Transformers - Filming Locations (2007)



Part One

"Transformers", the 2007 movie version of the classic toys & TV show,
starring
Shia LaBeouf, was shot in a number of different locations,
including Detroit, Nevada and Washington D.C.

But a surprising number of the scenes were filmed right here in
Southern California, particularly those featuring 'Sam'...

Among the L.A. locations in the film are:

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  • 'Sam Witwicky' (Shia LaBeouf) lives with his parents in what is supposed to be South Gate, CA. It's not.

    The Craftsman home featured in the movie is actually located in the historic
    West Adams District, northwest of the USC campus and Exposition Park (southwest of downtown L.A.)

    You'll find the 'Witwicky house' at 2187 W. 24th Street, on the north side of the residential block, between Cimmaron Street (on the west) and S. Grammercy Place (on the east).

Warning: This is a private home.  Do not trespass on their property, knock on
their door, or do anything else that might disturb their privacy.

   






    Sam's high school (where Sam is seen doing his presentation about his great-grandfather's discoveries in the Arctic Circle) was really Marshall Fundamental School, located at 990 Allen Avenue, in Pasadena.

    That's on the northeast side of Pasadena, between E. Mountain Street (on the south) and Casa Grande Street (on the north). (It's about two miles southeast of "Bolivia's Used Car lot".)

    In the photo above, the camera is looking east/northeast, from Allen Ave.

   







  • Near the start of the film, Sam goes with his father to buy his first car. His dad plays a cruel joke on him, driving up to a Porsche dealership first, leading Sam to believe that his dad's going to buy him a Porsche - which he's not.

    That Porsche dealership was actually Porsche/Audi of Downtown Los Angeles, located located just south of downtown L.A., at 1900 Figueroa Street:. That's at the southeast corner of Figueroa Street and W. Washington Blvd, a few blocks south of the Staples Center. (It's about four miles east of Sam's house.)

   





  • Bolivia's Used Car Lot, where Sam's dad takes him to buy his first car, is run by none other than Bernie Mac. This is where Sam buys his yellow Camero (which, of course, turns out to be a Transformer in disguise). Those car lot scenes were actually shot at two former gas stations located at the northeast and southeast corners of Lake Avenue & Morada Place, in Altadena, CA. Those are at 2000 2012 Lake Avenue.

    In the photo above, the camera is looking northeast (across Lake Avenue), while in the photo below, the camera is looking south (across Morada Place.).

    (The movie's production notes incorrectly describe the used car lot as being in Pasadena, but I've learned over the years that producers tend to mistake both Altadena and the city of South Pasadena for their bigger neighbor, Pasadena. This location is just north of Pasadena, in Altadena.)

   

  • Right next door to the gas station is a small residential home. Bernie says his "Mammy" lives there (Bernie's choice of words, not mine), and he waves to her. (She gives him the finger in return.) Mammy's small, white house is just what it appears to be, and is located at 928 Morada Place, on the north side of Morada Place, the east/west street which runs between the two gas stations. It's just east of Lake Ave. In the photo below, the camera is looking east/northeast up Morada Place.
  • Warning: This is a private home.  Do not trespass on their property, knock on
    their door, or do anything else that might disturb their privacy.






    Sam drives out to a park with a lake, where 'Mikaela' (Megan Fox) is hanging out.

    But when she gets into a fight with her date and starts to walk home, Sam seizes the opportunity and offers her a ride home in his car.

    That park is not really a park. And it was hard to find.

    Turns out this scene was filmed on a private estate located at 2800 White Stallion Road, part of White Stallion Ranch Estates, in the Hidden Valley section of Thousand Oaks, CA. That is way out west of the San Fernando Valley, in Ventura County, about 25 miles west of the 405 Freeway, and about 50 miles northwest of downtown L.A.

    White Stallion Road is a private offshoot of W. Potrero Road, south of the Ventura Freeway. Needless to say, the private property isn't open to the public (there's a guard shack to discourage that, so don't waste your time trying to visit).

    But you can see a YouTube video of the home's real estate offering here. )

       









    Sam's car soon begins to move around on its own... Not knowing it is a Transformer in disguise, and believing the car is being stolen, Sam follows the car on a bike, only to wind up being arrested by the police.

  • The scene starts out at Sam's house, in the West Adams district, but it soon jumps across town to Oak Knoll Ave, between Hillcrest Ave (on the north) & Pinehurst Drive (on the south), in Pasadena, where they filmed this residential part of the chase scene.
  • Along the way, we see Sam pedal past the large home above, as he calls the police on his cell phone.

  • That big house you see in the photo above is actually located at 1150 S. Oak Knoll Avenue, in Pasadena.  That's on the east side of  Oak Knoll Avenue, just three houses south of Hillcrest Avenue.

Warning: This is a private home.  Do not trespass on their property, knock on
their door, or do anything else that might disturb their privacy.

   





    A similar chase scene is repeated a few minutes later in the movie, after Sam gets out of jail and is back home. His "Satan's Camero" shows up again, outside his window, and soon Sam is back on his bike again, but this time it is the car that is doing that chasing and Sam who is trying to get away, as the car chases him down the street.

  • This bike chase scene starts out (again) at Sam's actual home in the West Adams District. In the photo above, we are looking west/northwest down 24th Street, and in the photo below, the camera is looking east/northeast as Sam's car chases him west down 24th Street, driving across that Adams District neighborhood's lawns.


    But then the producers pull the old switcheroo on us again, and we suddenly jump miles away, back to Pasadena, CA. The new location is on S. Oakland Avenue between Green Street (on the south) & Colorado Blvd (on the north).

  • That Glabman's Furniture & Interior Design store that you see behind Sam is actually located at
    525 E. Colorado Blvd, in Pasadena, at the northeast corner of Colorado & Oakland Ave.

   

(In the photo above, the camera is looking north/northeast, as Sam rides south down Oakland Ave.)


  • And the church you see behind Sam (in the photo above) is located right across the street from Glabman's. It's the First United Methodist church, at 500 E. Colorado Blvd.

   

(In the photo above, the camera is looking southwest, as Sam rides east on Colorado Blvd.)





    Then there's yet another small jump in location. Sam crashes his bike, falling flat on his back, right in front of a Burger King restaurant, where (as luck would have it), Mikaela is dining with her friends on the sidewalk patio. Her girlfriends giggle at his misfortune, but Mikaela joins him on his trek.

  • That Burger King is located at 1700 E. Colorado Blvd, at the southeast corner of Colorado and S. Bonnie Avenue. (That's a mile and a half east of the church and Glabman's.)

   

    Sam (a stuntman, actually) runs into the tree on the west side of that fast food restaurant. That's across the street from (east of) Pasadena City College.

In the photo above, Sam is heading north on Bonnie Ave when he hits the tree.

In the photo
below, the camera is looking east.



    Sam takes off again on his bike, still being chased by his car, only now he is also being followed by Mikaela on her motor scooter.

    He winds up underneath a freeway, his own car still on his tail. Sam is relieved to see a police car suddenly appear to "rescue" him. Or so it thinks. Instead, the "cop car" knocks him off his bike, and intimidates him, before finally transforming into a giant Decepticon robot, which begins to chase him.

  • These under-the-freeway scenes were filmed underneath the curving ramps of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, just south of Venice Blvd, next to the Los Angeles Convention Center (near the interchange of the 10 & the 110), just south of downtown Los Angeles..

    (That's the same spot where they filmed the armored car robbery in the movie "Heat".)

   


  • Mikaela shows up on her scooter, just in time to see the giant robot attacking. At the last moment, Sam's car suddenly reappears and rescues them.

    In the photo
    above, we are looking west down Venice Blvd
    , just east  of the Harbor (110)  Freeway and just north of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway.


[ Click here to see more "Transformers" locations! ]




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* Locations marked by an asterisk (*) may be located in areas with high crime rates.
Exercise reasonable caution.



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