"fruitvale station" was shot in oakland, california, for 20 days in july 2012. scenes were shot at and around the bay area rapid transit platform where grant was killed. bart agreed to let the crew film at the fruitvale bart station for three four-hour nights. most of the platform scenes were shot over the course of two nights (with another night dedicated to the sequences on the train that led up to the police confrontation). san quentin state prison served as a filming location for a flashback scene with prisoners featured as extras. the film was shot in super 16 mm format using arriflex 416 cameras and zeiss ultra 16 lenses.