How have links to literature, film or television influenced the
experience and management of heritage sites?
The practice of using Heritage sites as filming locations expanded in 1980s, with the success of shows like Brideshead Revisited . 1 The increased value and prestige they brought productions has since allowed this sector of the film industry to flourish in the decades that followed. 2 Through this, management and experience of the sites has evolved and adapted to accommodate not just conservation, but the phenomena of screen and literary tourism. 3 An association with a production has been studied to show an undeniable increase of visitor numbers in some cases and studies have since been conducted to analyse the impact of this. 4 This essay will
assess how this trend has impacted the management of sites and the experience
they henceforth provide, to present the overarching influence on the Heritage industry. 5 Through a study of various site management practices and how the
involvement impacts conservation, the combination of literature, film and television
will be presented as an ingrained combination for the management of these heritage
locations in the present day.
An indisputable impact on the management and experience of heritage sites
is the physical and logistical undertaking of accommodating production companies.
Planning and protection of the site is essential and management techniques have been developed over years of experience. 6 Independent film conservators handle
film crews for less experienced bodies whilst larger and tested organisations like the
1 Jerome De Groot, Consuming History: Historians and Heritage in Contemporary Popular Culture (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008), p. 211-2. See also Andrew Higson , English Heritage, English Cinema: Costume Drama since 1980 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 11. 2 Laura Hayley Reynolds, “Heritage on Film: The Impact on Historic Sites of Drama Filming for Television and Cinema,” Journal of Architectural Conservation , 22.1 (2016), 48 – 63 (p. 49). See also Erin Bell, “Televising History,” European Journal of Cultural Studies , 10.1 (2007), 5 – 140 (p. 5). 3 Claire Fry, ‘Lights, Camera, Conservation! Managing the Risks When Filming in Historic Locations: Adapting to Growth, a Pandemic, and the Need for Sustainability’, Studies in Conservation , 67.1 (2022), 77-86 (p. 585). See also Reynolds, p. 50. See also Olsberg SPI , Quantifying Film and Television Tourism in England (2015), <https://applications.creativeengland.co.uk/assets/public/resource/140.pdf> [accessed 12 July 2023]., p. 15-6. See also p. 1. 4 Reynolds, p. 51. See also Olsberg SPI , Quantifying Film and Television Tourism in England , p. 1. For studies, See Rosa Schiavone, ‘Beneath the storyline': analysing the role and importance of film in the preservation and development of Scottish heritage sites’, International Journal of Heritage Studies , 28.10 (2022), 1107-20. 5 De Groot, p. 150-1. 6 Fry, p. 580.
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