One more way you know you're me

[camwyn]

When a fellow Dog Soldiers fan asks you where in Scotland you think the movie might be set, you respond with the following:

"It's somewhere in the West Highlands of Scotland. The nearest population centre is the resort town of Fort William, four hours away by car; if we assume that Megan was describing the sort of driving speed that you get on the rural roads of West Virginia (nearest analogue of the landscape with which I am personally familiar), this implies about a 35-40 mph average speed. (I have decreased this from the observed speed of the native West Virginian drivers because a, the road in Dog Soldiers was unpaved, and b, West Virginia holler country drivers are crazy.) However, we are going to have to drop the speed a lot because Scotland is not big enough for a straight-line four hour drive at those speeds. Assuming that half the distance was composed of switchbacks thanks to the nature of the landscape (vertical geography, ho) and factoring in night-time and unpaved roads, we can effectively drop the average drive speed to about 20-25 MPH. Max distance then becomes (100 mi. / 2) = 50 miles; more likely distance is (80 mi. / 2) = 40 miles.

A news article I found on the Highlands indicates that the drive from Glencoe, Scotland to Glasgow- relatively straightforward as roads go- takes three hours to cover ninety miles without stops. Thus, maximum practical speed on a proper highway = 30 mph. If we are willing to halve the speed on the unpaved road we saw in the movie, we get speeds of 15-20 MPH on average. 15*4 = 60 in a straight line or 30 on a road composed mostly of mountain switchbacks. assume therefore that for practicality's sake the farm is about forty miles from Fort William in either a north-northwesterly direction or east-southeast. Due north puts you closer to Inverness than Fort William; west puts you in the ocean; northwest puts you on the Isle of Skye and we'd've heard about that; south puts you closer to major roads and larger towns. North-northwest puts you in nicely lumpy country. East-southeast puts you in the vicinity of several patches of forest that show up on a Google hybrid map search for Fort William.

Of course there is also the Megan Is A Lying Bitch factor and they are probably rather closer to the town than she wanted to let on, which makes my life a good deal easier.


..... yes, I get a charge out of distance/time calculations and landscape factoring on maps. I always have. It's a weakness."

Comments

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

I feel like being helpful and sharing my Highlands driving experience.

Away from paved roads in the Highlands, my family travelled 27 miles in about an hour and a half in a Volvo. The driver was my father, who is trained in evasive and offensive driving and the use of heavy-duty military construction equipment. My (civilian) uncle and his family, in the Volvo behind, took about forty minutes longer to make the trip.

That said, this was not so much 'back country road' as 'a farmer's dirt driveway'.

On another occasion, taking a wrecked Ford Fiesta up to Scrabster in snowy weather we averaged about 40 miles an hour on fairly ordinary but windy and narrow roads, slowing down when it snowed or when it got really steep (the road had frequent sand traps to stop out-of-control lorries).

[camwyn]

Okay, then I think I can probably reduce the Megan Is A Lying Bitch factor somewhat. There were no snow conditions in the movie; it was the first week of September and there was fog, but no visible rain or snow. The road seen in the movie was unpaved or pebble-paved at best and went through forest country for the sections we saw in the movie, which were admittedly very few.

[ebony14.livejournal.com]

I just checked IMDB to see if there was anything on where it was filmed (which I figure is nowhere in Scotland, since filming in the Czech Republic is cheaper and often used for wilderness shots by British film houses), and I found this bit under Trivia:

Being Scottish, Kevin McKidd who plays Cooper spotted that there is nowhere in Scotland that is a four hour drive from anywhere as mentioned in the film, but chose not to say anything.

Make of that what you will....

[camwyn]

I think they used Luxembourg. I remember one viewing of the movie where we spent some serious quality time mocking that. "OH LOOK! A HIGHLAND COW! IT'S REALLY SCOTLAND! ...except it's standing in front of a Welcome to Luxembourg sign."

Regardless, I'm gonna take that as indicating that I really do need to up the Megan Is A Lying Bitch factor. No wonder it was starting to hurt trying to work out a route on that freaking map.

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

Uhm... Since the film's set in Scotland, shouldn't that all be in metric?

[camwyn]

Megan the Lying Bitch gives the distance to her house in miles just before claiming that Fort William is four hours away by car.

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

Why the devil would it be in Metric?

Over Here, we still think America has tended dangerously towards the French way of doing things by dropping stones and adopting a 16-ounce pint.

Dog Soldiers

[kelathefinn.livejournal.com]

Another distance/time calculations fan!! I do this a lot, because I do a lot of travelling, and I need to plan schedules beforehand. I have actually travelled that road that goes from Ft William to Inverness, by Loch Ness, and walked in the mountains around there. I bet if I watched the film I could tell you where it was filmed - and my bet is that it was a lot closer to the town that Megan let on. I'm for the Megan is a Lying Bitch factor being the critical factor here... ;)

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

well, that'll teach me to make assumptions about things :-)

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

I was really just giving Cam grief :-)

Re: Dog Soldiers

[camwyn]

Yeah, as I said, the filming was done in Luxembourg so the actual landscape wouldn't help at all. But considering the indication of Kevin McKidd knowing that nowhere in Scotland is genuinely four hours from anywhere else... lying bitch, beyond a doubt.

Re: Dog Soldiers

[kelathefinn.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're on foot, or trekking up a mountain, it can certainly take four hours... ;) and sometimes I wondered about the local buses...

Re: Dog Soldiers

[camwyn]

That would've made sense, but the movie line was something like:

"What's the nearest population center?"
"You mean a town? Well, there's Fort William, but that's four hours by car back the way we came."

Re: Dog Soldiers

[kelathefinn.livejournal.com]

Ah. We are *NOT* talking about the Nick Nolte film where Nick helps smuggle heroin from Vietnam into the USA, chased by CIA agents and supported by his best friend's junkie wife. We are talking about bi-pedal werewolves in Scotland (Geordie shouting 'come on then if y're hard enough). My mistake... not that it helps much with things 4 hours from Ft William ...

[derien.livejournal.com]

This is why we love you. ;)

Re: Dog Soldiers

[milkbonesoldier.livejournal.com]

Nah, this (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0280609/) Dog Soldiers. 2002 werewolf movie, Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Liam Cunningham, etc.

... yes, I'm too lazy to log out of my RPG journal for this.