ABSTRACT
In this chapter we combine new archival research and GIS technologies to visualize the rich history of production at Old Tucson Studios. This detailed look at how and why filmmakers chose specific Western locations not only sheds light on Hollywood filmmaking, but also the construction of the mythical iconography that still shapes the cultural meaning of the American Western landscape. The following chapter addresses the thorny nest of methodologies required to put a wealth of archival documents, drone imagery, and GIS modeling to productive use. In order to illustrate and analyze why and how an isolated outpost in Arizona thrived as a production hub for Westerns and television series from roughly 1955 to 1995, we transect the fields of geography, landscape studies, film studies, urban studies, architecture, digital humanities, and to a certain extent, archeology, geology, and environmental studies. Joshua Gleich will address how production data and documents will shape the model and meaning of filmmaking at Old Tucson Studios; Chris Lukinbeal will detail how several ways of mapping the surrounding environment of Western settings reveals the logic and impact Hollywood image-making.
