I’ve had this one sitting on my brain for awhile. It might be hard to explain, but as we all know I’m going to try. Have you ever watched a movie or tv show and just felt like the setting was a vital, unforgettable part of that movie?
Well I have. So, who cares if you have or not? The one that really started my thinking about this was Batman Begins. After seeing The Dark Knight, I was talking a LOT about Batman in general and of course comparisons to BB showed up. One thing I noticed after watching both again was that Gotham City played an enormous part in the first film. We saw great shots of Gotham, you could feel the grit, grime, and pain that the city felt and head dealt upon its citizens. Part of that was really necessary because of the setting for the film and for the origin of this new Batman. We had to know he had an ideal of this metropolis that had fallen hard. Remember at the end of the film, you saw the Narrows and it was just a perfect example of how the city had fallen and what Batman was fighting to change. The transformation of Gotham contributed heavily to the transformation of Bruce in to Bats. Good job Chris Nolan!
The most clear instance of having a character feel like such an integral part of the movie or medium is Hogwarts. For all you HP fans, I think you know what I mean. Hogwarts literally has a voice (ghosts, paintings) and contributes heavily to the feel created in Potterverse. When you see or even read about Hogwarts you get that magical feeling and the location can literally morph in tons of ways. I mean they can make the roof of the 
dining hall see-through to the sky. Awesome! But really Hogwarts can afford emotion, it can look either like a shiny castle or a haunted house. I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty cool. Go Hogwarts. I’m thinking about maybe enrolling in a Ph.D. program there in Defense Against the Dark Arts personally when I see that top pic. And for the bottom one I’m thinking I’m gonna need some backup from my boys Winston, Egon, Ray, and Peter. I like that. It’s a good thing. It makes it so much more ALIVE and real. Good job JK.
That’s what I think anyways, am I crazy? Have you seen this in any movie, tv show, book?
a humble request…(for anyone not allowing this post through–not spam–)
Anyone happen to know who Secret Dubai (the blogger: secretdubai.blogspot.com) is?
http://whoissecretdubai.blogspot.com/
Hey you! I love HP too! What’s more, I met a couple from Newcastle and they told me there’s where “Hogwarts” is.
I’ll register in that class too! Beware!
LOST, duh. The island is a crucial player in all things LOST. From Smokey to the wildlife to “disappearing,” the mysterious island is as much a character as Jack, Sayid, or Kate.
The ceiling in the dining hall is actually enchanted so that it LOOKS like a sky (rain, cloudy, starry, etc). Obviously you need to read the books more.