Released in 2012, the American version of the German fable Snow White And The Huntsman was made under the direction of Rupert Sanders and was also his directorial debut. The story starred actress Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Clafin, and many others who performed terrifically and seemed almost perfect for their roles.
In this retelling of the tale, Snow White grows up in her stepmother’s castle, locked completely with no contact with the outside world. But when news spreads of the stepmother, played by Charlize Theron, wanting to rip out the gorgeous Snow White’s heart and be immortal forever, the latter decides to escape. But with zero knowledge of the outside world, Snow White gets stuck in an enchanted forest while the Queen orders the huntsman to hunt her down.
The huntsman ends up protecting the runaway daughter instead of going through with the Queen’s orders, and the two work together to end the Queen’s cruel ways. The movie got a lot of praise for its VFX and production used, though the dialogues seemed a bit awkward in a lot of places. The movie at the time was nominated by the Oscars for Best Visual Effects and Best Costume.
The movie is definitely a visual treat with its backdrop and the gorgeous cast, along with some of the scenes shot in the frozen forest, are like a dream come true. So, the movie captures the essence of how a fairytale should look and feel like a fairy well. But is the story all that memorable, and does it have a proper pace and direction? This is debatable.
While many feel that the movie is a dream and that Charlize Theron has managed to perfectly present the rage her character is supposed to feel, there are others who believe that the film has used VFX to the extent that it has become a visual mess and that it is indecisive on where it wants to go. If you are curious to know where this magical retelling of the tale was filmed, then continue reading till the end.
Snow White And The Huntsman’s Filming Location
The film is shot through and through in the United Kingdom, specifically in England, Scotland, and Wales. But shots in the movie like the castle scene right at the start, the one that includes the bird’s eye view of the place, and some scenes set around the village, the gates of the castle with its interior, flowing river, and the trolls are just some of the scenes that required heavy use of visual effects.
England
The battle scene at the beginning of the film between the King and the dark army is actually shot in the Bourne Woods located in Surrey, England. The forest itself is densely covered with tall trees and has been featured in a lot of popular movies like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: The Dark World, Gladiator, and parts of season two of The Witcher, to name a few.
Quite a few scenes from the film were shot outside of the Bourne Woods, at the Windsor Great Park situated in Berkshire in England.
London, England
Both Black Park and Langley Park are situated in Buckinghamshire, which is located in London, there is where the scenes of the Dark Forest were filmed. The scene where both the Huntsman and Snow White come out of the dark forest and enter the small town called the fishing village was filmed in London as well, at the Frensham Ponds, to be specific.
The wedding of King Magnus and Queen Ravenna took place in a studio, and most of it was CGI, but the effects took heavy inspiration from the interiors of St. Bartholomew, The Great Church, also placed in London, England.
Scotland
Another beautiful location where the film crew set camp was the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye, where both William and the Dwarves hiked to go forward on their journey to find Snow White. Obviously, the raw footage of the actors and the location was not put in the film actor, and a lot of aftereffects work was done on the scenes shot here.
Pembrokeshire, Wales
The final majestic battle scene, where Snow White finally decides to stop running away and lead the army herself against her stepmother, declaring war against her, is shot on the Marloes Sands, which is a beach in Pembrokeshire. Most of the beach scenes within the film were shot at this place.
This is revealed to have been the last scene of the film that was shot, after which the visual effects team is said to have taken over to do their magic.
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