STUDIO & LOCATION SCOUTING
If you're lucky enough to have worked on studio sound
stages, even as a crew member, you should consider, for certain type of
movies, to shoot in a studio.
A studio sound stage is expensive to rent. If your budget is pushing a
million, you should take advantage of a package studio sound stage
deal, that includes lighting and grip. Sometimes you can get sets
worked into the deal. Negotiate and stay open-minded; you'll be
surprised what you can achieve by shooting on a sound stage.
First of all your lighting is going to be very controllable.
In addition, of course, all working conditions are improved, especially
the comfort of your performers. Your sound recording will be easier --
no planes passing overhead. "Waiting on the plane!"
You come in the morning and turn the lights on. The set is
lit! Proceed to work, you're going to get full days! Better quality
production all the way around.
The other alternative is an empty building, such as a warehouse in a
deserted area -- loud ambient sound is your enemy on sound pictures.
You can rent one temporarily and build your sets and generally modify
it to be as close to a sound stage as you can make it.
Of course, your script may call for outdoor locations or special
locations, such as a wharf, a mall, an airplane hangar, a farm or a
beach. Then, you have no choice but to shoot on those locations.
Major Hollywood productions shoot even ships in storms on
sound stages, and that's more cost-effective than location shooting --
believe me!
But if you're making a low budget movie, forget everything I've been
talking about in this section. Shoot wherever your location scouting
leads you to shoot.
Your production manager is usually an excellent location scout. Go out
and do extensive scouting for locations. Don't leave any stones
unturned in your efforts to get the best possible and practical
location for your production.
Offer owners of special business locations free publicity or
advertising! Any businessperson worth their salt knows the value of
movie advertising! Talk up a storm. Give him an earful; but, don't let
him think that he and his location are indispensable to your movie.
He'll turn the tables on you and ask you for money to use his location.
And if you're getting a location for free, keep up your end of the
bargain. Do what you promised. Give thanks to the business name in your
end credits, include an establishing shot of the business frontage or
plug the product somewhere in the movie.
If you make your promise a reasonable one, you won't get
burned by being forced to include a ridiculously obvious shot of
something that cheapens your movie artistically. So don't promise more
than what you can deliver!
Never pay for a location if you can get it free. This you will say is
an obvious overstatement; but, once you start paying someone on the
block to use his iron gate or pool, the guy who's letting you use his
house will get sore and say, "I'm letting you use my whole house and
your paying me nothing -- look at that carpet!" "We'll clean it, we'll
clean it!" won't get you nowhere.
One good piece of advice is, write in (into your story) an
exotic location that you luck into securing. Why waste good
opportunities! You'll always regret not having used it. You might be
unable ever to even vacation there!
This last advice is a throwaway, but I offer it here in case
somebody with a $100,000,000 budget is reading this book, not very
likely but just in case:
If some major studio is crazy enough to provide you with that kind of
budget, and they are more frequently than ever before doing just that,
start first by ... buying a country -- no, no, not a big country, a
small country. I swear you can! Then use that country's land and
infrastructure as location and the population, especially the army and
police as your extras -- you can give some of the leaders some lines,
it's okay.