Editing 1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

{{comic
| number    = 1509
| date      = April 8, 2015
| title     = Scenery Cheat Sheet
| image     = scenery cheat sheet.png
| titletext = At the boundary between each zone, stories blend together. Somewhere in the New Mexico desert, the Roadrunner is pursued by a tireless Anton Chigurh.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Randall]] jokes that large areas of the continental (mainland) United States can be characterized by the locations of a single movie. Especially in the Midwest, there are several very large areas that he describes with just one film. The map is the most detailed in the {{w|Northeastern United States|northeast}}, which is where Randall lives.

The map is divided into the 48 states of the mainland by thin gray lines. On top of these are drawn black lines that divide the map into 50 sections. (A 51st section is located in the Atlantic Ocean.) Inside each section is at least one reference that is supposed to describe the entire area encompassed by the section. In most cases it is the title of a movie (or two to three titles), but it could also be more general specter of movies (all movies with a big budget, or those with whose title is an east coast city name) or it could even be a book/song that describes the relevant area.

The map's heading describes the idea behind it; if you know this and the relevant movies, you can use it to determine where you are by comparing your knowledge of the movies with the scenery you can see from where you stand. Below the heading, the two groups of people who will get the most use out of this sheet are listed. The first is "GeoGuessrs". {{w|GeoGuessr}} is a game using {{w|Google Street View}} images, which drops the player in a random location and challenges them to work out where they are. (It was previously referenced in [[1214: Geoguessr]]). The second group is "crash-landed astronauts". Obviously, if you've just crash-landed on Earth, knowing your location would be very helpful.

Some entries (for instance, ''{{w|Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day}}'') reflect the locations where the stories are set, and others (like ''{{w|Dances with Wolves}}'') reflect where they were filmed. Others are even more detached, as it is the sceneries from the movie that resembles a given place, even though it is neither filmed there or takes place there. It could also be a cartoon, which is of course only set in an imaginary world that may resemble the real world.

The title text references {{w|Anton Chigurh}} (portrayed by {{w|Javier Bardem}}), who is the main antagonist of the film ''{{w|No Country For Old Men}}.'' In this case he would have taken over the role of {{w|Wile E. Coyote}}, and would thus hunt down {{w|Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner|The Road Runner}} at the boundary between the sections for these two movies, which would be somewhere in the {{w|New Mexico}} desert.

==Table==
*In this table all the movies (and others) from the map are mentioned.
**They are listed from top to bottom and (when possible) by going through the columns that seems to appear in the sections when going from left to right.
**The setting for the movie vs. the actual filming locations will be given to be compared to the section of the map where the titles are written.
**Explanations will be given in the Notes section.
**The {{w|List_of_U.S._state_abbreviations#Postal_codes|State Postal Codes}} will often be used here below when referring to a given state.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Movie Title
! Setting for Movie
! Actual Filming Location(s)
! Section on map
! Notes
|-
| {{w|The Goonies}}
| {{w|Astoria, Oregon|Astoria}}, OR
| {{w|Cannon Beach}}, and Astoria, OR
| {{w|Oregon}}'s northern coast
|
|-
| {{w|Twilight (2008 film)| Twilight}}
| {{w|Forks, Washington|Forks}}, WA
| {{w|Portland, Oregon|Portland}}, OR
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Washington (state)|Washington}}, {{w|Oregon}} and most northern part of {{w|California}} except for the part taken up by The Goonies.
| Same sections as 50 Shades of Grey (see below)
|-
| {{w|Fifty Shades of Grey (film)|50 Shades of Grey}}
| {{w|Seattle}}, WA
| {{w|Vancouver}}, BC
| Same sections as Twilight which is clear from this fact: The {{w|Fifty shades of Grey}} erotic romance novel was {{w|Fifty_Shades_of_Grey#Background|originally}} a {{w|fan fiction}} version of the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight}} novels, but when received well it eventually developed into three full novels, but set in the same locations as Twilight. The eastern halves of Washington and Oregon look nothing like the western halves of those states, as much of these regions are near-desert with no trees. None of the scenery in Twilight or Shades of Gray will have any resemblance to Eastern Washington or Oregon.
|-
| {{w|Zodiac (film)|Zodiac}}
| {{w|San Francisco Bay Area}}
| San Francisco Bay Area and {{w|Los Angeles}}
| San Francisco Bay Area, CA
| According to {{w|Zodiac_(film)#Production|Wikipedia}}, "The San Francisco Chronicle was built in the old post office in the Terminal Annex Building in downtown Los Angeles. A building on nearby Spring Street subbed for the Hall of Justice and the San Francisco Police Department. Production began on September 12, 2005. The filmmakers shot for five weeks in the San Francisco Bay Area and the rest of the time in Los Angeles, bringing the film in under budget, wrapping in February 2006. The film took 115 days to shoot."
|-
| {{w|The Rock (film)|The Rock}}
| {{w|Alcatraz Island}}
| Alcatraz Island
| Alcatraz Island, CA
|
|-
| {{w|Dances with Wolves}}
| {{w|Sedgwick,_Colorado#History|Fort Sedgwick}}, CO
| {{w|South Dakota}} and {{w|Wyoming}}
| rowspan= "2" | {{w|Montana}}, {{w|South Dakota}}, Wyoming, and {{w|Nebraska}}
|
|-
| {{w|Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers}}
| Planet Klendathu and Earth
| {{w|Hell's Half Acre (Wyoming)|Hell's Half Acre}}, WY
|
|-
| {{w|Napoleon Dynamite}}
| {{w|Preston, Idaho|Preston}}, Idaho
| Preston, Idaho
| {{w|Idaho}} (not including Preston)
|
|-
| {{w|The Sandlot}}
| Suburban {{w|Los Angeles}}
| {{w|Salt Lake City, Utah}}
| {{w|Idaho}}, {{w|Utah}}
|
|-
| {{w|Wild Wild West}}
| The southwest area 
| {{w|Tucson, Arizona}}; {{w|Santa Fe, New Mexico}}; {{w|Pierce, Idaho}}
| {{w|Nevada}}
| Set near {{w|Promontory Point}}, UT
|-
| {{w|Top Gun}}
| {{w|NAS Miramar}}, San Diego, CA
| {{w|Nevada}}, NAS Miramar, San Diego, CA
| rowspan="2" | Nevada
|
|-
| {{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Part of Independence Day}}
| Grand Canyon & Area 51
| Utah / Nevada
|
|-
| {{w|Sideways|That movie about wine & talking}}
| {{w|Santa Ynez Valley}}
| {{w|Santa Ynez Valley}}
| {{w|Central_Valley_(California)|California Central Valley}}
| He clearly means ''Sideways''.  Mapped area does not include the Santa Ynez Valley wine country, but instead shows the {{w|Central_Valley_(California)|California Central Valley}}.
|-
| {{w|List of most expensive films|Every movie with a big budget...}}
| 
| Hollywood, CA
| {{w|Southern_California|SoCal}}
|
|-
| {{w|Brokeback Mountain}}
| Wyoming
| Southern Alberta
| Wyoming
|
|-
| {{w|Oregon Trail (video_game)|Oregon Trail}} (The only part I ever got to)
| {{w|Platte River|Platte}}, {{w|Snake River|Snake}}, and {{w|Columbia River|Columbia}} river valleys
| Video Game, not a film
| Nebraska, Colorado, Utah
| Could also refer to the film ''{{w|The Oregon Trail (1936 film)|The Oregon Trail}}''. The parenthetical comment refers to the relative difficulty of surviving the whole trail in the game, especially as it catered to schoolkids for educational purposes.
|-
| {{w|Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner|Roadrunner cartoons}}
| {{w|Southern Arizona}}
| Animated, not filmed
| Four Corners - UT, AZ, NM, CO
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show}}<br>but with desert in the background
| "Seahaven" (fictional place in the Los Angeles, CA area)
| Seaside, Florida, and Los Angeles, California
| Las Vegas NV, California, Arizona
| If it were filmed in Las Vegas...
|-
| {{w|Tombstone (film)|Tombstone}}
| {{w|Tombstone, Arizona|Tombstone, AZ}}
| Arizona
| rowspan="2" | Southern Arizona
|
|-
| {{w|The Mask of Zorro}}
| California
| Mexico
|
|-
| {{w|No Country for Old Men (film)|No Country for Old Men}}
| (West) Texas
| Texas, New Mexico
| Southern Arizona, Southern New Mexico, Southwest Texas
|
|-
| {{w|Fargo (film)|Fargo}}
| Fargo ND, Brainerd MN, Minneapolis MN
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN area, Hallock MN, Bathgate, ND
| Minnesota, Both Dakotas, Montana
|
|-
| {{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}} (Earth parts)
| {{w|Northeast_megalopolis|BosWash}} (converted to farmland), probably near former NYC
| Alberta
| rowspan="3" | Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Star Trek (film)|Star Trek (2009)}} (Earth parts)
| Iowa
| Iowa
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Field of Dreams}}
| Primarily IA; also, Boston, MA, and Chisholm, Minnesota
| Dyersville, IA
|
|-
| {{w|The Music Man (1962 film)|The Music Man}}
| River City, IA
| Warner Bros Studio, Burbank, CA
| Iowa, Missouri, Not-Chicago Illinois
|
|-
| {{w|The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz}}
| Kansas, Oz
| Culver City, California
| Kansas, Colorado
| The Judy Garland version, presumably. The earth parts.
|-
| {{w|Twister (1996 film)|Twister}}
| Oklahoma
|
| Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas
|
|-
| {{w|True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit}}
| Arkansas
| New Mexico
| Northern Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas
| Obviously the {{w|True Grit (2010 film)|2010 version}}
|-
| {{w|Office Space}}
| 
| Austin, TX
| rowspan="3" | Texas Triangle plus Southern Texas
|
|-
| {{w|Dazed and Confused (film)|Dazed and Confused}}
| Austin, TX
|
|
|-
| {{w|Kill Bill}}
| El Paso, TX
|
|-
| {{w|The Blues Brothers (film)|Blues Brothers}}
| Chicago
| Chicago and Milwaukee
| Chicago, Rockford, Kenosha, and some extra parts of Illinois
| 
|-
| {{w|8 Mile (film)|8 Mile}}
| Wayne County, Michigan
|
| 
|
|-
| {{w|A Christmas Story}}
| Hammond, IN
| Cleveland, OH
| rowspan="2" | Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio
| 
|-
| {{w|Jack & Diane|That song about Jack and Diane}}
|
| Lake Monroe, IN
| "In the Heartland"
|-
| Anything by {{w|Mark Twain}}
| Hannibal, MO
| 
| Cairo, IL, Mississippi River parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi
| The mapped area doesn't quite include Twain's home town of Hannibal, MO.
|-
| {{w|Walk the Line}}
| Tennessee
|
| Tennessee and Kentucky
|
|-
| {{w|Big Fish}}
| 
| Wetumpka and Montgomery, AL
| rowspan="2" | Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia
|
|-
| {{w|O Brother Where Art Thou}}
| Parchman Farm, MS
| Canton, MS; Florence, SC
|
|-
| {{w|Duck Dynasty}}
| {{w|West Monroe, Louisiana|West Monroe, LA}}
|
| Northern Louisiana and Mississippi
|
|-
| {{w|Princess and the Frog}}
| New Orleans
|Animated, not filmed
| rowspan="2" | Southern Louisiana
|
|-
| {{w|All Dogs go to Heaven}}
| New Orleans
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|Beasts of the Southern Wild}}
| Louisiana
| Montegut, LA
| Mississippi River Delta
|
|-
| {{w|Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day}}
| {{w|Punxsutawney,_Pennsylvania|Punxsutawney, PA}}, {{w|Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh}}
| Woodstock, IL
| Western Pennsylvania, Western New York
| 
|-
| {{w|Dirty Dancing}}
| {{w|Catskill Mountains}}
| {{w|Mountain_Lake_(Virginia)|Mountain Lake, VA}} and {{w|Lake_Lure,_North_Carolina|Lake Lure, NC}}
| Virginia/West Virginia border
|
|-
| {{w|October Sky}}
| Coalwood, WV
| East Tennessee
| Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia
|
|-
| {{w|Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind}}
| Tara, near {{w|Jonesboro, Georgia|Jonesboro, GA}}
|
| rowspan="2" | Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia
|
|-
| {{w|Forrest Gump}}
| Alabama
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show}}
| Los Angeles area
| {{w|Seaside, Florida|Seaside, FL}}
| Florida without Miami or the Everglades
|
|-
| {{w|Adaptation (film)|Adaptation}}
| Everglades, FL and surrounding areas
| 
| Everglades, FL
| Very loosely based on the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean, which chronicles the lifestyle of orchid thief and dealer John Laroche. The movie is about a screenwriter who struggles to adapt the book into a movie, turning himself into a main character in his own story.
|-
| {{w|Miami Vice}}
| Miami
|
| Miami metro area
| Or the {{w|Miami Vice (film)|film}}
|-
| {{w|Super Troopers}}
| Vermont, NY ("Somewhere near the border")
|
| Vermont, NY ("Somewhere near the border")
|
|-
| {{w|My Side of the Mountain|My Side of the Mountain (book)}}
| Adirondack Mountains, NY
| Catskill mountains, near Delhi, NY
| Northern New York
| The area shown on the map includes the Adirondacks, as well as the Tug Hill Plateau and the Finger Lakes. The Catskills appear to be excluded.
|-
| {{w|War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds (2005)}}
| Massachusetts
| California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia
| Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island
| Also referenced in [[556: Alternative Energy Revolution]]
|-
| {{w|Signs (film)|Signs}}
| {{w|Doylestown, Pennsylvania|Doylestown, PA}}
|
| rowspan="2" | Eastern Pennsylvania
|
|-
| {{w|The Village (2004 film)|The Village}}
| Covington, PA
| {{w|Chadds Ford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania|Chadds Ford, PA}}
|
|-
| [Generic City]
| Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia
| N/A
| Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia
| Washington DC has a reputation for requiring extensive fees and permits to film within the city. As a result, most movies set in DC are filmed somewhere else entirely. Thus, DC movie backgrounds would only give a viewer an idea of what a generic city would look like. 
|-
| {{w|Deep Impact (film)|Deep Impact}}
| Atlantic Coast
|
| North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware
| The Mega-tsunami
|-
| {{w|Pet Sematary}}
| Ludlow, Maine
| Hancock, Maine
| Maine
| Misspelled SemEtary in the comic.
|-
| {{w|What About Bob?|What about Bob}}
| Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
| Smith Mountain Lake, VA
| New Hampshire
|
|-
| {{w|The Departed}}
| Boston, MA
| Boston & New York
| Boston
|
|-
| {{w|Jaws (film)|Jaws}}
| Amity Island (stand-in for Martha's Vineyard)
| 
| Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Long Island, Rhode Island
|
|-
| {{w|The Hunt for Red October (film)|The Hunt for Red October}}
| Climaxes somewhere off the eastern seaboard of North America ({{w|Grand Banks}} of Newfoundland are mentioned)
| Much of the sea filming was actually in the Pacific, near Los Angeles
| A large swathe of Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the US
| Starts in Barents Sea. Enters Atlantic via Iceland, but underwater. Underwater scenes were filmed in "smoke tanks". There are also sequences in a river (Penobscot, ME)
|}

==Transcript==
:[Above the frame is the following text.]
:'''A cheat sheet for'''
:figuring out where in the US you are
:by recognizing the background from movies
:(for use by GeoGuessr players and crash-landed astronauts)

:[In the frame is a map of the mainland USA with the 48 mainland states lined out in thin gray lines. All areas on the map have been enclosed in sections divided by curved black lines. These sections sizes goes from encompassing several states down to just a small section of a single state. The sections cover the entire USA without any holes. There is also one section in the Atlantic Ocean. All sections are labeled. If the section is large enough the text stands inside, if it is too small, the text is outside and an arrow will point to the relevant section

:[Here below all the text on the map (mainly film titles) will be transcribed from top to bottom and (when possible) by going through the columns that seems to appear in the sections when going from left to right. The {{w|State Postal Codes}} will be used when referring to the states covered by each section]

:[Small section covering the west coast around the state border between WA and OR, which is surrounded on three sides by the next section mentioned below. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:The Goonies
:[Large section covering WA, OR and top of CA. The section has two titles, with the second one standing with smaller font below the first:]
:Twilight
:50 Shades of Grey
:[Small section around San Francisco, CA:]
:Zodiac
:[Very tiny section covering only Alcatraz off the coast of San Francisco, CA. It lies inside section mentioned above. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:The Rock
:[Large section covering most of MT as well as part of WY, SD and NE. The section has two titles:]
:Dances with Wolves
:Starship Troopers
:[Medium section covering most of  ID and part of MT:]
:Napoleon Dynamite
:[Medium section covering part of OR, ID, NV and UT:]
:The Sandlot
:[Medium section mainly covering the top part of NV:]
:Wild Wild West
:[Medium section covering most of NV and small part of CA. The section has two titles, with the second one standing with smaller font below the first plus description:]
:Top Gun 
:& the part of Independence Day where Will Smith crashes
:[Small section covering central CA:]
:That movie about wine & talking
:[Medium section covering a large part of the southern part of CA around Hollywood, Los Angeles:]
:Every movie with a big budget, explosions or someone who says "cool!"
:[Medium section covering half of WY and small parts of UT and CO:]
:Brokeback Mountain
:[Medium section covering part of WY, CO and NE. The part in parenthesis in a smaller font:]
:Oregon Trail
:(the only part I ever got to)
:[Large section covering small part of UT and the half bottom of UT and CO and top half of AZ and NM:]
:Roadrunner cartoons
:[Medium section covering a small part of the southern CA and small part of AZ. The part beneath the title in a smaller font:]
:The Truman Show,
:but with desert as the background
:[Small part at the bottom of AZ. The section has two titles:]
:Tombstone
:& The Mask of Zorro
:[Large section covering a small part of AZ, the bottom half of NM as well as a third of TX:]
:No Country for Old Men
:[Large section covering all of ND, most of MN, half of SD and a small part of MT:]
:Fargo
:[Medium section covering most of NE and small parts of MN and IA. The section has three titles. The top two are marked with a square bracket to the left. The text of this given before the third title:]
:Interstellar
:Star Trek (2009)
:] Earth parts
:Field of Dreams
:[Medium section covering large parts of IA, MO and IL:]
:The Music Man
:[Medium section covering mainly KS, but also a small part of Co and OK:]
:The Wizard of Oz
:[Medium section covering most of OK and small part of MO and AR:]
:Twister
:[Medium section covering the top part of TX and small parts of OK and AR:]
:True Grit
:[Large section covering a third of TX  (the eastern part all the way down) and small parts of AR and LA. The section has three titles:]
:Office Space
:Dazed and Confused
:Kill Bill
:[Small section around and below Chicago, IL, which is surrounded on three sides by the next large section mentioned below. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:Blues Brothers
:[Very small section almost a circle centered around Detroit, MI completely inside the section here below. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:8 Mile
:[Large section covering all of WI, MI, IN and OH as well as parts of IL and KY. That is except for the two small sections described above, which are inlaid in this one. There are two items in this section. The one below is in smaller font:]
:A Christmas Story
:&That song about Jack and Diane
:[Medium section covering half of AR, small parts of IL and MO as well as bits of  KY, TN and MS:]
:Anything by Mark Twain
:[Medium section covering half of TN and part of KY:]
:Walk the Line
:[Large section covering all of AL most of MS and half of GA. There are two titles in this section:]
:Big Fish
:O Brother Where Art Thou
:[Small section covering top of LA and small part of MS:]
:Duck Dynasty
:[Medium section covering the bottom half of LA and the very bottom of MS. There is a very small section at the bottom of LA that are not included in this but in the next. There are two titles in this section:]
:Princess and the Frog
:All Dogs go to Heaven
:[Small section covering the very eastern end of the bottom of LA – maybe including New Orleans. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:Beasts of the Southern Wild
:[Medium section covering half of PA and western part NY:]
:Groundhog Day
:[Small section covering the middle part of VA as well as small parts of PA, MD and WV:]
:Dirty Dancing
:[Medium section covering most of WV, half of TN, a small parts of KY as well as tiny bits of VA, NC and GA:]
:October Sky
:[Large section covering all of SC, most of NC as well as half of VA and GA. There are two titles in this section:]
:Gone with the Wind
:Forrest Gump
:[Large section covering most of FL except the bottom part which are covered by the next two sections:]
:The Truman Show
:[Small section covering the very bottom of FL except the east coast. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:Adaptation
:[Small section covering the very bottom the east coast of FL. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:Miami Vice
:[Small section covering most of the top of VT and a small part of NY. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:Super Troopers
:[Small section covering the central part of NY.]
:My Side of the Mountain (book)
:[Small section covering the eastern part of NY, western part of MA, top part of CT as well as bits of VT and RI.:]
:War of the Worlds (2005)
:[Small section covering the eastern part of PA and small bits of NY and MD. There are two titles in this section:]
:Signs
:& The Village
:[Medium section covering several large cities of the east coast including New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. It covers most of DE and NJ and large parts of MD (with DC) and the bit of NY with the city. The text is not a title and the it is written in square brackets…:]
:[Generic city]
:[Small section covering the east coast along VA and NC, but also with small bits of MD and DE at the top:]
:Deep Impact
:[Medium section covering all of ME, the top tip of NH and eastern top of VT:]
:Pet Semetary
:[Small section covering the most of the bottom parts of NH and VT:]
:What about Bob
:[Very small section surrounding Boston in MA. It is labeled with an arrow:]
:The Departed
:[Small section covering the east coast along MA, RI, CT and NJ:]
:Jaws
:[Large section off the east coast in the Atlantic Ocean:]
:The Hunt for Red October

==Trivia==
*Not everything {{w|Mark Twain}} wrote was really set on the {{w|Mississippi River}}. For instance, he first gained attention as a fiction writer with "{{w|The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County}}," which is about {{w|Northern California}}. Indeed, during his lifetime, Twain was known mostly as a travel writer, not a novelist.
*Kill Bill doesn't take place in southern or eastern Texas. The wedding chapel scene takes place in {{w|El Paso}}, around the same area No Country for Old Men takes place.
*Later after the initial release of this comic Randall added a link to this page. It's viewable in the HTML-source or here: [https://xkcd.com/1509/info.0.json https://xkcd.com/1509/info.0.json]. The text is: ''"Some fans have completely dissected the joke for you http:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n1509"''.

==See also==
*[https://geoguessr.com/ GeoGuessr's official website]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:US maps]]
[[Category:Twilight]]
[[Category:Star Trek]]
[[Category:Tornadoes]]  <!-- twister -->
[[Category:Fiction]]