist. Sitting in the midst of it’s Victorian buildings is St.Andrews park, a place renowned for bringing people together from all walks of life. From tightrope walkers, musicians, or Bristolians just enjoying a drink al-fresco. A short walk away are the Bristol allotments, a testament of Bristol’s community and love for the environment and nature. At night this is the spot to capture the city lights.
Clifton Suspension Bridge
111 years in the making, Brunel designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge to hang between the vast Avon Gorge and link Bristol to Leigh Woods, of North Somerset. From here you can see River Avon running through the city and the Westcountry countryside. It is a landmark with incredible views and a rich history, a place where you can always see tourists taking photos and locals having a beer, enjoying the calming and majestic views. Whether it’s a sunny, rainy or foggy day, Clifton Suspension Bridge creates the perfect setting for your film, highlighting the power of man and the beauty of nature.
As Brunel says; ‘It’s my first love, my darling.’
Harbourside
Beautiful views, festivals, hens parties and stag dos, Bristol Harbourside is the perfect place to capture the City’s life, character and people. Drawing the worlds creatives are the walls of the M-Shed on one side and the Arnolfini on the other, with pieces of creative genius and brilliant journalism. With its own love lock bridge, Wapping Wharf and Bristol Eye, Bristol Harbourside creates its own unique and maybe even better London.
College Green
Transporting you and your audience back to the start of the 1900’s with beautiful Edwardian architecture is the City’s Central Library and Bristol’s famous Cathedral. It’s here that undergraduates from Bristol’s famous universities come to graduate and celebrate their achievements. It is a place where City Hall reigns and MP’s gather to voice the people and decide on the City's future, (it is also the chill out area for the one and only Skins crew, UK’s hit teen drama).
Banksy
Bristol is a place of creativity, a place where your inner self comes to life, and a place where even the queen surrenders to her secret love; Ziggy Stardust. It is a place that features endless amounts of clever artwork, from political and satirical to contemporary murals. For Bristol, street art has become part of the City’s culture. Hosting events like ‘Upfest’, Europe’s largest street art festival, numerous amazing street art walking tours and many of Banksy’s works, Bristol guarantees a great background for any film.
What is your favourite Banksy piece in Bristol? Here are a few locations to help you figure it out.
● M Shed: Grim Reaper.
● Frogmore Street: Well Hung Lover.
● Bristol Museum and Art Gallery: Paint-Pot Angel.
● Stokes Croft: Mild Mild West.
● Easton: Masked Gorilla.
● Harbourside: The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum.
● Easton: Cat & Dog.
Filmmakers, Bristol will transport your audience to wherever you want them, it will open their minds and create a unique video production. So grab your cameras and get filming to tell us your favourite filming location in Bristol.
If you want to see some of these locations in action, then please feel free to watch one our recent production for Bristol 24/7 magazine, where we spoke to some inspirational Bristolians about their thoughts on the City: