The famous Bradbury Building located in downtown Los Angeles is world-renowned and highly valued for the movies that have taken place there. KCET described the Bradbury building in a perfect manner; “Any work of the Bradbury Building’s distinction, splendor, and sheer cost will get people telling stories.” This statement is exemplified by the number of movies that have taken place inside, some of which include Blade Runner, 500 Days of Summer, Marlowe along with many podcasts and commercials.
Constructed in 1893 and being one of the oldest buildings in DTLA, the usage of it in the modern world that “Ridley Scott” created in Blade Runner at first seemed a little off. The ornate structure of the staircases and dilapidated structure exemplified that old buildings still existed in the “future.” Furthermore, Scott utilized this building in many of his scenes because it captured “that haze” and gloominess that the movie had as a whole. The darkness, lighting, and shadows of the building must have been a gold mine to Ridley Scott because it subtly enhanced the message that November 2019 is going to be a disaster and a scary place, which at the release of the movie could have been quite possible for viewers. In contrast to Blade Runner, 500 days of summer is a movie about Los Angeles and an architect. The building is used in the final scene where the protagonist, Tom, is interviewing for a new job. Obviously being an essential piece of Los Angeles’ famous architecture, they had to include this scene in 500 Days of Summer. In this case, the building is being used as something to aspire to as someone who is an architect and includes many angles in those final scenes to show how beautiful the building really is (completely opposite to Blade Runner).
All in all, the Bradbury Building is an essential component of films in Los Angeles because of its famous architecture and the way it’s portrayed in films. Today, the movie Bosch was most recently filmed there about 5 years ago, further showing its usefulness in todays day and age.
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