Oscar-winning Best Director Michel Hazanavicius, Oscar-winning Best Actor Jean Dujardin, and an unidentified crew member standing in front of 121 S. Hudson Ave. between takes filming The Artist. (C) 2012 Google.

Uggie and George - The Weinstein Company

What an Oscar night!  The two biggest winners, The Artist, and Hugo, both pay homage to early cinema, and the best animated short, the beautiful and moving The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, pays tribute in part to Buster Keaton.

You don’t need to speak French in order to enjoy this behind the scenes video, posted in early 2011, showing Oscar-winning Best Director Michel Hazanavicius and crew on location in Los Angeles filming scenes from The Artist.   I was able to capture from one scene where Uggie the Dog begs a policeman to follow him in order to rescue Uggie’s master, the down and out actor George Valentin, portrayed by Oscar-winning Best Actor Jean Dujardin.   I will likely post more stories about The Artist once it is released on video, but until then, let’s see where Uggie saves the day.

The cop and Uggie between takes - standing at the back of 104 S. Hudson Ave. (C) 2011 Microsoft Corporation.

Above, Uggie encounters the policeman alongside this distinctive fence at the back end of 104 S. Hudson Avenue.   After capturing the cop’s attention, Uggie and the cop race south down the street, past the low brick retaining wall of 134 S. Hudson Ave. (see below).

Uggie and the cop race by 134 S. Hudson Ave. (C) 2012 Google.

During an unrelated sequence from the behind the scenes video, we see Clifton the chauffeur, played by James Cromwell, drive Jean while turning north from W. 2nd Street onto Hudson Place (see below).

The corner of W. 2nd Street and Hudson Place. (C) 2012 Google.

Unlike my prior five posts that explain historic connections between The Artist and the great silent stars of the past, this post only shows contemporary locations.  Thus, for a moment I was concerned I had strayed from the premise of my blog.  But then I chuckled when I realized this blog discusses the locations from silent films, which is precisely what The Artist is intended to be.   So if the hoopla over The Artist should ever lead to the production of another contemporary silent film, you can look for analysis of that film here as well.

The Artist (C) La Petite Reine, The Weinstein Company.