EXCLUSIVECinema addict travels across the world mapping his favourite films - but can YOU match the iconic movies to their obscure locations?
- Thomas Duke, 25, set up his Instagram page in 2017 to share his hobby
- It now has almost 400,000 followers who share Thomas' love for film and TV
Meet the professional 'movie mapper' who travels the world taking pictures of famous film locations — and matching these up with the real thing.
Thomas Duke, who is originally from Essex, studied BA Film for three years at Brunel University London from 2017 to 2020.
It was during his university years that he set up his Instagram page 'Stepping Through Film', with the aim of sharing his passion for filmmaking with others.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, Thomas' Instagram page would become his dream full-time job, alongside attending premieres and interviewing some of Hollywood's biggest names.
Now, he visits locations across the world and shares his adventures with people online.
This picture was taken in Lombardy, Italy, which was the beautiful setting of this 2017 hit: Call Me By Your Name
Thomas travelled to the eastern suburbs of Paris, Noisy-le-Grand to snap this picture. Film: The Hunger Games - Catching Fire
Chalcot Crescent in London where a very famous bear lives. Film: Paddington
The 25-year-old said: 'My whole life has been film and television so now it's kind of an excuse to travel around with a passion and celebrate all the work that goes into filmmaking really.
'I lived and breathed film right from when I was little, I always loved watching films - far too many probably. It was just fun, I loved escaping into the screen and learning about them.'
Thomas recently interviewed one of his favourite actors, Simon Pegg, co-creator of the British TV programme Spaced and star of Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy.
In an Instagram post, Thomas wrote: 'Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson were so lovely and I’ll never forget this interaction - thank you. Filmed 2 weeks ago before the strike.
'My favourite little bits: Simon being like... ‘You!’ after the 100s of tags I’ve sent him with over the past decade. It’s been a joy sharing so many locations from The Cornetto Trilogy.
'I’ve seen him like and share some of my locations over the years so it was cool to say hi.
'Rebecca Ferguson being an absolute angel even though I didn’t have a location shot of her - I’m sorry Rebecca. I will fix this soon.
Thomas Duke (pictured) dressed up as the chef from Disney's 2007 film Ratatouille
Thomas dressed up as Willy Wonka at the premiere for Warner Bros new film Wonka
Thomas' photo was taken in The Historic Dockyard in Chatham. TV series: Loki
This photo was taken in Palmetto, Florida, at a store made famous in one of Netflix's biggest TV shows: Stranger Things
Thomas' first 'scene snap' was of Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen performing 'Agony' in the musical 'Into The Woods', filmed at Windsor Great Park and posted on October 30, 2017.
Since then, Thomas has travelled across the globe visiting various locations made famous in TV shows and films such as Joker, Spiderman, Inception, 1917, Harry Potter, Atonement, Enola Holmes, Fleabag, The Hunger Games and The Dark Knight.
'We have all grown up with movies and we all have a connection in some way to the Holiday House or Hugh Grant in Notting Hill. It's nice to connect and talk about favourite films with everyone online. It's a lovely tool we have in social media,' he said.
'I love receiving messages of people saying 'I watched this in the cinema 20 years ago,' or 'I haven't seen it yet, I'm going to watch it tonight' or 'I'm going to visit that street because I loved that film so much'.
'I try to make my page a comforting movie place to enjoy the stories told on the screen.
'It started generally in London and it was in the National Portrait Gallery for James Bond's Skyfall. It's where Bond and Q are sitting talking about gadgets in the long hallway and that was an easy one to access and go to.
'LA is the furthest I have been in terms of flight, but it's sort of like London in the sense there's so many film locations around every corner it's a huge set like New York.'
Thomas' page has racked up nearly 400,000 followers in the last six years, with an average of 15,000 likes on each post.
'I always imagine things outside the plane window...it's just so magical up her' - Thomas Duke. Film: Disney's Up
This photo was taken in Farnham, Surrey and Thomas had to find specific trees to match the image. The original scene was filmed in Silver Falls State Park in Portland. Film: Twilight
But he still sees it as a personal page and one where he can inject his own love for filmmaking.
When asked about his huge following on Instagram, Thomas said: 'Its been very gradual over many years and its when certain people might share your stuff or a post just resonates with people it might reach more people and that's when you notice more people coming to your page.
'A main moment was the sad passing of Matthew Perry earlier this year, it was really lovely to try and post something to remember Friends, that show and him as an actor and that resonated with lots of people.
'It was the biggest one I've ever done which translates to how much love there was for him, his career.'
Matthew Perry was found dead in a jacuzzi at his home in October, at the age of 54.
An autopsy report later concluded his death was 'an accident', caused by the 'acute effects of ketamine' with 'coronary artery disease' and 'drowning' as contributing factors.
Thomas pictured in 2015 during The Hunger Games era when he attended a premiere in London
Fans flooded the internet with tributes to the Friends star and shared countless memes, clips and memories of his best moments with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.
Paying tribute himself, Thomas said: 'Some people will never really leave us, Chandler Bing will always be here.
'It’s okay to be sad and cry, we’re only human. You see photos of some people and think, ‘They’ll always be around.’
'It’s not till it’s too late when you realise what you took for granted. Life is so precious.
'This show is a true light for all of us. It helped me through a lot and I owe so many smiles to these people.
'Giving a big hug to everyone, check-in with those around you, you never know what the next day brings.
'The moments shown here are just a snapshot of some scenes we came to adore. Forever a friend and forever making our days that little bit brighter.'
When it comes to getting the perfect shot, Thomas said it's all about finding the right door frame or shop window, using printed-out photographs as a guide.
'It's just about seeing what's changed - and it's quite nice to see how time has evolved and the photo helps to see what's what,' Thomas explained.
He said Durham Cathedral, which appeared in Marvel's Avengers: Endgame, as The Asgardian Palace on Asgrad, was enhanced by CGI but much of the interior stayed relatively the same.
'I think one of my favourites is the Italian Riviera for Disney Pixar's Luca - that was just a beautiful film, with all of the colourful houses on the sea. It was fun to go to where a place had inspired such a film,' Thomas added.
A trip to New Zealand is on the cards for Thomas who wants to visit The Lord of the Rings sets, as well as the remote mountain locations in Canada, as seen in the Twilight franchise.
Peter Jackson's epic fantasy series The Lord of the Rings was filmed entirely in New Zealand, spanning more than 150 locations in both the North and South islands.
Rivendell, The Gardens of Isengard, the Paths of the Dead, the River Anduin and Osgliath Wood were all filmed in Wellington for example, while 'Hobbiton' - home of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin - was created specifically for the series and is based in Matamata.
Thomas admitted his favourite film is The Devil Wears Prada, starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt.
Set in New York, it follows aspiring journalist Andy (Hathaway) as she gets a job as an assistant to one of the city's biggest magazine editors, the sardonic Miranda Priestly (Streep).
But he is also a huge fan of the original Spider-Man films with Toby Maguire, which were filmed largely across New York and LA.
Thomas went on to say: 'I think I would always love to do this. It's fun, it's nice to explore and I'd never really want to stop.'
'There's always films coming out, I get to travel so it would be weird to stop it because it's my daily life at the moment and I love it so much.'
Research by Virgin Media O2 has revealed that 48% of Brits would visit a destination simply because a film had been set there.
The study shows that visiting movie locations is a key tourism driver for staycations, with a whopping £7,020,842,928 estimated to be spent per year on travel and accommodation.
One in four Brits (26%) admitted they’d rather plan a trip to visit a film location over visiting a family member or friend (23%).
And it seems social media is playing an increasing role in influencing the locations people choose to travel, with 28% of Brits more likely to be swayed by a trip they’ve seen on social media compared to a recommendation from a friend (23%).
Four in five Brits (79%) reveal they document their trip by taking photographs, with 21% admitting to throwing themselves into reenacting a scene from the film.
And 11% of 35 – 44 year olds admit to wanting to propose to their partner at the location.
Google Trends findings also reveal that over the past five years, searches for ‘film locations’ spike dramatically around the festive season, likely due to people wanting to visit the locations of their favourite Christmas classics such as The Holiday or Love Actually.
The Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands has been crowned Britain’s most loved film location, appearing in a number of films and TV series including, The Crown, Charlotte Gray, Monarch of the Glen and Stone of Destiny.
But it is more famously known for its appearance in the Harry Potter franchise.
It became so popular in fact, that British Transport Police had to warn fans not to walk on the viaduct after a handful of near misses with trains had occurred.
Virgin Media has launched a new Movie Mapper tool which enables users to search by show, genre or region to find their favourite film locations across the country.
To keep up to date with Thomas' journey around the world, follow his Instagram page @steppingthroughfilm.
