Placing Fandom : Film Tourism in Contemporary Fan Culture

Film tourism – visiting places associated with a film or television show – is an increasingly visible and popular practice. It is now almost expected whenever a new movie or television show draws on a particular place as a setting. But how are these places experienced by the fans who make these journeys? And as the practice grows, what role can these places play in contemporary fandom? This dissertation investigates these questions using three case studies of fantastic film tourism – _Game of Thrones_ film tourism in Dubrovnik and Northern Ireland, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, and Portmeirion, filming location for 60s cult favorite _The Prisoner_. Through interviews, participant observation on site, and online textual analysis, I show how the imaginative experience of these places creates a personal, embodied encounter with all the facets of the text, and how they can become “places of fandom” that structure the contemporary fan experience in certain ways. In doing so, I present a new understanding of our relationship with media, imaginative worlds, and physical place

Immersion, authenticity and the theme park as social space: Experiencing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

This article examines the visitor experience of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWOHP) theme park at Universal Studios Orlando. The park is hugely popular and has been embraced by the series’ devoted but critical fanbase. Prior research on theme parks has generally focused on critiques of their form, leading to a limited understanding of their appeal. This article asks how fan-visitors interpret this simulated environment, and what leads them to embrace it. It does this with an ethnographic approach, utilizing in-depth interviews with 15 visitors combined with participant observation. We show how WWOHP is understood by its visitors as an adaptation of the series into physical space, via the medium of the theme park, and how the visitor’s experience is shaped through use of ironic imagination. In doing so, we present a new understanding of the immersive media experience of theme parks

Fan homecoming: analyzing the role of place in long-term fandom of The Prisoner

This article investigates the potential role and use of place in long-term fandom, via a case study of fans of The Prisoner and its main filming location of Portmeirion in North Wales. Much research on film tourism focuses on one-time encounters, but fans of The Prisoner have been visiting and revisiting Portmeirion regularly for over 50 years, potentially developing a different sort of relationship with it. Based on interviews with 16 long-term fans of The Prisoner and participatory observation on site, we develop the concept of the “fan homecoming,” a return visit to a familiar fandom-related place, and show how this relationship with place can shape long-term fandom. In facilitating repeated and ritualized practices, being able to regularly gather with other fans, and providing a “safe vault” for the fandom and its memories, place is shown to have an integral role

Fandom

This entry presents an overview of the development and current state of fan studies, exploring the “reverse image” of media effects. The field of fan studies offers the ultimate rebuttal of the traditional media effects-model, by stressing the independence, agency and power of media consumers vis-à-vis media producers. After providing a short historiography of the discipline, this entry dives deeper into three themes that have been central to discussions within fan studies since its early beginnings: fan fiction, fan communities, and places of fandom

Placing fandom: Reflections on film tourism

This chapter is a reflection on the experience and practice of film tourism based on the insights of a four-year study on the topic. I suggest that to understand much contemporary film tourism, it is necessary to understand both fandom and tourism practice. In this chapter, this is done through the discussion of two related research questions: How, and in what different ways, do film tourists experience places related to their object of fandom, and what role do film-related places play in contemporary fandom? These questions are explored through the use of three case studies of “fantastic” film tourism - Game of Thrones tourism in Dubrovnik and Northern Ireland, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, and The Prisoner fans in Portmeirion - which are here compared and contrasted. For the first question, I explore what I call the modes of the “imaginative experience” of film tourism, hyperdiegetic, production, and historical, and show how these three ways of experiencing places interact with each other and, most importantly, connect to the embodied nature of film tourism. In reflecting on the second question, I look at how the potential of this individual embodied experience affects the broader fan groups, discussing what it means for a fandom to “have a place” and what it might suggest about future directions for not only the tourism industry but the media industry as well. In doing so, this chapter presents a more holistic reflection on the state of contemporary film tourism, drawing together different cases and aspects in order to indicate what is important about film tourism today and where it is heading in the future

Placing fandom: Reflections on film tourism

This chapter is a reflection on the experience and practice of film tourism based on the insights of a four-year study on the topic. I suggest that to understand much contemporary film tourism, it is necessary to understand both fandom and tourism practice. In this chapter, this is done through the discussion of two related research questions: How, and in what different ways, do film tourists experience places related to their object of fandom, and what role do film-related places play in contemporary fandom? These questions are explored through the use of three case studies of “fantastic” film tourism - Game of Thrones tourism in Dubrovnik and Northern Ireland, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, and The Prisoner fans in Portmeirion - which are here compared and contrasted. For the first question, I explore what I call the modes of the “imaginative experience” of film tourism, hyperdiegetic, production, and historical, and show how these three ways of experiencing places interact with each other and, most importantly, connect to the embodied nature of film tourism. In reflecting on the second question, I look at how the potential of this individual embodied experience affects the broader fan groups, discussing what it means for a fandom to “have a place” and what it might suggest about future directions for not only the tourism industry but the media industry as well. In doing so, this chapter presents a more holistic reflection on the state of contemporary film tourism, drawing together different cases and aspects in order to indicate what is important about film tourism today and where it is heading in the future