Northern California is famous for its locations, with a majority of American car commercials shot here. By the same token, many places have become cliches. In Location of the Month, we endeavor to bring you the odd and offbeat but also beautiful to serve your current location needs or spark a fresh ideas. For more location information, contact cineSOURCEtrips: 888.5MEDIA5.

Ethnic America: Rural Chinatown

Description

California is a crossroads, where east and west meet. While San Francisco's Chinatown is fantastic, even a little foreboding, the tiny town of Locke, 20 miles south of downtown Sacramento, is an easy and accessible couple of blocks that could be Chinatown or the Old West or Asia, or whatever the resourceful indie art director can concoct. Indeed, Locke is the only rural Chinatown in California left from dozens around the turn of the 20th century, see the fantastic film "Thousand Pieces of Gold" (1991), and Locke was a common name for Chinese Californian men. Although Locke has hosted many movie shoots over the years, scout it first because when I went out in 2008 is was largely deserted. While that makes for a fabulous quality, for a bigger production, you might want to confirm with some sort of local authority figure.

Genres Useful For

Western, Multicultural, Romance, Fantasy, Eco-Cinema

Location

Locke, California

Another Massive Bay View

Description

When your script shows for a spectacular San Francisco Bay view, as 87% of all purposefully located here do, you can't do much better than slightly north from Claremont Blvd on Grizzly Peak Blvd in Berkeley. Shooting west is best either at dawn or magic hour, although mid-day works pretty damn well, as well. There's not a big stand back for using a massive lens, as in other cineSOURCE Location of the Months, but look for the Farallon Islands, directly to right of the Golden Gate Bridge's north tower. Indeed, you can see all three Bay Area major bridges, not to mention all of Berkeley, most of Richmond and a fantastic framing of the San Francisco replete with the new, ultra-modern eastside of the Bay Bridge in its foreground.

Genres Useful For

Romance, Westward Ho, Film Luminescence, Police Procedural, Eco-Cinema

Location

4350 Grizzly Peak Blvd, Berkeley, CA 94705

Your Deserted Railroad Crossing

Description

Shooting something set in the West and need a train track or train going by? Head down Cedar St in Berkley for an odd train crossing and some weird buildings. Of course be super-careful as anything involving trains can be dangerous—ie don't put your camera or talent too close to the tracks when trains pass since weird stuff can be hanging off the freight cars.

Genres Useful For

Rural, Film Noir, Police Procedural, On the Road,

Location

700 Cedar Street, Berkeley

Your Quaint Guitar Shop

Description

How to kill some hipster time while doling out a few red-meat character clues? Have your character drop by Subway Guitars in Berkeley. Owned by Fat Dog (not shown), a local legend who has sold guitars to many Bay Area guitar heroes, it is a jam-packed 225 sq ft of guitar that shouts more Czech Republic, then Berkeley, while its exterior, painted with sky blue and white clouds—not to mention the 1949 Ford Roadster, often parked in front, screams hippie-era Berkeley. For either look, Fat Dog allows quick shoots FREE OF CHARGE, just call in advance, of course, and bring a nice house-warming gift (read: six pack for staff).

Genres Useful For

Berkeley, Family, Film Noir, Super-Hippie, Super-Punk, Urban Rom-Com

Location

1800 Cedar Street, Berkeley

Going to Sleep in the Bay Area: Your Classic Oakland Nightscape

Description

So your character has finally pulled into Oakland, the Amsterdam of the West, by plane, train or hobo railcar (see previous LOM, "Hitting the Road: Oakland Train Yards"). Naturally you need him/her/they to go somewhere/do something that reveals the essence of the setting. Well, there's always the portico at Lake Merritt, although that's in every Oakland film ever made, or you can catch the cranes at the harbor (see LOC, "Your Romantic Harbor Scene") although that's also quite common. A much better and noirish option, however, is right downtown on 14th street at the corner of Webster, looking west. As an added benefit, it is right next to the Longtitude Bar, one of the best in the area and with that Oakland rarity, a kitchen that stays open late, so you can feed the crew or go dancing across the street at the New Karribean City (4/16).

Genres Useful For

Oakland, Film Noir, Espionage, Super-Hippie, Super-Punk, Occupy Drama, Road Film, Urban Rom-Com

Location

14th Street and Webster, Oakland

Waking Up in the Bay Area: Your Classic Bridge Shot

Description

So your character has arrived in San Fran and you need that money establishing shot? Forget the Golden Gate Bridge: that's for tourists, rich Marin County-ites and it is way out of the downtown area, anyway. Just get yourself a long lens and head over to Harrison Street around Spear for that looking up in awe at the Bay Bridge shot. Up the hill and further west on Harrison, crossstreet First, you can get that long, flattened zoom look at your character jogging or heading to work with the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island and even Oakland (depending how ingenuous you are) in the distance. It's pretty much fabulous any time of day: dawn when the sun bangs right down Harrison; noon for lighting up Harrison itself and good articulation of the Bay Bridge, or at night, with the bridge lights twinkling. (3/16)

Genres Useful For

San Francisco, Film Noir, Espionage, Urban Grit, Getting Off the Road, Urban Rom-Com

Location

Main Street and Harrison, San Francisco

Hitting the Road: Oakland Train Yards

Description

Good time for your protagonist to hit the road? Well a lot of "crusties," as road hippies are now known, ride the rails and no where to get a better shot than the bridge over Oakland Harbor's massive rail head. It's perfect at night, when truck traffic is low and you can get a locomotive headed south, or day but beware: the bridge shakes with a lot of trucks. Getting down onto the tracks is a little tougher—call your location scout—but not that hard. Also provides excellent view of Oakland city center in distance East or harbor and the rows of loading cranes to the West. (1/16)

Genres Useful For

Noir, Urban Grit, Drug, Zombie, Biker, Picaresque

Location

3rd Street and Adeline, Oakland

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Your Romantic Harbor Scene: Mid-Harbor Park, Oakland

Description

If romance equals sunset over bay plus bridge, what could be better than two! Indeed, Middle Harbor Park, Oakland, is one of the few places on the Bay that you can get both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate in one shot, lined up perfectly. Indeed, it is especially excellent at sunset. Just rent your super long lens, get some SunGun fill for principles (so you can stop down and get the glorious sunset, although for that you have to check your meteorological readings) and you can have them doing anything: walking, talking, fornicating (this is Oakland, and almost no one goes out there on weekdays) or even doing a skinny-dip in the Bay (although for that, make sure it's high tide). Plus, you can have your characters turn around and sneak into a container ship, or fornicate with the famous harbor cranes crunching in the back ground for that high-art post-mod feel. Location located by D. Blair. (4/15)

Genres Useful For

Chick Flick, Drama, Mystery, Mod Noir, Spy

Location

Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, Oakland

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Time Capsule Your Character: A 1980s Phone Booth

Description

If it's time for a flash back to the drug deal that changed your protagonist's life in 1983, or when he called his mother after getting out of jail, or you name it, we have the phone booth for you. It's on a deserted strip—if filmed at night, which is when it should be filmed—in Palo Alto. This "open-air" style booth would also be perfect for a contemporary 911 call to alert the authorities that, "Holy shit, I just saw a zombie!" Just remember to bring your own actual phone mechanism (easily obtainable at a Goodwill) with a nice, tight ringlet cord which can be easily adhered with Gaffer's Tape on the non-shooting side. The booth even has a '70s-style building in back with some classical flagstones, although be sure to contact Bay Area Performance Cycles before shooting there, perhaps picking up some biker extras while you're at it. Location located by Davell Swan. (9/14)

Genres Useful For

Drug, Anything '70s or '80s, Zombie, Biker, Prison, Lynch-y

Location

2565 W. Middlefield Road in Palo Alto.

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The Apocalypse Gardens Next Door: Treasure Island, San Francisco

Description

If your location list has a call for "Zombie Dwellings"—and whose doesn't these days?—and you want something a little more elegant than a Bayview industrial or West Oakland Zuburban Zombie setting, try Treasure Island. In addition to its spectacular views of San Francisco, Alcatraz and the Bay, it is speckled with all sorts of abandoned structures. Once semi-hip naval officer dwellings, they were abandoned at the end of the cold war and are now delightfully derelict and with dozens of shooting situations, with or without the beautiful Bay Bridge—which your CGI could always destroy—in the background. Give Jack Nathanson, of the Treasure Island Development Authority, a jingle at (415) 274-0688. Evidently crews shoot there all the time and it is not pricey. Location located by Davell Swan (8/14)

Genres Useful For

Zombie Apocalypse, Tech Bubbles, SF Romance, Arty

Location

Treasure Island, off the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland

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Paradise Next Door: Japanese Gardens, Mill Valley

Description

Tucked away in Mill Valley is this phenomenal Japanese garden, already featured in a Japanese TV series and highlighted with a five page spread in the Mill Valley Historical Magazine. Designed by Sam’l Newsom, the landscape designer and painter who also created Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden and Remick Park in Tamworth, it features a paisley-shaped pond 32 feet in length, a waterfall with a ten foot drop, a 14 foot bridge and plenty of koi (fish), lily pads, bamboo, beautiful rocks and, of course, bonzai trees. Location located by Randy Gordon. (7/14)

Genres Useful For

Romance, Asian, Martial Arts, Quirky Suburban, Arty

Location

In Mill Valley, Marin County

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The Cowboys Next Door: The Stables, Oakland

Description

In another testament to the city's vast "locational" diversity, cowboy movies, or weird modern hybrids thereof, can be shot in Oakland. Indeed, Peidmont Stables looks more like it was on a hill in Big Sur than in the Bay Area. Feel free to set anything here, from a "Marnie" remake to a surrealist break from a gangster film—why shouldn't Oakland thugs be infatuated with race horses like all others? I haven't checked with the stable authorities whether or not they are into 18-wheeler grip trucks or smaller film shoots—I will wait for you call—but if they are not into it, there are three other stables nearby. With its multiple corrals, outbuildings and stables, not to mention the terribly-cute miniature horse, Piedmont Stables can satisfy many shooting needs, including of woods, distant lakes and fields. Location located by Doniphan Blair. (5/14)

Genres Useful For

Cowboy, Fantasy, Suburban, Arty, Oakland Diversity

Location

In the East Bay, Enter from Skyline Drive, Oakland

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Hobo Camp Supreme: The Bulb, Richmond

Description

A wilderness created out of garbage (landfill) and popular among Berkeley's homeless, the Bulb, a bulb of land sticking into the San Francisco Bay is perfect for image capture. With its stellar views of water and bridges, it is excellent for sunset shoots. And it has all sorts of structures, notably the "Fairy Castle" shown here, into which to set characters. Although that building, also known as Mad Mark's Castle, is rather small, it would serve nicely to domicile a modern-Kerouac mystic, a skateboard super-star or a Pixar character, although check with Mark or other possible residents for scheduling arrangements first. And don't be disappointed: There are other edifices and sculptures among the flourishing brambles. Officially, you may be required a film permit from the city of Albany, as the home of the free, the Bulb is THE place for guerrilla filmmaking, including a love scene at water's edge or a Burner's barbeque. Location located by Doniphan Blair. (4/14)

Genres Useful For

Grunge, Stammer, Noir, Arty, Thrillers, Bay Area, Eco, Fantasy

Location

In the Bay, Enter from Buchanan Street, Albany

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Futurist Setting on the Cheap: St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco

Description

St. Mary's has already appeared in a couple of features but there are enough good angles, both in the distance and on interior details, with this dynamic structure to easily make it your own. Designed by Pier Luigi Nervi and built in the 60s, it is sometimes called "Our Lady of the Maytag," due to its resemblance to the tumbler mechanism inside a washing machine, but it really is much more space age. From the right perspective, it could easily inspire Godard to reshoot some scenes from "Alphaville." Also it is a public place, so readily accessible for the background of a quick grab shot of a couple talking... about aliens, about how he is such a nerd, about Vatican Two, etc. Or talk to the bishop and get permission to shoot all over, just not on Sunday! Great at sunset. Location located by Davell Swan. (3/14)

Genres Useful For

Futuristic, Rom-Com, Film Noir (shoot at night), Arty, Thrillers, San Fran, Fantasy

Location

1111 Gough St, corner Geary, San Francisco

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Getting Off the Road: Skid Row, West Oakland

Description

This is a skid row hotel on the edge of civilization with a derelict train station across the street and freeways in the distance. Location located by Doniphan Blair. (12/13)

Genres Useful For

Film Noir, Apocalyptic, Black Panthers, Thrillers, Oakland

Location

16th and Wood Street, West Oakland

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Quirky Consumerism: Drive Thru Market, South San Francisco

Description

This is a grocery and liquor store designed to allow the customer to drive into the center of the facility. The clerk receives instructions and gathers the order, takes payment and returns change along with the items in a bag, while the shopper remains in their car. The vehicle then drives forward to exit. Location located by Davell Swan. (5/13)

Genres Useful For

Documentary and Docudrama, Kitchen Sink Drama, Road, Heist, Indie, Comedy and Genre Television.

Location

120 S. Spruce Avenue, South San Francisco CA 94080

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Space Invadors, Anyone?: The Modernist Warehouse, Santa Clara

Description

This is is a three-story warehouse or office which is buried in an obscure industrial park south of San Francisco but with its iconic round and unevenly spaced windows would be make a fabulous background or closeup for a particular shot. Location located by Davell Swan. (3/14)

Genres Useful For

Fantasy, Science Fiction, Post-Modern Drama and Comedy.

Location

2137 De La Cruz Boulevard, Santa Clara CA 95050

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