Greetings. I'm off to Chicago next week to shoot a corporate video, looking for advice on where I can grab a few shots that say 'Chicago'. I know I'll use one for sure, maybe two if it feels right for the story. I've been there once, went out to where the aquarium is, got a good view of the city skyline, but it looked rather generic.

I saw some old church downtown, and caught a glimpse of some giant chrome blob, and I'm thinking about that fountain from Married With Children.

Any other ideas for the 'location' shot? 4 to 5 seconds max.

Also... where could I find a shot of another city skyline? Part of the video takes place 'elsewhere' , not defined yet, but it would be slick if I could get another distinctive location shot, New York, St. Louis.. I'm not too familiar with US identifiable city shots. Heck, even a tumbleweed hick town in the middle of nowhere would work just as well (company uses remote-viewing for insurance needs, so the contrast might work).

Shooting on a HMC150.

Wrigley Field, Second City, The Bean

Sears Tower, Navy Pier, Buckingham Fountain, any Chicago hot dog joint (oops, sorry, I'm hungry) Old St. Pats Church, Holy Name Cathederal.

Those are all pretty recognizable "landmarks" here. Sears Tower (soon to be renamed Willis Tower---YUK) is the most recognized landmark and it is pretty well know thruout the US if not the world. That and Buckingham fountain.
Have fun.

Watch out for that giant chrome bean. It was built after I moved up here to Alaska, but I remember there being a big stink about how it's a copyrighted sculpture and that you're not allowed to take photos or video without permission. Not sure if that's changed over the last few years or not, but make sure you CYA.

As for other landmarks besides the ones already mentioned, you have the lions in front of the Art Institute, the skyline as viewed from various places along the Chicago River, the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum, the lagoon behind the Museum of Science and Industry, etc. There are also several very distinctive sculptures all over the city, including The Flamingo, the Picasso, and a few others whose names escape me.

Another option is to get the skyline at night, or during sunrise/sunset on a clear day. The reflections and highlights from the skyscraper windows add some glamor to the scene.

Watch out for that giant chrome bean. It was built after I moved up here to Alaska, but I remember there being a big stink about how it's a copyrighted sculpture and that you're not allowed to take photos or video without permission. Not sure if that's changed over the last few years or not, but make sure you CYA.

Chicago's Bean sculpture is free to photograph, at last - Boing Boing (http://www.boingboing.net/2005/05/27/chicagos-bean-sculpt.html)