Over at Metblogs L.A., Cutter is making a short film about bicycles and he needs your help:
[P]art of the production involves shooting a bicycle chase in and around the eastern neighborhoods of Downtown Los Angeles.
. . .
We’re also shooting in Chinatown and in Boyle Heights. One of the potential locations included the beautiful Mariachi Square, but after scouting in that neighborhood I discovered that the Square is under construction and every street in a 1-block radius has been closed to through traffic.
Foiled!
So the question I put to you, faithful readers is this: What are some of the lesser known but no less interesting and distinctive East La/Boyle Heights/Downtown landmarks that might lend themselves to being photographed?
What locations do you suggest, Eastsiders? I think the Sears at Soto & Olympic is perfect, especially at night, when the sign at the top of the tower is lit and shines EARS (on one side, I think) to Boyle Heights. Leave suggestions here or over at Metblogs!
Before I got to what you wrote, I totally had that same vision about the Sears Building.
film in Estrada Courts real fast especially in front of the old murals, go down 8th street through Wyvernwood then over and under the freeway bridges,through the factories south of Olympic then head east towards Indiana st. and stop for tamales, cruise Salazar prk. etc,etc
The scary hills on 7th Street between Orme & Soto make a great scene at sunset because you can get the downtown skyline in the background at the top of the hill. Or just the hill on Mott starting at Whittier and going down into El Hoyo. We used to ride that one on Tonka trucks as kids. The wheels didn’t last too long after that. Another good shot would be at 6th and Camulos which offers another great view of downtown, but you may want to check in with the White Fence gang in case they still hang out there. But for iconic photos, the Sears Tower does well, as does the Buddhist temple on 4th at Mott, and the Hollenbeck Park bridge.
under the 4th street bridge at Lorena
I think you could follow EL CHAVO! around when he’s driving and you’ll film a good
Bike chase scene eventually! But seriously, I suggest you can shoot at one of the local Eastside Cemeteries; Calvary, Evergreen, Odd Fellows, The Chinese cemetery, Evergreen, they’re some of the oldest in the city and some even offer views of the Downtown skyline.
I agree with Vero about 7th Street east of Soto. That’s a crazy hill!
Since they’re on bikes, maybe around the lake in Hollenbeck Park, under the 5 Freeway overpass, then up the hill and swoop back up on Boyle.
If you count Echo Park as the Eastside (hee hee), you have all the crazy steep hills there too!
Pedestrian bridge across the Arroyo Seco and 110 freeway that connects Cypress Avenue to Avenue 33. There is an insanely narrow and scary walkway through teal (or purple) fencing on the Lincoln Heights side of the bridge.
Here is the linkage:
http://tinyurl.com/6dkna8
Thanks for all the suggestions! i’m gonna have myself an adventure this weekend 😀
best
cutter
I would say under the 6th st bridge but on the Whitter end the street below is called Anderson its a dope open spot under the bridge lots of cool high beams..so its between 6th and 7th on Anderson
i googled something totally unrelated and came across this website. its pretty cool. i’m a little late on the post so you’re probably through with your project but i was thinking you can start filming on the corner of first and idiana since there’s so much action. you ride your way west past the citibank, la gloria tortilleria, and the western clothing store and hang a right on that really narrow one way street. as soon as you turn right theirs a leather working shop where they make belts, guaraches and fix cowboy boots, to your left is “el mercadito del este de los angeles.”