The film was shot at a bus stop across the street from Inglewood High School where director Jabbar Thomas used to catch the bus everyday to get to film school at Loyola Marymount University.
Director Jabbar Thomas make a cameo in the film as the male EMT.
The film was shot as a "silent film" meaning no dialog or sounds were recorded on the set. All of the sounds were placed and mixed in post production.
The film was shot on a reversal 16mm film stock with an Eclair NPR motion picture camera. The stock was chosen by the director for it's gritty, saturated feel that lends it a dreamlike, slightly creepy quality.
Specifically influenced by the work of Frederico
Felini (81/2 and Juliet of the Spirits, The Bus Stop's visual and narrative is called "surrealism": it has a dreamlike
quality.