So, one of our projects in class is to create a map of L.A. It's supposed to be personal to us and as with most things school-related, I struggled with an idea until I eventually realized my map came back to (or from) television. For so long Los Angeles has been a collection of images on my television screen, the studios where the shows are made and the famous landmarks that are forever associated with L.A. So the first part of my map is a selection of those images that have influenced my own vision of the city. Most of these are from Alias, a show which really makes use out of the city and the fact that they filmed in L.A. The show ran for 5 years from 2001-2006 and really cemented my ideas of Los Angeles and my desire to move here, not just for the industry, but for the city.
As I have been exploring the city, I find that it's very much mediated for me through, well, media. I look for those spots that have been featured in my favorite shows, keep a close eye out for celebrities and all together view the city very much through my television screen, even when driving in my car. My windshield then becomes my screen to the world, constantly searching for familiar images or people.
When I started to do the screen-captures, I saw a pattern in the ones I was picking, famous landmarks some of which I haven't bothered to take pictures of yet (like the Hollywood sign), skylines, and one of those two with actors from the show in them. This is very reminiscent of the pictures I myself have been taking of the city, while few and far between, they have echoes of these same images. So below is a sampling of Los Angeles, mediated through the lens of my camera or the television screen.
THE CITY:
Here's the skyline during different parts of the day from Alias:
I find I am constantly drawn to the horizon, the mountains encircling the city seem not like they are crowding it, but instead, protecting it. I find that seeing the city spread out in front of me doesn't draw displeasure as it does for most people, but calmness, a feeling that I'm not alone. And at night, with all the lights, how can it not be mesmerizing?
These are some pictures I took, the first are from the very first day I moved here, the other is more recent, and from off the top of my apartment building.
The pictures are facing in roughly the same direction as the one's from TV, but there are millions of different vantage points where the city is laid out in front, and each one offers a unique perspective as you both overlook and are overtaken by the city that surrounds you. Because no matter where you are, it seems, there is always city surrounding you, trying to find the edge of Los Angeles is like trying to find edge of the world.
The picture from my apartment have a different angle on the Downtown buildings.
The other major "cityscape" that I was drawn to was the beach, which is no surprise considering I love the beach and the water. Alias and most of the other shows focus on the land near the beach, whereas my pictures were mainly of the water.
Here's Alias view of Santa Monica:
Here are two of my pictures from our trip to the beach in the first few weeks:
One of the things that I've always loved about LA and that's evident in these pictures, is how wide the beach is. There is so much sand between the city's and the ocean's edge, it's a kind of no-man's land where I do some of my best thinking and relaxing. The more space, the more expansive my thoughts can be.
THE LANDMARKS:
I realized that I don't have any pictures of the landmarks of LA, except for a lucky shot of the LAX sign at the airport (and not even the big one), and that the TV shows I watch really stay away from these landmarks as well, with the exceptions of the Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel (seen above) and the Griffith Observatory, which has been a favorite spot to film ever sinceRebel Without a Cause "put it on the map." As I haven't been to the Observatory yet, the only pictures I have are two screen captures from Alias, one at the Observatory and the other with it in the background.
I find I have the desire and need to take pictures from my car, especially of the Hollywood sign, but like so many things in this city, I have to keep moving for one reason or another, and so another opportunity passes me by. That was an especially hard pill to swallow when one day I was driving in the Hills and I turned the corner and the Hollywood sign filled my windshield. It was a breathtaking sight, even if the sign was a former advertisement.
THE PEOPLE:
One thing I'm always asked is if I have seen any famous people yet, and while I have, it too has been in a very mediated environment. The SAG Awards encounters (detailed in the below blog post) were mediated to an extent, the stars themselves made the decision to join in or not, and the other moment of star encounters that I have had, is at Paley Fest for the Freaks and Geeks reunion. This was an especially great night because I very much love the show (even if they don't use L.A. the way they should). There were many people there that night who are very famous now, Seth Rogan, Jason Segal, Busy Phillips and Judd Apatow, to name a few, but there were also people who are still breaking through. One of those people, the man on the right, is Paul Feig, who created Freaks and Geeks and is my final connection to a mediated L.A.
Paul was the director on a set that I was lucky enough to be on about a month ago, and watching him in action, a working Hollywood director, was amazing. And what made it better was my knowledge of his previous work, which included my beloved Freaks and Geeks. Even then, I was enjoying a moment more because I knew the history and the connections behind it.
So for me, LA is a very much mediated city, even still today, having lived here for almost three months, I still see it through very star-struck eyes, and not just for the people, but for the city itself. I am in awe of it every day as I drive through it that it is real and tangible and that I am able to soak in it's essence and stay here to enjoy it for however long I want. That's probably why I still allow myself that bit of mediation and wonderment, once that wears off, LA will become just another city. For now, though, it's a magical place that exists primarily on television.
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