The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) is the largest organization of Location Managers and Location Scouts in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries. Their membership plays a vital role in the creativ
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GETTING INTO THE RIGHT MINDSET Kacandes, who has now moved on to work on Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, says she really enjoyed driving around the city she's spent "the last 22 years in, but seeing it through Quentin's eyes—and through the eyes of his amazing characters. Working with Quentin is an honor. To be part of his process is what makes all those years of hard work gaining experience worthwhile." Tarantino helped get the crew in the right frame of mind by screen- ing 1960s movies for them in his theater on Sundays. Worley man- aged to get to just one, Alex in Wonderland, and found it helpful. "It actually showed some of the places we were going to be shooting on Hollywood Boulevard," he says. THINKING CREATIVELY One of Fitzgerald's key location finds was a school in Norwalk. His brief was to nail down a back lot where Tarantino could film a fight sequence between Pitt's character and the Bruce Lee character. "You'd think it would be easy to go to Universal or Paramount," Fitzgerald says. "The problem was that the timeframe was 1969. Studio back lots are busy every day, with contemporary equip- ment from overlapping shooting companies all over, and it's hard to get people to move it. "We needed four days to shoot, so I started thinking about other places that looked like a back lot. You throw out ideas and see what sticks. We found a location at Excelsior High School in Norwalk. It had closed down and was being used as a center for adult education. School was out, so there weren't a lot of people around. The campus had tall, older-looking buildings that were pretty believable as a back lot. One building was an old auto shop, and there was a big auditorium that looked like a stage." "As far as locations go, Quentin had specific needs he wrote into the script, from Casa Vega, to El Coyote, to the Bruin and West- wood Theatres," Schuler says. "With other locations, he was very open to what we had in mind. He did not feel the need to shoot at the real locations. Quentin always insisted on authenticity to the period but not always to the specifics of date and time. When it came to posters, billboards and theater marquees, he was absolutely bent on au- thenticity—even to the point of pulling items from his own private collection. "Peaches Record Store on Hollywood Boulevard is a case in point. Was it locat- ed on Hollywood Boulevard? Yes. Was it located on the south side just east of Las Palmas? Yes. Did we recreate the store- front as it was originally? Yes. Did the store exist in 1969? Not quite. I believe it opened its doors in 1974. For Quentin, that didn't matter. It was a place he knew well and liked and it was true to the vibe of the era. It's his way of making the movie a very personal walk down memory lane that plays with space and time. "For my part," Schuler continues, "delivering very difficult real lo- cations is what I am most proud of. Emile Hirsch plays Jay Sebring, one of the Manson murders' victims. I found his real house and was introduced to the owner with the assistance of the creator and guide for Dearly Departed Tours. I wanted the real house be- cause it was the real house. It was architecturally interesting and it had never been featured in a movie. "Once Quentin showed interest, the other departments worked diligently to make it happen. I think the art department was skepti- cal at first, but after the Location Department fixed the pool pump, drained the green slime and cleared the property of years of accu- mulated debris, the sparkling blue water of the pool reflecting the Bavarian architecture of the modest house proved we could do it. "With the assistance of the neighborhood and our hired police officers, our transportation department beautifully navigated a long one-lane road. Was it worth all the work? To me it was, and I think to Quentin as well. Having worked in Los Angeles for some 30 years, I guess I'm not beholden to locations that have great ac- cess and nearby parking lots. It's the 'almost impossible' locations that bring incredible value to the project that interest me. This house, having been purchased by the present owner directly from the victim's estate some 50 years ago, has never graced the silver screen and most probably never will again. There is something about that scenario that I cherish very much." Schuler's Location Team: LM Steve Mapel, LMGI KALM Scott Fitzgerald, LMGI KALM Jake Torres KALM Kirk Worley, LMGI KALM Scott Kradolfer KALM Christina Beaumont KALM Daniel Alvarez ALM Suzanne Shugarman Location Scout Lori Balton, LMGI SLM Rick Schuler, LMGI tt The team, from left: Steve Mapel, Rick Schuler, Scott Fitzgerald, Scott Kradolfer. Photo courtesy of Scott Fitzgerald/LMGI