LMGI COMPASS
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Winter 2024
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Citrin's team kept a sailor's eye on the weather during filming:
A fickle coastal marine layer could muddy light levels, gusting
winds could blow sand. For her part, Greenwood was struck by
the textural shift after working on the pastel London set build
for months. "Barbie Land has no elements: It has no air, water,
electricity, fire, wind or fog. So, it was fantastic seeing all the other
colors and seeing the grunge and the dirt and the patina and light
and wind and air and sea."
Venice Beach's human element dealt the crew more wildcards:
merchants looking to squeeze a buck out of the production,
unpredictable street performers and a steady stream of pedestrian
visitors. "We had police on the bike paths temporarily stopping
bicyclists and rollerbladers, who were so annoyed," Citrin says.
Police officers familiar with the neighborhood helped deter
less cooperative locals, but as curious crowds grew larger, the
paparazzi inevitably showed up.
"Dealing with the paparazzi was one of the biggest challenges
of doing the film in Los Angeles, but it paid off," Citrin says,
referring to the viral photos of Margot Robbie and costar Ryan
Gosling rollerblading through Windward Plaza in highlighter-
neon spandex, a clever marketing accident that sparked popular
interest in the film. "That picture of the two of them rollerblading
down the boardwalk was priceless."
BARBIE GOES TO SANTA MONICA, CENTURY CITY AND
LONG BEACH
Robin was tenacious in winning access to several key shooting
locations in Santa Monica, a costly and restrictive place to film.
The crew got approval to shut down a full block of Wilshire
Boulevard in the middle of a weekday to nail a sweeping mid-street
crane shot for Barbie's final scene, captured directly across the
street from the Pacific Ocean.
"There was a lot of stuff that sort of came together at the last
minute," Thomas says. "Greta wanted certain things, and our job
as location people is to offer them things that we know we can get.
It was a lot of work, a lot of back-and-forth."
Photo: DP Rodrigo Prieto
L-R: 1st AD Josh Robertson, director Greta Gerwig,
AD Rodrigo Prieto. Photo: Miranda Carnessale/LMGI
