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Things to see in L.A.


Bill DiPietra

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I'm going to be taking the ASC Master Class in March of next year. This will be my first time in L.A. and I'm going to attach a few extra days (3 or 4) to the end of my trip so that I can check out some indigenous film sites (whatever they may be.)

 

So I just wanted to ask everyone - especially those of you who reside in L.A. - what some places geared towards film-making and film history might be cool places to visit while I'm there.

 

Thanks!

Edited by Bill DiPietra
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See something at the Egyptian Theater. That would be my #1. Also, there's the Arclight / Cineramadome, the New Beverly, and the Silent Movie Theater / The Cinefamily all in Hollywood (plus of course the Chinese Theater). And another pretty spectacular theater is at the Ace Hotel downtown (google pictures of it, it's gorgeous).

 

Charlie Chaplin's old studio (today it's Henson Studios) is on La Brea. You can't get a tour, but it's pretty neat to see. Buster Keaton's old studio isn't there any more, so it's probably not worth it to go over there. It's a special effects shop now, but there's a plaque on the sidewalk if you want to see it / feel the connection. I used to live right there, so I always liked to walk by and say hi to Buster.

 

You can go see the Bronson Caves very easily. That's where the batmobile exited the batcave from the old Batman tv show. It's also where Woody Allen finds the old VW bug in Sleeper, as well as tons of other movies. If you want to hike further up, you can get to the Hollywood sign, although it is a bit of a trek. The Griffith Observatory is nearby too (you can hike there from Bronson, but it's far)

 

There's the Kodak building on Santa Monica and Las Palmas if that interests you, but of course it's empty now. If you had been coming a few months ago, I would have recommended picking up some movie film direct from Kodak at their will-call, but you can't do that anymore unfortunately. (Unless you want to travel out to the Pro-tek vaults in Burbank, but I have yet to do that so I can't speak to how easy it is)

 

You could always visit Spectra Film and Video in Burbank. You can even take the subway; it drops you off like one block away from Spectra.

 

LACMA might not necessarily be film-related, although they do show films, but I certainly would recommend going. Great museum. If you're into cars, there's the Petersen Automotive Museum across the street. I haven't been in a decade, but they had the James Bond Astin Martin DB5 at one time. I can't imagine it's still there, though.

 

I'm sure there's a ton more stuff, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment. And I didn't even get into places to eat...

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See something at the Egyptian Theater. That would be my #1. Also, there's the Arclight / Cineramadome, the New Beverly, and the Silent Movie Theater / The Cinefamily all in Hollywood (plus of course the Chinese Theater). And another pretty spectacular theater is at the Ace Hotel downtown (google pictures of it, it's gorgeous).

 

Charlie Chaplin's old studio (today it's Henson Studios) is on La Brea. You can't get a tour, but it's pretty neat to see. Buster Keaton's old studio isn't there any more, so it's probably not worth it to go over there. It's a special effects shop now, but there's a plaque on the sidewalk if you want to see it / feel the connection. I used to live right there, so I always liked to walk by and say hi to Buster.

 

You can go see the Bronson Caves very easily. That's where the batmobile exited the batcave from the old Batman tv show. It's also where Woody Allen finds the old VW bug in Sleeper, as well as tons of other movies. If you want to hike further up, you can get to the Hollywood sign, although it is a bit of a trek. The Griffith Observatory is nearby too (you can hike there from Bronson, but it's far)

 

There's the Kodak building on Santa Monica and Las Palmas if that interests you, but of course it's empty now. If you had been coming a few months ago, I would have recommended picking up some movie film direct from Kodak at their will-call, but you can't do that anymore unfortunately. (Unless you want to travel out to the Pro-tek vaults in Burbank, but I have yet to do that so I can't speak to how easy it is)

 

You could always visit Spectra Film and Video in Burbank. You can even take the subway; it drops you off like one block away from Spectra.

 

LACMA might not necessarily be film-related, although they do show films, but I certainly would recommend going. Great museum. If you're into cars, there's the Petersen Automotive Museum across the street. I haven't been in a decade, but they had the James Bond Astin Martin DB5 at one time. I can't imagine it's still there, though.

 

I'm sure there's a ton more stuff, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment. And I didn't even get into places to eat...

 

Cool! Thanks!

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Josh has some great ideas! In terms of OTHER theaters… I love the El Capitan theater which is right across the street from the Mann's Chinese. They have a nice theater organ and excellent 4k projection. Yea, they play kids films, but if your lucky, it may not be that bad during the time you come here.

 

Send me a message if you have some free time. I've got a convertible and would be more then happy to drive you around to see the kool stuff. It's really hard to do it without a vehicle AND knowing where everything is! :)

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Oh yes, the El Cap is a beautiful theater, but since it's owned by Disney now they only show Disney movies. Plus they can be pretty expensive, since there's usually some sort of opening show as well. But it is a great theater and a nice piece of history.

 

I also forgot to mention, if you're looking for a weird underground microcinema, definitely check out the Echo Park Film Center!! I can't talk that place up enough. It's really something special. http://www.echoparkfilmcenter.org/

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Getty Museum and since I'm a Star Trek jerk, Vasquez Rocks. But you can find Star Trek locations all over LA, including Getty museum where I think it was a location on Into Darkness ... I think.

 

There's the Getty Museum and the Getty Villa. Both are pretty good if you are in to art galleries. There's also the Huntington Library.

 

The biggest problem with LA is it take 2 hours to get anywhere... Garmin is your friend...

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There seems to be a light rail network- isn't that quicker?

 

Watch "Who Framed Rodger Rabbit"(1988)... from the wiki...

---

One of the themes in the film pertains to the dismantling of public transportation systems by private companies who would profit from an automobile transportation system and freeway infrastructure. Near the end of the film, Judge Doom reveals his plot to destroy Toon Town to make way for the new freeway system. This is an indirect historical reference to the dismantling of public transportation trolley lines by National City Lines during the 1930s in what is also known as the Great American streetcar scandal. The name of Doom's company, Cloverleaf Industries, is a reference to a common freeway-ramp configuration. The assertion that a conspiracy caused the demise of electric urban street railways was the subject of a session at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board entitled "Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Conspiracy Theories and Transportation", which concluded that such systems met their demise for a number of other reasons (economic, cultural, societal, technological, legal) having nothing to do with a conspiracy, even though it was true that National City Lines, Inc. (NCL) was a front company—organized by General Motors' Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. in 1922, reorganized in 1936 into a holding company—for the express purpose of acquiring local transit systems throughout the United States. "Once [NCL] purchased a transit company, electric trolley service was immediately discontinued, the tracks quickly pulled up, the wires dismantled ..." and General Motors buses replaced the trolleys.[

---

 

LA has been trying to get a region wide transport system. But cars are realistically the only way to get around, due to sprawl. Unlike New York, and most European cities I've visited, everything in LA is about 20 miles from anywhere else. And that 20 miles is filled with traffic.

 

The 'lightrail' does help getting around some of the region, and some distances, but for example, my Daughter lived in the Brea Area (near the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA), and it took her 2 hours to get to Union Station in Downtown LA, and only 1.5 hours to get to Oceanside California, about 90 miles to the south...

 

When I travel to San Francisco I often go by car, and I leave at 4 AM, hit LA about 5:30-6 AM, and am headed out of the region by 7 AM... and the traffic is piling up 40 or so miles north of LA going south by 7...

 

San Francisco is more like NYC and similar places because the bus system/trolleys/BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is pretty effective. When the Daughter lived on SF itself, she did not need a car (and parking a car was expensive as street parking was short in supply and long in ticketing...).

 

I've only driven myself once in Europe, and that was from Amsterdam down to Frankfurt and back, but I was picking up typewriters that were well away from train stations. Had I only gone to Frankfurt, I would have taken the train...

Edited by John E Clark
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Last time I was Los Angeles, I stayed in - eh - Valley Village, roughly, and was able to walk to nearby amenities and thence to the Orange Line bus and via that get all the way down to Hollywood on public transport. Having been repeatedly told it was impossible to do anything on foot or by public transport in LA, I was pleasantly surprised. It felt very un-Californian.

 

That said I'm under no illusion that it covers much of the enormity.

 

The story behind why the Orange Line is a "busway" as opposed to an actual light rail line is too depressing to recount.

 

P

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The Mole Richardson 'museum' next to the Studio Depot on La Brea is worth checking out. If you can get out to Woodland Hills, Panavision's facility has some interesting items on display. Also the local camera accessory houses are fun, Hot Rod Camera in Hollywood and AbelCine in Burbank.

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Last time I was Los Angeles, I stayed in - eh - Valley Village, roughly, and was able to walk to nearby amenities and thence to the Orange Line bus and via that get all the way down to Hollywood on public transport. Having been repeatedly told it was impossible to do anything on foot or by public transport in LA, I was pleasantly surprised. It felt very un-Californian.

 

That said I'm under no illusion that it covers much of the enormity.

 

The story behind why the Orange Line is a "busway" as opposed to an actual light rail line is too depressing to recount.

 

P

 

Anytime I've been to LA in recent years I've gotten around by public transport. It's pretty cheap and it can been great for people watching. After buying her ticket one woman made a one minute speech to the passengers about some wrong that happened to her - everyone listened - then she took her seat.

Edited by Brian Drysdale
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