Thor: The Nine Realms

As I already had a good understanding of the 9 realms from Thor comics and films as a fan, I found this image to show them and how I would film each one, even though it is unlikely I will use them all. They is 8 here, the ninth is Asgard.

Alpheim 

The home of the light Elves is usually pictured as a magical forest like place, but in this image the tall structure I thought looked remarkably similar to Stoodley Pike, a location I had already looked at for filming. This resemblance make it an ideal location for the comic being translated into film in my opinion. 

Nidavellir

The home of the dwarfs should be cave like and underground, so I thought the best and most accessible way to film this would be composting actors onto still images (as rock in the background shouldn't move anyway) as long as the camera is stationary. The images I thought would be good for this would be The Milodon cave in Torres del Paine, Chile.

Jotunheim

As a place often referred to in Thor I would like to use this as a location. Jotunheim is the icy realm of the frost giants, so to create it I feel I will have to digitally composite it together. To do this I will the floor of Malham cove limestone pavement, with the Highland mountains of Glen Coe, the Cuillin mountains, New Zealand or perhaps the Himalayas, with CGI snow featured in tutorials such as the one by Tutorial Grid below.

Svartalfheim

The Dark World was a huge part of Thor 2, and although I will be changing mine sightly, I think if I keep the yellow cloudy sky box then the resemblance will be similar enough for people to make the connection. I would like to use the The Bride Stone rocks for this as they are both epic and are a brilliant location.

Hel

For the realm of the dead I think I would use the same technique of composting the characters onto still, Photoshopped images such as the after effects of a volcanic eruption, or a barren wasteland, so the world looks very dead, and bare. Anything in shot must be dead (such as trees) and I would photoshop skeletons and skulls on the floor.

Muspelheim

The next realm was the realm of the demons, what most would consider hell to look like. After looking at films like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (for the Mustafar planet and the eruption of the end of Return of the King) they seemed un-useable for footage. So I searched and searched and came up with idea of composting the characters like silhouettes fighting across the screen on a land in the foreground, like the images here. The second (larger one) is from an incredible expedition by Michel Massat for which I would love to use.

Vanaheim

This is the real of the ancient gods, and lords of sorcery and magic. It was featured in Thor 2 as dead grass and moors with a clear tree line in the background. I think as this would look to similar to Alpheim and Svartalfheim, I would use places like Bolton Abbey and Blake Dean (Hebden Bridge) to give the addition of ruins to display its age.

Midgard

For earth I would set in it a very urban place to give it that modern world feel, and distinguish it from the other worlds. Such as a rooftop, or a car-park. The first is the roof of Hotel Ibis, and the second Leeds Metropolitan University's Rosebowl Car-park.

Asgard

The only way to do this would to be either digitally create my version (which would take too long) or composite the characters on to existing footage, which after watching them I don't think is a viable option, for this reason, I think I will leave Asgard and just visit its ruling realms.