The
location:
Kirstin Meets Sandy.
Q. What is it supposed to be on the show?
A. A quad on
the campus of U.C. Berkeley.
Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?
A. In Berkeley,
California.
Q. When did we see it on the show?
A.
In the final (fourth) season, Episode 13, "The Year of the Franks".
Kirstin has a flashback of the first time she met her future husband, Sandy Cohen.
She had just broken up with old flame Jimmy Cooper, and had headed off to UC Berkeley for a new start.
We see a young Kirstin walking across campus, when she encounters a young man (Sandy) campaigning for the Walter Mondale / Geraldine Ferraro ticket (in the Presidential campaign of 1984).
He tries to
give her political literature, but she declines. He asks if she is a Republican,
and she nods yes. He remarks that she probably caught it from her
parents.
There is an obvious chemistry between the two.
He tells her he knows Mondale will lose (to Reagan), but says that campaigning for him feels like the right thing to do.
He winds up giving her a Mondale button as a keepsake, and asks her out for coffee.
Later (back in real time) we see her give that same campaign button to Sandy. They remark that if it wasn't for Mondale & Ferraro, there wouldn't be a Seth.
Q. What is it actually in real life?
A. Just a small
courtyard / garden patio, off the side of an office building.
Q. Where can I find it in real life?
A. Although they filmed other Berkeley scenes on the UCLA campus, for one reason or another, they didn't bother to go to an actual college campus for this brief flashback shot.
Instead, they went to a business park near the Santa Monica Airport, and found a small outdoor patio area (with tables, lawns and trees) on the west/southwest side of the Activision office building, at 3100 Ocean Park Blvd, in Santa Monica. All they did for set dressing was to set up a college-style bulletin board as a backdrop.
That business park is located on the south side of Ocean Park Blvd, between 28th Street (on the west) and 31st Street (on the east), immediately north of the Santa Monica Airport.
The Activision office building is just south of the Coffee Bean (which is at the southwest corner of 31st & Ocean Park, 3150 Ocean Park Blvd), and is just north of the Art Institute of California (2900 31st St.)
Most of the
time in the scene, the camera is looking southwest, and you can see the
nearby parking structure behind them.
Here is a map link to the exact location. Here is an aerial shot of the courtyard and surrounding buildings.
Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?
A. This one
was a belated tip from a fan, Brandon Cole,
who emailed me in 2009, to say that he had recognized the courtyard. He
used to walk through it while headed from the Art Institute to the nearby
Coffee Bean. (Thanks, Brandon!)
By
Episode - By Category - By
Geographical Location - Clickable Map
of All O.C. Locations - Establishing Shots
THE
O.C. screenshots from the show and all related characters & elements
are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
All other photos & text are Copyright © 2009-Gary Wayne
and may not be used without written permission.
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