TV Show Filming Locations from the Sky

The quaint seaside town of Monterey, California is one of America's most beautiful spots.  Situated on a prominent peninsula about 120 miles south of San Francisco, it was immortalized in John Steinbeck's classic 1940's novel Cannery Row.  Fast-forward several decades, and Monterey hit it big again as the location for HBO's popular TV series Big Little Lies.  In this drone video by caldroneflyer, you'll get a bird's eye view of the town, including the "real" Cannery Row, the Aquarium, and Lover's Point Park. 

Check out this beautiful aerial video of one of the best-known waterfalls in Hawaii, compliments of AirVuz contributor and drone pilot pnoymavic30.  It's located near Lihue on the eastern end of the island of Kauai, the "Garden Island" of the Hawaiian archipelago.  The plunge-type waterfall has a total height of 26 meters (84 ft.) through two drops.  The falls, which feeds into Wailua River, appeared in the opening credits of one of the top-rated television series of the 1980's: Fantasy Island.

The HBO hit show Westworld has inspired many creatives, including pilot Victor Metron who took his drone to Utah and Hawaii to create this short film. Westworld is about a futuristic park that is created for rich vacationers. The park is looked after by robotic “hosts,” that allow visitors to live out their fantasies through artificial consciousness. Hence the white robot featured throughout. Filled with time lapses and incredible landscape shots, it’s a drone video you just have to watch. This video was a DVOW nominee in June, 2019.

Minneapolis, Minnesota got a huge boost to its national stature when it became the setting for a hit TV program called the Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Broadcast on CBS from 1970 to 1977, the pathbreaking comedy depicted the life of a TV news producer named Mary Richards.  In 1999, Entertainment Weekly ranked the show's opening sequence as the second most iconic in the history of television.  In this drone video by gopherdrone, you'll see some of the spots shown in that memorable 60 second introduction.

Check out this awesome aerial video of Québec City, compliments of Qfsaviation.  The province's capital city is set on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.  At the 1:00 mark in the video you'll get an epic bird's eye view of  Château Frontenac, the city's most visible landmark.  Completed in 1893, the hotel was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway, it's one of the country's grand railway hotels.  The site of two important Allied conferences during World War II, the hotel was a filming location for Season 5 of the TV show the Bachelor.  

The California Institute of Technology (known informally as Caltech) is one of the world's most well-regarded research universities. It's situated in Pasadena, northeast of downtown Los Angeles.  As of late 2018, the school's alumni and faculty include an incredible 73 Nobel laureates.  While Caltech has historically kept a fairly low profile, its appearance on the hit comedy Big Bang TV series has elevated awareness of the school.  You can see the Caltech campus from above in this video by Mavictraveler.   

Top AirVuz contributor and first person view (FPV) drone pilot pioandreaperi brings us this epic FPV tour of Taormina, a town on the giant Italian island of Sicily.  Taormina lies on the Ionian Sea on the eastern coast of the island, roughly halfway between Messina (in the northeastern corner) and Catania (mid-coast).  The video features excellent shots of the city's ancient Greek theater as well as Mt. Etna, which lies just to the city's southwest.  Taormina was a primary filming location for Season 2 of HBO's hit series White Lotus.  

Check out this fantastic drone video of the Jalapão region of interior Brazil, compliments of AirVuz contributor nexinxavier.  Jalapão is a highly distinctive "microregion" within Tocantins, a giant state that's part of Brazil's official Western Region.  With its semi-arid climate and highly distinctive rock formations, the region covers about 34k square km (around 13k square mi.).  It's an inreasingly popular eco-tourist destination, in part due to its appearance as a filming location for the 18th season of the Survivor TV series.

If you have seen HBO's Game of Thrones, you've likely seen the Castillo de Almodóvar del Río; this castle in southern Spain was the shooting location for Highgarden, seat of the house of Tryell, in the show's seventh season.  The 8th century Moorish (Muslim) castle is situated in the province of Cordoba, part of Spain's semi-autonomous Andalusia region.  In this video, contributor Eminorcks gives us an epic bird's eye view of this castle, which was an important center of rule during Spain's period under Islam.

Inspirecornwall created this drone video of a well-known landmark in southern England.  It's called the Wheal Coates Blow Hole, and it's an unusual rock formation in the southwestern county of Cornwall.  It's located next to the Wheal Coates mine, which was once one of the most important tin mines in the world during the 19th century.  The area appears in the British TV series Poldark, which is based on the novels of Winston Graham.  The blowhole and mine are now protected under the UK's National Trust.  

Inveraray Castle is one of the most famous in Scotland.  Comparatively new by Scottish standards, it was constructed in the 18th century as a country house for the Dukes of Argyll, the chiefs of the powerful Campbell clan.  Considered one of the first Gothic Revival castles, it's located on the shores of Loch Fyne in the Argyll and Bute council area.  Seen from above in this excellent drone video by Neil_Stapleton, Inverary Castle "played the role" of Duneagle Castle in the 2012 Christmas episode of the hit TV series Downton Abbey.  

Fan's of AMC Network's hit series the Walking Dead may recognize the landmark you'll see in this excellent drone video by AirVuz contributor and pilot TurboSkills.  It's a town called Starr's Mill Park, and it's located in Fayette County, Georgia, which is now considered part of the Greater Atlanta area.  Named for an early 19th century grist mill, Starr's Mill Park appears as a fortified town called Woodbury in Season 3 of the highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic horror series.  It's about 50 km (around 30 mi.) south of Downtown Atlanta.

Portland, Oregon has become something of a hipster-magnet in no small part due to the hit TV show Portlandia.   Created by and starred by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, the show ran for eight seasons on the IFC cable network beginning in 2011.  The show was a favorite among GenX'ers, and its use of quirky characters to show off a quirky city helped the already-hip city go from strength to strength.  For those who already miss the show, this short piece by mcQ shot from Portland will bring back fond memories.  

Contributor and drone pilot EdDrone created this beautiful aerial video of Point Dume near Malibu, California.  The point is a peninsula which sticks southward into the Pacific Ocean, and which defines the western extent of Santa Monica Bay.  In addition to being a filming scene for the movie the Planet of the Apes, Point Dume occupies a place in television history: this was the spot where an astronaut named Tony Nelson encountered something magical in the pilot of the hit 60's TV show I Dream of Jeannie. 

LKDWN created this beautiful drone video of a once-obscure shallow valley in Scotland.  Finnich Glen is located on the outskirts of Glasgow.  It's about 35 meters (100 ft.) deep, with walls covered in moss.  Glen Fiddich has recently seen greater attention for having joined the long list of Scottish locations which have been used to film TV shows and movies.  Glennich Finn was a primary location for the 2011 film Eagle starring Donald Sutherland and has also been used in the Outlander TV series.  

The Santa Monica Pier is one of the most recognized landmarks of Southern California.  Opened in 1909 with no amenities, by the 1920's it was one of the most popular getaway spots from nearby Los Angeles.  In addition to appearing as a filming location in numerous movies, the pier was used for the opening credits of Three's Company, one of the most popular TV shows of the 1970's.  Check out this drone video of the famous pier, compliments of Bumble Bee Productions.

Check out this drone video of a well-known manor in southern England, compliments of contributor oszibusz.  Located in Hertfordshire, Hatfield House was built early in the 17th century on the orders of Lord Cecil, the Early of Salisbury, who was the chief advisor to King James I.  Hatfield House has been featured in over a dozen feature movies, most prominently as the home of Queen Anne in the Favorite (2018), as well as TV shows such as the Netflix series the Crown.  Still owned  by members of the Cecil family, it is open to the public.  

Bumble Bee Productions created this excellent aerial tour of Wilmington, North Carolina, the principal port of the Tar Heel State.  Situated in the southeastern part of the state, the city will forever be associated with two cultural phenomena: (1) National Basketball Association mega-star Michael Jordan, who grew up here before heading to the University of North Carolina, and (2) the WB Network's hit TV show Dawson's Creek, in which Wilmington stood in for the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts.  

The Alabama Hills are actually nowhere near the southern USA state; rather they are an area of the Owens Valley in southeastern California.  Located in Inyo County, the hills are known for their rugged appearance and unusual rock formations.  The hills were "discovered" by Hollywood in the 1920s; they began to appear as filming locations for Western movies beginning in the 1920s and somewhat later in Western TV shows such as Bonanza.  Check them out in this drone video by contributor and pilot hakisair.  

Wild & Free Travel created this amazing video in connection with marketing of one of the most expensive properties in California.  The Warner Brothers Estate was the home of Warner Brothers co-founder Harry Warner, the older brother of the better known Jack Warner.  Located in Bevery Hills, the it was once the home of Marilyn Monroe and much later it "played the role" of the OJ Simpson estate in Brentwood for the FX TV series "The People vs. OJ Simpson".  The property was recently listed at $36 million.

The Thetford Forest is one of the legendary woods of England.  It's located in the East Anglia region, covering portions of Counties Norfolk and Suffolk.  The forest covers about 200 square km (around 75 square mi.) and is the largest pine forest in the UK.  The area was set aside for preservation after (the timber-devouring) World War I.  The forest has held a number of legendary concerts, and it was used as a filming location for the wildly popular Dad's Army TV series in the late 1960's and 1970's.  

Viewers of the French TV game show Fort Boyard will likely recognize the subject of this fantastic first person view (FPV) video by FPV pilot R-project.   The show, which began in 1990 and is widely syndicated around the world, is set and filmed at this defensive fortification in the strait of Pertuis d'Antioche, between the cities of La Rochelle and Rochefort.  While a fortress was considered here during the reign of Louis XIV in the 17th century, its construction didn't begin until the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801.  

Château de Pierrefonds is a famous French castle.  It's located on the edge of the Forest of Compiègne, about 60 km (around 35 mi.) northeast of Paris.  Originally dating to the 12th century, it was rebuilt under the direction of the Duke of Orléans around the turn of the 15th century.  Nearly destroyed in the 1600's, the castle was extensively renovated in the 19th century.  Seen here in this drone video by Raphael Rabat, the castle has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including the BBC's Merlin series.  

Check out these dramatic drone views of Hawaii's Jurassic Park, compliments of AirVuz contributor angelo_q.  Technically known as Kualoa Ranch, this 4k acre (about 1.5k ha) private nature reserve is located on the eastern side of the island of Oahu.  Used as a filming location for dozens of movies, its nickname refers to its most famous movie appearance in the 1993 Steven Spielberg sci-fi blockbuster.  It was also used as a filming location for some of the most popular TV shows set in Hawaii, including Hawaii Five-Oh and Magnum PI.

TampaRandy created this marvelous drone video involving the Durango & Silverton Railroad, a historical (narrow-gauge) line in southwestern Colorado.   Opened in 1882, the railroad once used to hauling gold and silver ore out of the San Juan Mountains is now a major tourist attraction.  And filming location: it was used to film the famous train heist sequence in the 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and years later to film another famous train heist scene in the TV show Breaking Bad. 

Multiple DVOW Finalist Drone Photography Ireland brings us this stunning drone video of a tiny island off the coast of western Ireland.  It's called Inisheer (Inis Oírr), and it's the easternmost of the three Aran Islands which form the outer boundary of Galway Bay.  The video features footage of the island's two most prominent landmarks: its namesake lighthouse, which dates to 1857, and the carcass of the MV Plassy, a merchant ship which ran aground in 1960 and which appeared in the opening credits of the 90's British TV show Father Ted.  

Some of the most distinctive architectural sights in San Francisco are its "Painted Ladies" Victorian houses, which were repainted in the 1960s. While the phenomenon is not limited to San Francisco, it has a special connection to the city: the term was coined in the 1978 book 'Painted Ladies: San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians.'  In this FPV Pilots to Watch video by top AirVuz contributor and FPV pilot InspireFPV, you'll fly through one of the Painted Ladies, which was the setting for the TV sitcom "Full House."