Imaginary Location Scout

By Lance Hoffman

Recently, I received an email from my wife’s nephew who is studying film and acting at USC. The kid has written a short script and asked me if I would teach him a little about locations. I don’t think he is seriously thinking of becoming a location person (he’s too smart for that). If he wants to learn something about how locations work and it helps him become a better director, producer, or writer, I will help him as much as I can. That request got me to thinking about how to talk about locations in a way that puts things into perspective for a newcomer. The following exercise is a start in that direction- Let’s take an imaginary location scout. Who are the people in the car and what do they think about during a scout?

Let’s say there are five or six people on the scout. The producer will sometimes empower one of the group to make the final decision regarding locations. The sooner that it becomes clear which one has the power; The faster things move along.

The Director (Writer) At this point, the writer who conceived of The story and knows the most about the characters and plot is long gone. His or her job has been taken over by the Director, whose job is to interpret the story for the audience and the actors.

The Producer has the job to provide the production assets, usually money. Finding the right people, with the appropriate skills and letting them make the best film possible for the money. In this case, we’ll say the budget is $ 1.25 million dollars, a low budget independent film.

The Cameraperson and The Production Designer. They will work with the director to create the visual look of the film

The Production Manager or Assistant Director has a very difficult job of making the budget, schedule, and planning the day-to-day operations of the crew. On the set, the AD is part ringmaster, part traffic cop, and is responsible for bringing the elements of production (cast, crew, and the lot) together for the director to capture on film. The important tools for this task are the call sheet and the production schedule. Hopefully, those things bear some relationship to the budget and reality! THIS REQUIRES A SOBER VIEW OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE, as well as a feel for what can go wrong.

Location Manager or Scout its his job help find the right places to film that help tell the story. The location manager should be concerned with the 4 Ps of Locations.

1. Places or location sites
2. Permits and Permission to film
3. Police and Security
4. Parking

The Locations Department should help to find the appropriate settings, which allow the other departments (sound, camera, art, and transportation) to accomplish their goals. As actual filming draws near the location manager and production manager should try to anticipate the needs of everyone. If the production has not realistically thought about what resources (TIME) is required, you may be heading for an expensive and unpleasant train wreck down the line. The Production Manager and Location manager assist the Producer and should have a lot of experience.  Unfortunately, the production and location managers rarely have the final say in selecting the locations used for filming.

Remember the basic five P’s of Production: 'prior planning prevents poor production!'

We now come to “the first look” scout for locations. It is usually the Art Department that gets the first look at location candidates. It’s the Art department, which often recommends locations to the director.

Let’s say, the scene is of an upscale apartment in San Francisco with a knockout view. The script calls for an apartment for a rich music producer type who invites the young girl star over to impress her and try to get her away from our hero- a talented but struggling musician. The film tells the story of our hero, who ultimately makes it and gets the girl. Our apartment location might meet some of or all of the script requirements.

• A balcony or roof garden with a great view of San Francisco. The furniture in the apartment should look expensive.
• A bedroom where the producer makes a pass at the girl.
• There may be a later party scene where our hero tells off the producer. This argument takes place in front of a dozen guests. This scene will require a good-sized dining room or living room.

This apartment location is scheduled for a two day shoot with a day of prep and wrap. Our location manager/scout has found a film friendly building owner who has allowed filming in her nob hill penthouse apartment in the past. The apartment has a killer view of the Bay Bridge, downtown buildings from a roof garden accessed from a good-sized sun porch/solarium. The living room is not very large but has a grand piano.

The owner likes the location manager and request $ 2500/ per day for filming, but is negotiable. Prep or wrap days are usually a third of a shoot day rate. Since this apartment is in a residential neighborhood the San Francisco film office would require signatures from affected residents if the film were to go past 11PM. The location manager’s best guess is that there is a good chance of getting the sign off, but it would take several days of an experienced person’s time and could cost $ 750. Let’s try imaging what the various people on the scout might be thinking,

The Producer: This is a great apartment with an outstanding view. The rooms are rather small for the party scene. I really did not put enough money in the budget. I have $1000 in the budget for this location. This is obviously San Francisco, with a cable car nearby. It could give us some needed production value if we could get the cable car in the picture while we’re here.

The Director loves this location! and would kill to get that view into the movie. This is the place for the scene with the girl and the music producer character. He’s not going to let anyone talk me out of this location. With a backdrop like this he believes he can get the actors to give a good performances.        

Cameraman likes the view, its facing east so the light will be good. Because of the hill its only four floors stories to the curb. We could run cables down the side of the building to a generator. The elevator is small but we can get the camera up here without killing the crew. The deck is great for lighting through the windows without scaffolding.

Art Department wants this apartment. The view is great- the furniture, piano, and rugs are right on. With some minor dressing we could make the sun porch look a masculine bedroom. Living room is too small for the party. Art department can “live off the land” here.

Production Manager-Assistant Director The view and feel of the apartment are right. But.

1. There is nowhere for the crew to park. It will cost  $20/per car to park in this neighborhood.
2. There is not much room to stage equipment or actors if we do the party scene at this location.
3. Ward robe, makeup, and hair cannot work in this apartment. We will need mobile dressing rooms and a honey wagon that means more teamsters and possible shuttle to parking for extras.
4. That will cost money and time, which are in short supply.
5. We will need to find a lunch site and holding area nearby. None of the above is in the budget.

If we can keep the scenes simple we might be able to pull off the small scenes, but the party scene is too much.

Location Manager This may be too rich for our blood. The parking is tight but that’s San Francisco. There is enough room for the most important equipment  (the Camera van, Generator, and Grip Truck). I have done that before at this location. The next best choice for the view is on Russian Hill where the parking will be worse. That view there is not nearly as good and the location cost will be about the same.

In this situation, the likely outcome is to do the small, two person scenes (between the girl and the producer) at this apartment. This location could work for only one day. The landlord might go for $ 1700 - $ 2000. If the filming were to include some drive ups and exterior scenes with the cable car and city views, you could get a good amount of production value for the buck. The larger party scene should be shifted to another location, perhaps somewhere where there is more room to spread out and easier to organize. This would not be a bad outcome, No body gets fired, and the director gets his first choice, the film adds production value without breaking the bank.

This story has a happy ending and perhaps teaches a point or two about the location scouting process.

AFTER THOUGHTS AND LESSONS

It is common perception that location scouting is concerned only with finding the locations for filming and that would be incomplete. The location process must be mindful of TIME AND RESOURCES. Because the making of a film is very much about time, scheduling, and Budget.  A breakdown of a film is not composed only of scenes, but is really about Budget/Time as well.  NOT JUST MONEY BUT, RESOURCES- TIME IS A RESOURCE THAT YOU CAN JUST RUN OUT OF AND WHEN ITS GONE- YOU ARE DONE-like it not.

When you consider a script as a collection of scenes. It’s really about, what is it going to take to reach the finish line? I’ve seen some good ideas fail because people forgot that staying on budget (and on track) requires discipline and maintaining momentum towards the goal. Over reaching is a common as well as a deadly pitfall. One of my favorite Production Managers used to say, “sometimes you just have to take the hit and keep moving”. Make your best plan and keep it simple! You might just be able to pull it off. Good Luck!

I hope this helps