L.A. NOIRE, BLADE RUNNER, and the Bradbury Building
I've been playing the PC game L.A. NOIRE, which is sort of like the movie L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. You're a cop in 1940s Los Angeles. As tends to happen when I play these kind of sandbox video games, I find myself exploring the nooks and crannies of the virtual world more than just playing the actual game. For example, I wandered around MacArthur Park wondering if somebody left a cake out in the rain.
And then I encountered the Bradbury Building (wikipedia).
Now, I've watched the movie BLADE RUNNER about a zillion times since it came out in 1982, but I never realized it was just a 5-story building. Somehow in BLADE RUNNER, with the cavernous atrium interior in the dark, it "feels" like a much taller building; I would have guessed it was more like 10 stories tall. I'm not the first to observe the building is a lot more impressive-looking on the inside than the outside. Odd trivia: the exterior of the building doubled for the New York School For The Performing Arts on the TV series FAME.
Of course, in BLADE RUNNER's dystopian future in the far off year of 2019 (just 7 years away now, rather than 37 when it came out in 1982), urban expansion and urban decay have created a layered cityscape that's still the benchmark for science fiction movie worldbuilding. But the Bradbury is a real place, and I wondered if I could plot out where the events in BLADE RUNNER took place.
The Bradbury Building is at the intersection of S. Broadway and 3rd.
Here Pris the Replicant (Daryl Hannah) walks southwest on Broadway. The entrance to the Bradbury is to the left. I've increased the brightness on these screen-captures about 20%, because the thing about BLADE RUNNER is, it's really very dark all the time.
The same view in L.A. NOIRE:
Here in the entranceway is where she waits for J.F. Sebastian. You can see the Million Dollar Theater (Also a real place) across the street. For the record, the real Bradbury does not have these enormous columns, but they're a fixture of the BLADE RUNNER world -- you seem 'em all over the place.
The same view in L.A. NOIRE:
J.F. invites her into the atrium. Pris looks up at the big space above her head, and the glass roof above that, with an advertising blimp overhead.
In the game L.A. NOIRE, I can't actually get into the building (unless that happens in a later part of the game). It looks like the upcoming GRAND THEFT AUTO V has the Bradbury in it, so it's possible that will give more opportunity to explore the interior. Note the creepy manikins. Since J.F. is the only occupant of the building, maybe he put them there, or maybe somebody else did.
This, I think, is where I got the idea the atrium space was much taller than 5 stories. It just feels gigantic.
But they ride the elevator up to the 4th floor, and then J.F. shows Pris his apartment:
Much later in the movie, towards the end, Deckard (Harrison Ford) shows up. Here's his entrance into the atrium.
He looks up at the glass ceiling on the roof, and yet another advertising blimp is passing overhead:
He takes the stairs though, so as not to alert the replicant(s) waiting for him in the apartment:
After Deckard leave the apartment, pursued by Roy the Replicant, things get complicated (Oh Google Earth, what would I do without you):
RED: Deckard skirts around the atrium on the 4th floor walkway, entering several abandoned apartments trying to find a way out.
CYAN: He climbs up a wall through a hole into a 5th floor bathroom.
GREEN: Pursued by Roy the Replicant, he climbs out onto the 5th floor ledge, around the corner, and then climbs up to the roof There he attempts to leap to a nearby building, but ends up dangling over a 5-story drop (Well, 6-story drop, since he's on the roof).
So Deckard climbs up into the 5th floor bathroom, and eventually, out onto a ledge. These shots are gorgeous matte paintings by Matt Yuricich and Rocco Gioffre, based on Syd Mead's designs, David Dryer supervising.
This is looking southeast down 3rd. It does sure look like we're a lot higher up than 5 floors; this feels at times like the bottomless chasms of the Death Star!
As close as I can get in L.A. NOIRE: A little stymied because, unlike in GRAND THEFT AUTO, I don't have jetpacks or helicopters to use!
Here we're rounding the corner of the building onto Broadway:
Same vantage point, more or less, in L.A. NOIRE:
Here's really where the 5-story drop seems to have become almost bottomless. Also note that the view to the right down Broadway is a reverse of the view to the left down 3rd in the image above.
Note the TDK sign across the street. Keep an eye on this, it's going to move around a lot. Also, what the heck is the pointy thing sticking out from the Bradbury? Some kind of antenna? Seems like a bad idea in a city where some have flying cars. Of course, nobody said the BLADER RUNNER-universe was safe!
So Deckard clambers up onto the roof. This is still the 3rd and Broadway corner of the Bradbury.
Onto the roof. Now, note that the TDK sign is still level with the 5th floor.
The view of this spot from across the street in L.A. NOIRE:
Now a bit of movie magic. Broadway is off to our left, and we're facing Northeast. You can see the glass roof of the Bradbury's atrium off to the right. But the TDK sign has moved up to be above the roof. Effectively, it's moved up a story. Note Roy's head has just popped up through the roof. Surprise, Deckard!
In L.A. NOIRE. Note that here the glass roof of the atrium is raised up a bit like its own building on the rooftop, instead of more-or-less flush with the roof like in BLADE RUNNER (and, I think, on the real Bradbury).
Now this is conjecture on my part: I believe this spot where Deckard makes his leap is on the south corner of the Bradbury. He's leaping to a building to the southeast that is closer than the real-life building that's there now (And in L.A. NOIRE, there is a building that's more or less in the right place, just taller). Note what looks like an office building to the south. In real life, there's a parking garage there now (in the L.A. NOIRE 1940s, there's just a parking lot there). It's possible I'm mistaken about where he's leaping to, but, it's really the only place I can find where the space makes sense.
L.A. NOIRE:
BLADE RUNNER:
L.A. NOIRE:
Deckard dangling. Note the car far below, again seems like a lot more than a 5-story drop. I realize it doesn't really matter when you're dangling off a beam being chased by a murderous replicant; a 5-story drop is going to kill you just as well as a near-bottomless chasm.
L.A. NOIRE: From the other side of the chasm (The Bradbury side), but the same spot. I've parked my car below to give a sense of scale.
Now, here's where it gets a little strange. That should be the Bradbury to the left across the chasm, but it doesn't really look it. The TDK building is off in the distance across 3rd, but again, the TDK sign has moved (or there's other TDK signs, but it seems to be the same building, and it would be weird for there to be two TDK signs on the same side of the building), so, again, the space has become somewhat movie-magical.
And even though the matte paintings seem to suggest we're surrounded by really tall skyscrapers, everything local still seems to be about 5 stories tall.
Looking towards the same area, across 3rd, in L.A. NOIRE, but from the Bradbury side.
As mentioned above, the Bradbury seems to be represented in the trailer for the upcoming GRAND THEFT AUTO V (Analysis over on igta5.com).
So maybe I can obsess about this all over again when GTA V comes out!
And then I encountered the Bradbury Building (wikipedia).
Now, I've watched the movie BLADE RUNNER about a zillion times since it came out in 1982, but I never realized it was just a 5-story building. Somehow in BLADE RUNNER, with the cavernous atrium interior in the dark, it "feels" like a much taller building; I would have guessed it was more like 10 stories tall. I'm not the first to observe the building is a lot more impressive-looking on the inside than the outside. Odd trivia: the exterior of the building doubled for the New York School For The Performing Arts on the TV series FAME.
Of course, in BLADE RUNNER's dystopian future in the far off year of 2019 (just 7 years away now, rather than 37 when it came out in 1982), urban expansion and urban decay have created a layered cityscape that's still the benchmark for science fiction movie worldbuilding. But the Bradbury is a real place, and I wondered if I could plot out where the events in BLADE RUNNER took place.
The Bradbury Building is at the intersection of S. Broadway and 3rd.
Here Pris the Replicant (Daryl Hannah) walks southwest on Broadway. The entrance to the Bradbury is to the left. I've increased the brightness on these screen-captures about 20%, because the thing about BLADE RUNNER is, it's really very dark all the time.
The same view in L.A. NOIRE:
Here in the entranceway is where she waits for J.F. Sebastian. You can see the Million Dollar Theater (Also a real place) across the street. For the record, the real Bradbury does not have these enormous columns, but they're a fixture of the BLADE RUNNER world -- you seem 'em all over the place.
The same view in L.A. NOIRE:
J.F. invites her into the atrium. Pris looks up at the big space above her head, and the glass roof above that, with an advertising blimp overhead.
In the game L.A. NOIRE, I can't actually get into the building (unless that happens in a later part of the game). It looks like the upcoming GRAND THEFT AUTO V has the Bradbury in it, so it's possible that will give more opportunity to explore the interior. Note the creepy manikins. Since J.F. is the only occupant of the building, maybe he put them there, or maybe somebody else did.
This, I think, is where I got the idea the atrium space was much taller than 5 stories. It just feels gigantic.
But they ride the elevator up to the 4th floor, and then J.F. shows Pris his apartment:
Much later in the movie, towards the end, Deckard (Harrison Ford) shows up. Here's his entrance into the atrium.
He looks up at the glass ceiling on the roof, and yet another advertising blimp is passing overhead:
He takes the stairs though, so as not to alert the replicant(s) waiting for him in the apartment:
After Deckard leave the apartment, pursued by Roy the Replicant, things get complicated (Oh Google Earth, what would I do without you):
RED: Deckard skirts around the atrium on the 4th floor walkway, entering several abandoned apartments trying to find a way out.
CYAN: He climbs up a wall through a hole into a 5th floor bathroom.
GREEN: Pursued by Roy the Replicant, he climbs out onto the 5th floor ledge, around the corner, and then climbs up to the roof There he attempts to leap to a nearby building, but ends up dangling over a 5-story drop (Well, 6-story drop, since he's on the roof).
So Deckard climbs up into the 5th floor bathroom, and eventually, out onto a ledge. These shots are gorgeous matte paintings by Matt Yuricich and Rocco Gioffre, based on Syd Mead's designs, David Dryer supervising.
This is looking southeast down 3rd. It does sure look like we're a lot higher up than 5 floors; this feels at times like the bottomless chasms of the Death Star!
As close as I can get in L.A. NOIRE: A little stymied because, unlike in GRAND THEFT AUTO, I don't have jetpacks or helicopters to use!
Here we're rounding the corner of the building onto Broadway:
Same vantage point, more or less, in L.A. NOIRE:
Here's really where the 5-story drop seems to have become almost bottomless. Also note that the view to the right down Broadway is a reverse of the view to the left down 3rd in the image above.
Note the TDK sign across the street. Keep an eye on this, it's going to move around a lot. Also, what the heck is the pointy thing sticking out from the Bradbury? Some kind of antenna? Seems like a bad idea in a city where some have flying cars. Of course, nobody said the BLADER RUNNER-universe was safe!
So Deckard clambers up onto the roof. This is still the 3rd and Broadway corner of the Bradbury.
Onto the roof. Now, note that the TDK sign is still level with the 5th floor.
The view of this spot from across the street in L.A. NOIRE:
Now a bit of movie magic. Broadway is off to our left, and we're facing Northeast. You can see the glass roof of the Bradbury's atrium off to the right. But the TDK sign has moved up to be above the roof. Effectively, it's moved up a story. Note Roy's head has just popped up through the roof. Surprise, Deckard!
In L.A. NOIRE. Note that here the glass roof of the atrium is raised up a bit like its own building on the rooftop, instead of more-or-less flush with the roof like in BLADE RUNNER (and, I think, on the real Bradbury).
Now this is conjecture on my part: I believe this spot where Deckard makes his leap is on the south corner of the Bradbury. He's leaping to a building to the southeast that is closer than the real-life building that's there now (And in L.A. NOIRE, there is a building that's more or less in the right place, just taller). Note what looks like an office building to the south. In real life, there's a parking garage there now (in the L.A. NOIRE 1940s, there's just a parking lot there). It's possible I'm mistaken about where he's leaping to, but, it's really the only place I can find where the space makes sense.
L.A. NOIRE:
BLADE RUNNER:
L.A. NOIRE:
Deckard dangling. Note the car far below, again seems like a lot more than a 5-story drop. I realize it doesn't really matter when you're dangling off a beam being chased by a murderous replicant; a 5-story drop is going to kill you just as well as a near-bottomless chasm.
L.A. NOIRE: From the other side of the chasm (The Bradbury side), but the same spot. I've parked my car below to give a sense of scale.
Now, here's where it gets a little strange. That should be the Bradbury to the left across the chasm, but it doesn't really look it. The TDK building is off in the distance across 3rd, but again, the TDK sign has moved (or there's other TDK signs, but it seems to be the same building, and it would be weird for there to be two TDK signs on the same side of the building), so, again, the space has become somewhat movie-magical.
And even though the matte paintings seem to suggest we're surrounded by really tall skyscrapers, everything local still seems to be about 5 stories tall.
Looking towards the same area, across 3rd, in L.A. NOIRE, but from the Bradbury side.
As mentioned above, the Bradbury seems to be represented in the trailer for the upcoming GRAND THEFT AUTO V (Analysis over on igta5.com).
So maybe I can obsess about this all over again when GTA V comes out!