Fake places:
I grew up about 10 miles from the little upstate New York Erie Canal town of Palmyra. It's the place where Joseph Smith was given the revelation (buried gold tablets on the moraine called Hill Cumorah)that resulted in the founding of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Today I found a story in the Maryville, TN newspaper about a movie being filmed in the nearby town of Vonore. In the movie, Vonore becomes Palmyra, in 1826, and the film, "Pillar of Light" tells the story of the early days of the Church.
Interesting. I can't imagine an East Tennessee town resembling Palmyra. I've driven through Vonore, it looked pleasant and vaguely familiar...but it's close to the Smokies. Palmyra is FLAT, except for some drumlins and moraines south of town. The film's producer says "By filming it here in Tennessee, we didn't have to wait for upstate New York to thaw. And we have people working on the set who grew up in upstate New York.
The landscape here looks so similar that they say they half expect to turn the corner and see their favorite fishing hole from back where they grew up."

May be. They do wonders with location shooting but to me a film about a place I know never looks right when it's not shot at the real location. It's one reason I've put off seeing "Cold Mountain". I just can't imagine Romania looking like the real thing.

One thing: living in Miami you get spoiled. When you see a movie that's set in Miami, there's a really good chance it was filmed in Miami, too. (Something about that constant warm weather.....)