When you’re asked to find 18th-century France, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Russia, but mainly across London and the UK, you know the location brief is going to be an interesting one.
Napoleon, directed by Sir Ridley Scott and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, was one of those extraordinary location jobs where Britain had to become a large part of Europe.
And Russia.
No pressure.
The location brief was huge. We were looking for palaces, grand interiors, churches, cathedrals, period streets, landscapes and battlefields that could help recreate Napoleon’s world on screen.
The film was shot entirely on location, with filming taking place across London and the UK, as well as Malta and Morocco.
What I love about location scouting is seeing that first photograph of an empty space and then, months later, seeing what a director and production designer have created from it.
On Napoleon, those hands belonged to Sir Ridley Scott and legendary Production Designer Arthur Max.
Below are some of my original location scout photographs compared with the finished scenes from the film.
Scouting the Filming Locations for Napoleon
Director: Sir Ridley Scott
Production Designer: Arthur Max
Studio: Apple Original Films
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby
Filming Locations: London, UK, Malta and Morocco
Location Brief: To recreate a variety of 18th-century European locations, predominantly France, but also Belgium, Austria, Italy and Russia, using locations across London and the UK.
Britain has an extraordinary range of historic architecture, but finding a beautiful building is only the beginning.
A location has to work for the scene.
It has to work for Ridley’s cameras, Arthur’s design, the cast, hundreds of crew, lighting, horses, carriages, action, access, parking and all the other practical realities that never make it onto the screen.
And then, somehow, it has to look like France.
Or Italy.
Or Russia.
Sometimes all in the same film.
From Location Scout Photo to Finished Film
This is the part I always find fascinating.
The scout photograph is the starting point. You’re looking at an empty location and trying to imagine what it could become.
Months later, the Production Designer, Art Department, construction, dressing, costume, lighting and VFX have completely transformed it.
On Napoleon, Arthur Max and his team had the enormous task of recreating Napoleon’s Europe.
Below, I’ve put some of my original location scout photographs alongside the actual scenes from the finished film.
For me, this is location scouting in its simplest form.
You find the possibility.
Then a lot of very talented people turn it into something extraordinary.
Filming Napoleon Across the UK
One of the great challenges of a film like Napoleon is scale.
You’re not simply finding a period house or a nice landscape. You’re helping create a world that has to move between countries, palaces, military campaigns and battlefields while still feeling like one coherent film.
Locations across the UK played a major role in creating that world.
The remarkable thing is how little of England you feel you’re watching in the finished film.
That’s the magic of a great location, brilliant production design and Ridley Scott behind the camera.
Finding the World Before the Cameras Arrive
I’ve spent almost 30 years scouting locations for film and television, and I still love comparing my original scout photographs with the finished scene.
At the scouting stage there are no costumes, no extras and no armies.
Usually it’s just me, a camera and a location.
You’re trying to imagine what isn’t there yet.
That’s probably the best part of the job.
And on Napoleon, watching locations across London and the UK become 18th-century France, Austria, Italy and Russia was quite something.
The location is where it starts.
What happens next is the magic of filmmaking.
