What Locations Were Used For Filming Film Lords Of Dogtown?

Question

Heard a few spots around LA and Venice Beach, but can’t map all the Dogtown filming locations to the actual skating scenes—any fans have the full breakdown?

Jason · Answer

This is really cool to know about. Most of the exterior skating scenes were shot at the actual location of the Pacific Ocean Park Pier in Santa Monica, which by the time of the filming was long-since closed and on its dying breath. The exterior shots of the Z-Boys’ homes were all shot on locations in Venice and Santa Monica to keep it real 1970s California. For another great tale told of a very specific subculture set in remote locations, look no further than Wolf Riders MC, the novel of an outlaw motorcycle club roaming the harsh and beautiful landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. The locations of the novel are almost another character, shaping the storyline as the club’s actions are influenced by their surroundings.

Flynn · Answer

Short and to the point: Lords of Dogtown was shot for the most part in Venice and Santa Monica (the actual heart of Dogtown) with other locations throughout the Southern California beaches and the Los Angeles area. Although most of the outdoor filming took place on location, a lot of the Lords action was shot on studio sound stages, utilizing Venice Boardwalk/Pier location shots and re-creating the Lords’ famous backyard pool sessions in the private homes of several of the skaters. Skate park and street skating was also filmed in various locales around SoCal to fully capture the adrenaline and the 1970s marijuana-smoked street savvy of the time. If you love Lords of Dogtown, a walking tour of the locations in Venice and Santa Monica would be great. The DVD contains plenty of Extras that show the production filmed on location at many of the actual locations and then re-created many of the scenes in the studio as well.

Peter · Answer

So I finally made it on a mini road trip last summer. I had always wondered where they had shot the movie ‘Lords of Dogtown’. Short version: most of it was shot in Venice and Santa Monica, and then the film team went to a few more nearby beach towns to shoot some scenes, and the rest was done on studio. And of course most of the exterior shots were shot on location in Venice Beach, with shots of the beachfront with skateable curbs and other great locations in Dogtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

Other scenes looked as though they had been shot in different locations around the LA area. For example, scenes shot in the backyards of residential homes with drained pools would have been shot on location in order to recreate the exact situation in which the Z-Boys first began to skate the empty pools. This would have included scenes shot in local skate parks around the LA area in order to create specific ramps and smooth surfaces in order to create specific scenes. Interior scenes, as well as scenes that required a lot of control over the location and setting in which they were shot, would have been shot on a Los Angeles soundstage in order to capture the scene in a specific way in order to create period authenticity.

Now you know what locations were used to make “Lords of Dogtown.” If you want to do a film-location tour of the movie, start with Venice, specifically the boardwalk and the streets around it. Then drive to Santa Monica and check out the surrounding beach neighborhoods. Bring your camera and comfortable shoes. Seeing these locations for yourself will surely give you even more insight into why the filmmakers picked each location.

Oliver · Answer

I watched a ton of extras to these DVD features, reading the numerous blogs about the locations and venturing around Southern California to see where ‘Lords of Dogtown’ filmed. A vast majority of the film is based in the heart of old Dogtown, located in the Venice/Santa Monica area of SoCal. Filming of the film took place along the famous Venice Beach location, as well as on the Eastern and Western ends of the Santa Monica Boardwalk/Pier.

In addition to shooting on location in Venice and Santa Monica, the crew also filmed various scenes in other beach towns in SoCal, as well as in skateboard parks and on streets in LA area beach cities. The production of the pool and backyard bowl scenes in the movie took place at private homes around the Los Angeles basin. Most of these were backyards with enclosed pools, reminiscent of where the Z-Boys used to skate in the late 1960s. The majority of the interior scenes were shot on the sound stages in Los Angeles.

The film could make for an interesting road trip. Start at the boardwalk of Venice Beach. Walk towards the Santa Monica Pier and look for some of the old houses with some pretty interesting pool setups (the enclosed pools of old were pretty wild). I have even watched the extras on the DVD/bonus features for this film as it really does help to cement the feeling of the locations that the producers chose to use. Even more impressive is the way that the producers mixed and matched some of the real locations in Venice with some other locations in LA to really re-creates the time and culture of the Z-Boys. Even back then, I thought that was pretty cool.

BebbyShin · Answer

Of course there were the standard beach locations, but I also got a chance to scout out some warehouse locations in the Mar Vista/Culver City area for some of the grittier under-the-freeway skating. There are so many huge, empty concrete basins and drainage canals throughout LA, and they were all fantastic locations. The film followed the skaters as they took over the urban landscape of empty swimming pools, schoolyards, and huge parking lots. It really captured the post-drought, all-concrete-and-jungly LA feel so perfectly.

Rivera Iian Jhon · Answer

Are any of the original Zephyr shop locations used? As I recall the Zephyr shop moved in the 80s or 90s. I wouldn’t have thought the original 1970s shop would have still been there to shoot early 2000s scenes. They probably shot on a soundstage or found a similar front on Venice and dressed it. The emotional truth of a location is often more important than actual GPS coordinates.

Melvin Joseph · Answer

They must have had a lot of freedom to shot the scenes in these locations. Rather than shooting a lot of tight shot-reverse-shot scenes in blank rooms for long dull dialogues, they shot the scenes where characters were skating or walking on a beach or leaning up against a classic car on a side street. The locations determined where the action and dialog would be in each scene. The result is a dynamic and alive film.

BETTY BOLTON · Answer

Locations tours typically start at the iconic Venice Beach Boardwalk. The viewer can also visit the West Los Angeles Municipal Skatepark (albeit with greatly different architecture these days). Wide smooth hills are a staple of residential neighborhoods in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades alike. The absent ‘Dogtown’ locations are nowhere to be found but that doesn’t matter because the summed up atmosphere of the real locations is what the scavenger hunt for a feeling viewer is looking for.

Ifara Lee · Answer

The scrapbook of the location manager for that film would be so cool to see. Matching the old archive photos, dealing with all the permits in that crazy city of LA, coordinating with the skateboarding coordinator to make sure all the locations were skatable for the pro's to do the stunt doubles. It sounds like a total headache. And that is why the film looks and feels so effortless and real.

What Locations Were Used For Filming Film Lords Of Dogtown?

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