We partnered with the powerhouse Location Managers from Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Transformers 2, Top Gun 2, Spiderman: Homecoming, and Grey’s Anatomy to give your students professional guidance on finding, managing, and shooting on location.
Check out a free preview of from “Working with Location Owners”
And as with all FilmSkills Academic lessons, the new location lessons come complete with test questions, fully illustrated companion text, and downloadable contracts and forms students can use on their own productions.
Lesson 1
Scouting Locations
Locations play a critical role in every film production, and in this lessons, students will learn how to properly break down the script, scout locations, work on cold scouts, how to assess the technical feasibility of a location, and it’s local industry support. (19:13)
This lesson covers:
- How to break down a script
- How to properly generate a list of locations
- How to scout locations
- Available resources to help you location scout
- How to conduct a cold scout
- How to assess the technical requirements of the location
Lesson 2
Working with Film Commissions
Each state has a film commission tasked with attracting motion picture production to that state. In this lesson, students learn the services offered by a film commission, how to use their services to find the best location for your movie, liaise with local industry, and what hidden pricing traps.(24:53)
This lesson covers:
- What a film commission does
- How to use their location libraries
- How to use their scouting services
- Limitations of a film commission’s services
- How a film commission can help you liaise with local industry and local government
- How your budget affects the services they offer
- How to find a film commission
Lesson 3
Working with Location Owners
- How to approach a location owner about using his or her property for your shoot
- How to establish your credibility
- How to speak and present your case to a location owner
- The necessary contracts and agreements to protect yourself legally
- How to conduct a walk through
- How to deal with problems if the location owner decides to pull out at the last minute
- The location release form and its importance
Lesson 4
Film Permits
(22:58)
- What are permits
- When is a permit required
- Shooting guerilla without a permit
- The difference between shooting on public and private property
- Free permits and their hidden costs
- How to use a permit on location
Lesson 5
Community Relations
- How to secure permission from the neighbors in the community in which you’re shooting
- The public impact of a film shoot
- How to work with the police
- How to shoot in a public venue
- How to deal with disruptive people when shooting in public
- The proper code of conduct for motion picture crews when shooting on location
