Dear
Reader,
People ask me all the time about my
favorite locations in Los Angeles. First
for some basic information, Los Angeles is the second largest city in the
United States behind New York 3,792,621. There
are two LA’s, downtown LA and all the other cities that surround Los Angeles
that is still considered LA; Hollywood, Silver Lake, Encino, Tarzana etc.… It’s
very confusing, but this is the nature of LA, nothing is what it seems. There are no “Hollywood Studios” in
Hollywood, Paramount is located in Los Angeles, Sony is located in Culver City,
Universal is located in Universal City, Disney and Warner Brothers are located
in Burbank, confusing is it not?
This is what I like about LA, it is full
of surprises; take the Hollywood sign, it used to be called “Hollywoodland” in
1923; it was mounted at the current location to lure people to buy property of
course now it is a landmark. This was
never intended to become an icon for Hollywood, but it did. This is a great location to shoot at, if only
there wasn’t protected by an electric fence and barbwire. Fortunately there are plenty of places to
shoot this iconic sign. The best viewing
point is off of Beachwood Drive, north of Franklin Ave. You can also reach the Hollywood sign from
Lake Hollywood Drive off of Barham. If you take Barham Blvd, north from the 101
make a right at Lake Hollywood Drive and follow this road to the right it will
take you to a dog park that has a great view of the Hollywood sign.
Griffith Park Observatory is another
wonderful location to shoot at, not only from its architect and an interior
from a bygone era, filmmakers have used this place in numerous films, TV shows,
commercials and photo shoots. Perched on
top of the Hollywood Hills north west of Los Angeles the observatory has one of
the best views of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and on a clear day one can even see
the blue Pacific. Looking to the east,
one can view the skyscrapers of downtown LA, because of earthquakes there is a
limit to how high buildings can be constructed, but every city has its
faults. Only Elysian Park has a better
view of Los Angeles, located next to Dodger Stadium.
Los Angeles used to have
one of the best trolley systems in America; that was a long time ago, that era
ended in 1960. However, LA still has the
shortest trolley car ride in the US known as Angels Flight, the trolley travels
two blocks from Hill to Olive in the Bunker Hill district in downtown LA. Angels Flight was opened in 1901 and still is
in service today. When you ride in the
trolley you are taken back in time, it is the perfect place to do a photo shoot
or film a period piece.
I am going to write a
series of blogs about Los Angeles and the surrounding area, there are so many
great locations some well known and some that are obscure. I have lived in Southern California all my
life and I have been involved in the entertainment industry for over
twenty-five years, but I am always surprised when I find a new location, or a
new restaurant. If you have any
questions about locations anywhere on the West Coast or you need a motor home
call me (Mike Green 818 317 7099).
