Need location to shoot Buckaroo Banzai ending credits

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FilmmakersStudio

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Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a location that I could use that would mimic that of the ending credits to Buckaroo Banzai http://www.youtube.com/watch? for the opening credits to my later night movie review segmetn v=8MqJ3iGBdOo

I am a filmmaker from Minnesota and did a recent thorough search of any dams, abanonded dams, and river walkways and I can't seem to find any that would match that shot.

Does anyone have any other location ideas and techniques that would bring out a similar look? I am looking to shoot this in the spring or summer so I am looking for ideas right now.
 
FilmmakersStudio said:
Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a location that I could use that would mimic that of the ending credits to Buckaroo Banzai http://www.youtube.com/watch? for the opening credits to my later night movie review segmetn v=8MqJ3iGBdOo

I am a filmmaker from Minnesota and did a recent thorough search of any dams, abanonded dams, and river walkways and I can't seem to find any that would match that shot.

Does anyone have any other location ideas and techniques that would bring out a similar look? I am looking to shoot this in the spring or summer so I am looking for ideas right now.
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As noted, the 'dam' that was used in "Buckaroo Banzai"(1984) as well as many other films, is in the LA area, and is 'very accessible', provided permits and fees are paid...

The reason for the 'dry' area 'below the dam'... is because in So. Cal there's not much water, and it is quite easy usually to stop water flow completely, or route the water through concrete channels, which is the case for most of the Los Angeles river's path through the LA area. On the other hand, when it rains... it pours and the LA river has jumped its banks to cause death and damage in past years.

Since you are posting from Minnesota, I have no clue as to where there would be 1) an old dam 2) dry as a bone. (Dry is very easy to come by in So. California... and even easier now we have a drought in progress...).

Perhaps you could get a similar shot by shooting on a frozen over lake... but that could have dangers of thin ice...
 
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Being a big Buckaroo Banzai fan, it was a thrill to get a chance to shoot at the Sepulveda Dam last year on this. The end credit music was stuck in my head all day!
 
CharlesPapert said:
Being a big Buckaroo Banzai fan, it was a thrill to get a chance to shoot at the Sepulveda Dam last year on this. The end credit music was stuck in my head all day!
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Well my question is since I am not from California what other outdoor spaces may I take advantage of besides a frozen lake that would have the same effect.

Would an open farm land or an open field work just the same?
 
Well, the question is honestly a little vague. Obviously a grassy field isn't going to look the same as a concrete pad with embankment walls; one is rural and the other urban. If dams or abandoned dams in your area don't match well enough, I would have assumed that a field is going to match even less so.

How referential is it going to be to the source material, i.e. is it meant to parody that sequence, with period music and multiple people joining in one after another in a shot-by-shot recreation, or is that just a jumping-off point?

Counterintuitively, I've found that if you are looking to directly parody something, the closer you make everything else (wardrobe, framing etc), the LESS important the location match becomes. I did a no-budget short years ago that had a bunch of parody scenes in it and shot it mostly in my house or nearby. One section coped the Mary Tyler Moore opening which was originally filmed in Minneapolis--I had a group of Minnesotans insist that I must have gone their to shoot my version. Made me laugh, especially because one of the source shots was under full snow cover and my version was green LA foliage, but it still seems to work!
 
CharlesPapert said:
Counterintuitively, I've found that if you are looking to directly parody something, the closer you make everything else (wardrobe, framing etc), the LESS important the location match becomes. I did a no-budget short years ago that had a bunch of parody scenes in it and shot it mostly in my house or nearby. One section coped the Mary Tyler Moore opening which was originally filmed in Minneapolis--I had a group of Minnesotans insist that I must have gone their to shoot my version. Made me laugh, especially because one of the source shots was under full snow cover and my version was green LA foliage, but it still seems to work!
Click to expand...

Having done a considerable amount of parody myself . . . yes. The location becomes much less important as long as it gives a general impression.

And a really CREATIVE parody could even mock the inadequacy of the location.

(Incidentally, I have wanted to parody the BB end credits for a long time, but haven't had the right project for it yet.)
 
Up until I shot there for Key & Peele, I always thought the BB credits were shot somewhere on the banks of the LA river, as seen in a zillion movies like Terminator 2, Grease etc.
 
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