Euphoria location scout chat continues! At the end of S3 Ep 2, we see Rue bring her friend to Alamo’s rehab. The location looks incredible in the episode, so perfectly haunting and foreboding…
But honestly? It’s the last place I ever expected to get picked! And it’s a great reminder of why it’s so important as a scout to always think beyond how you personally envision a scene.
This location search actually starts back in 2022, when I’m scouting for a TV show (maybe Snowfall?) and we need an ND apartment exterior (ND=nondescript) for a quick scene. I happen to randomly come across this one and it catches my eye, because it’s really odd for LA: All stone, very horizontal, oddly squat, really unique window / roof details, only the 2nd story painted… I’ve never seen another building like it.
I shoot a few exterior pics, but it ultimately doesn’t get picked, so I file it away in an apartment folder and forgot about it.
Fast forward to last year. I’m reading the script for ep 2, and this property couldn’t be further from my mind for how I envision the rehab. My first thought is: it’s clearly a down-and-out medical clinic-style building…
Or….Maybe it’s even more down-and-out? Possibly a clinic set up in one of those hulking older homes?
Typically, before you go out scouting, you do a big file pull from your location library of a wide range of options, to begin the creative conversation and zero in on what direction to go.
I’ve been on enough productions where the “Spanish-style house” in the script suddenly became a midcentury modern after a file review to know that it’s important to think well beyond your initial inclinations for what to put in the mix.
So for this one, I put together a bunch of medical options, and some of those behemoth-style houses, and some other oddballs… And while I was in my apartment folder, I must’ve noticed this one and dropped it in just to round out the file pull.
So it’s a TOTAL surprise when I hear that this is the #1 contender and they want night pics right away. And honestly – I can’t see it! I’m just too invested in my first impressions of the rehab to picture how this will work.
So I go out right away to get the night pics, and of course, it ends up being one of those rare LA nights where it’s absolutely deluging. It’s raining so hard, you literally can’t cross the street without sloshing through shin-deep pools of water.
I’m completely drenched. My boots get ruined. To this day, my supposedly waterproof camera has a random glitch that ONLY started after this night. The whole time, I’m angrily taking pictures and thinking, “why did I suggest this?? It’s clearly wrong!!”
Then I completely forget about it until I see it on the show last week and think: “Well, I’m fucking idiot. Because this location couldn’t be more perfect.”
Like the strip club, it’s not a filming location until everyone leaves their imprint. The proper set dressing, the right lighting, the exact framing and staging and so forth. And you’re never going to see that if you’re too caught up on your own creative ideas.
All of which makes for a healthy reminder: in any artistic collaboration, convincing yourself you’re “right” is really just a good way to guarantee you miss out on a lot of great possibilities.
Leave a Reply