Where Was I Robot Filmed?

I’ve always dug the way cityscapes become characters in shows, and with 'Mr. Robot' that’s exactly what happens. The production was largely rooted in New York City — think Manhattan and Brooklyn — where the grimy, lived-in streets and late-night neon gave Elliot’s world its texture. A lot of the exterior stuff was shot on real city streets, alleys, and plazas to keep that raw, documentary feel. They leaned hard on night shoots to get the moody, high-contrast look that suits a cyber-thriller. Beyond the exteriors, the crew mixed in studio work and built sets for more controlled interiors. Some scenes that feel like cramped apartments or corporate offices were actually shot on soundstages around the NYC area. The team also crossed the Hudson into New Jersey for certain sequences and logistical reasons — it’s common for productions to pick up locations and studio space across the river. For me, spotting a familiar corner of Brooklyn pop up on screen always made the show hit harder.

That eerie glass house in 'Ex Machina'? It was mostly shot in Norway, and the spot that sticks in my head is the Juvet Landscape Hotel in Valldal. The filmmakers used that isolated, gorge-side property because its stark, modern architecture and wild surroundings give Ava’s world this uncanny mix of luxury and remoteness — perfect for a white robot who’s both clinical and strangely alive. They didn’t rely only on Norway though. A lot of the interiors and the controlled effects-heavy work were handled in studios around London, which let them balance the raw outdoor shots with meticulous visual effects and tight close-ups. Watching it, you can feel the push and pull between those real, wind-battered stones and the precise studio lighting, and I always end up rewinding scenes to see how the location shapes the mood. It made the movie feel like a living painting to me.

Wow—this is one of those little production secrets fans like me love to dig into. The film 'Kid Robot' shot its principal live-action scenes across three main regions, and each area was chosen to deliver a very specific texture to the movie. The gritty, industrial sequences—the robot factory, the alley chases, and those haunting wide shots of rusted metal—were filmed in Detroit. You can practically feel why the crew picked the Packard Plant and surrounding riverfront areas: the decay, the scale, the real-world history give the machines a sense of weight you can’t fake with CGI alone. For the human-scale interiors and the majority of the household and lab scenes, the production moved to Toronto. They used soundstages at Pinewood Toronto Studios for controlled lab builds and the more delicate animatronic setups, while neighborhood exteriors—the diner, the kid’s suburban house, and the school—were filmed in Toronto’s west end and some Scarborough suburbs. Toronto’s tax credits and deep VFX/props community also meant a lot of the puppetry, suit work, and cleanup VFX were handled there; a local practical-effects shop in the city built many of the close-up robot faces you see in quieter scenes. Finally, a few sweeping exteriors—those wide, lonely desert shots that frame the robot’s existential moments—were shot in New Mexico. The crew picked a stretch outside Albuquerque for the final montage and chase-through-canyons sequence. It’s a smart combo: Detroit for raw industrial character, Toronto for controlled interiors and urban life, and New Mexico for open, cinematic space. If you’re into film tourism, fans have pinpointed specific spots: the Packard Plant scenes, the Distillery District–style street where the diner was dressed, and the dirt road outside Albuquerque that appears in the final act. I loved seeing how those disparate places stitched together on screen—the contrasts actually deepen the story, making the robot world feel both intimate and enormous, which is part of why the film stuck with me.

I love how a city can feel like a co-star, and in the case of 'Chappie' the film's personality absolutely comes from Johannesburg. The movie was primarily filmed in and around Jo'burg, and you can see why: the dense urban textures, the industrial backdrops, and the sometimes rough-but-living streets give the story a tangible grit that a soundstage just couldn't replicate. Neill Blomkamp's roots in South Africa are obvious here—he knows how to find those pockets of the city that feel both real and cinematic, and he used them to sell a near-future world where police robots and gang culture collide. From wide, dusty avenues to cramped residential blocks, Johannesburg provides a sense of scale and authenticity that becomes part of Chappie's identity. Beyond the look, there are practical reasons the production stayed there. Shooting locally meant tapping into a film community that already understood Blomkamp's aesthetic, which can save time and money while boosting creative control. Location shooting in South Africa often offers cost advantages and logistical flexibility compared to doing everything in pricier Western studios. Plus, the local crews are talented and well-versed in adapting real environments for sci-fi — you end up with production design that feels lived-in rather than artificially polished. The city also allowed for larger, more dynamic set pieces that would have been tougher or stiffer on a set: streets could be closed, whole blocks dressed and transformed, and daytime-to-night transitions captured with a raw energy that fits the film's themes. On a fan level, what grabbed me was how location shaped tone. Some robot films go for sterile isolation — like the remote, glass-and-concrete vibe of 'Ex Machina' — but 'Chappie' needed human messiness, a place where technology and everyday life rub elbows in unpredictable ways. Johannesburg offers that friction: the neon and concrete of urban life layered over neighborhoods with their own histories. That tension makes Chappie's journey feel messier and more believable. Watching the movie, I kept noticing small details — a graffiti tag, a row of corrugated roofs, the way light bounces off a market stall — that grounded the sci-fi elements in a lived-in world. For me, that grounding is what turns a robot movie from a cool special-effects showcase into something that feels emotionally honest, and Jo'burg sells that in spades. I still smile thinking about how the city itself ends up feeling like another character in the film.

So, if you mean 'The Iron Giant', the short version is that it wasn’t really "filmed" on location because it’s an animated movie — most of the work happened in studios. The feature was created at Warner Bros. Feature Animation in Burbank, with voice sessions and animation production centered around Los Angeles. The visual design, though, was heavily inspired by real 1950s small-town America: think Maine/New England main streets, old diners, and classic car-lined avenues. The artists used photographic and travel references of those towns to build that Rockwell-y vibe. I love how that studio approach still feels like someplace you could visit; when I watch it I picture foggy coastlines and red-brick main streets rather than a Hollywood backlot. The behind-the-scenes books and documentaries show background painters visiting real towns and then elevating those images into painted set pieces, so while there wasn’t a live-action location to point to, the film’s soul is rooted in very real American places — that’s what makes it feel so homey to me.

I got totally into the behind-the-scenes stuff for 'Robot' and loved tracking where they shot it — it’s a real globe-trotter of a production. The bulk of principal photography happened in Prague, with a lot of work staged at Barrandov Studios; you can see why they picked it, the old soundstages there are perfect for building sprawling, futuristic interiors without fighting modern city permits. The production also leaned heavily on Pinewood Studios outside London for the high-tech lab sets and the massive LED volume work, where they combined practical builds with immersive background plates. Outside the studios they did on-location shoots in Vancouver for the neon-soaked city exteriors — Gastown and some re-dressed downtown blocks double as the film’s tech-district. A few wide, otherworldly landscape shots were actually filmed in the Almería deserts in Spain, which gave the movie those stark, desolate vistas that contrast so well with the glossy city scenes. VFX and post-production was split between studios in London and Vancouver, so a lot of the magic you see came from Framestore and MPC-style teams polishing practical plates. I kept thinking about how these varied places — Barrandov’s old-school craftsmanship, Pinewood’s high-tech stages, Vancouver’s adaptable streets, and Almería’s empty horizons — gave 'Robot' that lived-in future look. It’s fun to spot which shots are studio-built and which are real streets when you rewatch, and that mix is a big reason the movie feels both huge and tactile.