Pre-Production: Location Scouting
When one makes an indie film, one must be pragmatic. Most locations are unaffordable either in rental cost and/or time cost (salaries, rentals, insurance, etc. are all per day). So finding the most evocative yet inexpensive yet efficient locations was a time-consuming challenge. This is a small selection of locations that I scouted in Los Angeles County and in Encinitas, CA (near San Diego)… to show some before-photos to compare with the actual locations as they appeared in the movie and to show some locations that coulda-woulda-shoulda if I was on a different level.
Pre-production: Location Scouting
Important To Show It Was A Journey To See The Comet - Telephoto Lens View From Rosy's Deck - A Shot I Always Knew I'd Use - Photo By Julius Galacki
A View Of The Path And Hills From Rosy's Deck -
One Of The Tables On The Deck With The View Of Griffith Park. But Just Moved Over, It Could Be A Table At An Outdoor Cafe - Used In The Deleted Ice Cream Eating Scene - Photo By Julius Galacki
Rosy's Deck With An Iconic View - Obviously One To Be Avoided On Camera As They Theoretically Far Out Of An Unnamed Town To Get A View Of The Comet - Photo By Julius Galacki
The Side Of The House Where We'd Stage The Final Night Scene ... Wild Enough To Look Like We Were In The Hills But Very Close To Electricity And The Crafts Services Table - Photo By JG
A Closer View Of The Hollywood Hills Side Yard After Sunset - Photo By Julius Galacki
Another Angle Of The Hollywood Hills Side Yard After Sunset - Photo By Julius Galack
Hollywood Hills House In View - Most Of The Scene Happened Around That Tuft Of Grass And The Rocks - Photo By Julius Galacki
Griffith Park Is In The Background - Photo By Julius Galacki
Yet Another Angle - Griffith Park Is In The Background - Photo By Julius Galacki
A Real Teenager's Bedroom That Became Ray's Refuge - Photo By Julius Galacki
Griffith Park Trail Head - Photo By Julius Galacki
The Closet Of That Real Teenager Where We'd Put Ray's Treasure Box Of Nikola Memories
The Teenager's Bedroom That Became Ray's Bedroom. These Windows Had To Be Blocked Off To Control The Lighting - Photo By Julius Galacki
The Younger Teen Brother's Bedroom - Transformed Into Dave's Red Lava Lamp Bedroom - Photo By Julius Galacki
The Younger Teen Brother's Bedroom - Transformed Into Dave's Red Lava Lamp Bedroom - Photo By Julius Galacki
Had To Block Off That Window In The Younger Teen Brother's Bedroom - Transformed Into Dave's Red Lava Lamp Bedroom - Photo By Julius Galacki
Cottonwood Creek Park, Encinitas - Beyond Those Trees And Past A Fence Is The Actual Creek - Photo By Julius Galacki
The Creek Was Barely Visible From The Rest Of The Park, But I Did Some Exploring - Photo By Julius Galacki
A Perfect Place To Skip Some Stones - Cottonwood Creek, Encinitas - Photo By Julius Galacki
A Typical 99 Seat Live Theatre In LA With An Exposed Brick Wall That Would Have To Be Blocked Off From The Camera's View By Lighting And Framing - Photo By Julius Galacki
DP Added Flicker From His Lighting Set-up Did A Lot To Transform The Theatre Asylum - Photo By Julius Galacki
Again No Side View Because It Wouldn't Look Movie Theatre Enough - Photo By Julius Galacki
Oakcrest Park, Encinitas - Perfect For The Park Scene - Photo By Julius Galacki
Loved The Tree, The DP Loved The Shade - We Put Maggie Rintala, The Woman In The Park Here - Photo By Julius Galacki
Script Originally Called For Mini-golf, But Too Expensive A Location - Solution Bocci - Photo By Julius Galacki
I Needed A Sport Where Balls Hit Each Other Like Small Versions Of The Planets And Stars - And Unlike The Bocci Court In LA, This One Is Quite Handsome - Photo By Julius Galacki
View Of The Bocci Court Where Approximately Cooper Set Up Our Camera - Photo By Julius Galacki
Like Jupiter And Neptune In A Red Sky - Photo By Julius Galacki
This Area Of The Park Proved To Be Too Busy To Be Useful - Photo By Julius Galacki
Temporarily Forgotten Bear - Photo By Julius Galacki
Encinitas Ranch Trails - Highly Evocative Location - Just Logistically Too Difficult To Get To With Out Equipment With The Time Constraints - Photo By Julius Galacki
Oakcrest Park, Encinitas - Formations Weren't As Extensive As The Ranch - My Intention Was To Use This As The Backdrop For The Suicidal Thoughts Scene - Ran Out Of Time And Improvised Using Brian And Elizabeth's Backyard On The Last Day Of Shooting - Photo By Julius Galacki
What The M-Bar Night Club Actually Looked Like When We Came In Wed. Morning - Photo By Julius Galacki
What Bob's Big Chicken 99 Looked Like In Real Life - Photo By Julius Galacki
M Bar Booth Where Ray Learns He's Going On A Blind Date - Photo By Julius Galacki
The Stage Of M Bar - Area We Used For Craft Services And Make-up - Photo By Julius Galacki
M Bar Booth Where Ray Learns He's Going On A Blind Date - Photo By Julius Galacki
M Bar Night Club - We Moved Some Tables Obviously - Photo By Julius Galacki
M Bar Bar - Always Had To Frame Bob's Big Chicken To Not Show The Bar And Vice Versa - Photo By Julius Galacki
You Can Really See The Proximity Of Bar To Tables In This Photo - By Julius Galacki
M Bar Bar - Always Had To Frame Bob's Big Chicken To Not Show The Bar And Vice Versa - Photo By Julius Galacki
Outdoor Seating At The M Bar - Gave Us Some Visual Variety For The Pickle Eating Scene - Photo By Julius Galacki
Stoop In W. Hollywood - A Deleted Scene For DVD Extras - Photo By Julius Galacki
Little Oaks Equestrian Park - Perfect Location - Had To Delete Scene For Time - Photo By Julius Galacki
Little Oaks Equestrian Park - Perfect Location - Had To Delete Scene For Time - Photo By Julius Galacki
Little Oaks Equestrian Park - Perfect Location - Had To Delete Scene For Time - Photo By Julius Galacki
Little Oaks Equestrian Park - Perfect Location - Had To Delete Scene For Time - Photo By Julius Galacki
My Friend Aleta Barthell Who Suggested I Explore Encinitas - She Didn't Even Know About This Corral - Photo By Julius Galacki
I Wish I Could Have Used This Parking Lot In Encinitas But While We Could Film In The Parks, Here We Would Have Needed A Traffic Plan - Photo By Julius Galacki
Originally Had A Scene At A Urinal - Ran Out Of Time - So I Assigned That Dialogue To The Car Wash Making That Scene Longer Longer - Photo By Julius Galacki
Encinitas Ranch Trails - Highly Evocative Location - Just Logistically Too Difficult To Get To With Out Equipment With The Time Constraints - Photo By Julius Galacki
Encinitas Ranch Trails - Highly Evocative Location - Just Logistically Too Difficult To Get To With Out Equipment With The Time Constraints - Photo By Julius Galacki
Encinitas Ranch Trails - Highly Evocative Location - Just Logistically Too Difficult To Get To With Out Equipment With The Time Constraints - Photo By Julius Galacki
Encinitas Ranch Trails - Highly Evocative Location - Just Logistically Too Difficult To Get To With Out Equipment With The Time Constraints - Photo By Julius Galacki
Encinitas Ranch Trails - Highly Evocative Location - Just Logistically Too Difficult To Get To With Out Equipment With The Time Constraints - Photo By Julius Galacki
Encinitas Ranch Trails - Highly Evocative Location - Just Logistically Too Difficult To Get To With Out Equipment With The Time Constraints - Photo By Julius Galacki
A Street I Considered For The Bunny... Ran Out Of Time In Encinitas And Improvised In Studio City Where I Found An Even BETTER Street - Photo By Julius Galacki
Sunland Area... Maybe The Most Perfect Location For Accessibility And Visuals BUT Couldn't Have Avoided The Permits Here
An Almost Perfect Area - BUT Besides The Permits, Need For A Generator, Etc., It Was Not A Multi-use Location - Photo By Julius Galacki
Every Location Had To Be Near Another Location Or Double For More Than One - Thus Another Drawback - Photo By Julius Galacki