ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

8 years, 10 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Apart from the obvious questions about H&S, insurance and experienced stunt person... you could do it with greenscreen and an appropriate background just as effective without the need for those elements I listed at the beginning...

8 years, 10 months ago - Anna Tombacz

Thank you Lee for the concern, I'm well aware of those elements, I just need a location for now. If I can find a location I'd rather use that than green screen. But if I can't find anything, it'll be green screen.

8 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Knock up a basic set and do it all at waist height if you must do it practically, but as Wozy says, all of those reasons.

The other problem is anyone overlooking - you have to be VERY aware of not causing alarm to the public. You're simulating an emergency, so take all the same measures as you would with simulating a crime. If a concerned citizen calls 999 (as they should) out of concern, at best you're wasting public money and resources, and interrupting your shoot. You would be wise to contact the incident rooms for the police force for the area at least a fortnight in advance, and you should also letterdrop all nearby overlooking offices and homes, even put up signs and have crew in hi-viz being conspicuous wherever people are. The Met are very patient with film units, but you MUST involve them long in advance to keep their cooperation.

8 years, 10 months ago - Anna Tombacz

Hi Paddy, thanks for all the info! I have a long list what needs to be done prior shooting the scene practically (now adding the letterdropping, thank you), and will do all of the points, IF I find a location. So the question is still on - anybody knows of a location I could use?

Thank you.

8 years, 10 months ago - Mät King

I offer neither answer nor solution but hope you post the finished film or at least the sequence on SP so that we can all see how it turned out. Well, I'm intrigued anyhow. As they say somewhere I'm sure: there are easier ways to die and even easier locations to do it in....
Good luck with the project.

8 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Hi Anna, depending on the actual ESSENTIAL shot list (and if you're prepared to compromise for the sake of budget), then I'd still urge building a platform at waist height and keying/tracking in your skyline.

Real rooves are horrible locations all round, being the top of a building means getting all your kit there, which inevitably involves at least one staircase (because lift gear rooms are above the lifts, so lifts can't ever to the top). Lifts, if you can use them, need protecting from kit, usually the buildings people have liners for them to protect them, but I've also been places where we had to have a carpenter for a day to build liners!

Finally, if push comes to shove, I have some rooftops (flat roof, dangerous as all hell) in Bath you can use, stairs all the way up, but city centre location. I really urge you to consider using a bit of car park and compositing in the skyline though - the shoot will be much shorter, so fewer people to pay, cheaper location, and you can spend the extra on extra VFX in post. Get someone like Wozy to come look at your plans and suggest how to greenscreen and mark for tracking.

8 years, 10 months ago - Anna Tombacz

Thank you for your answer, I'll still keep trying to find an actual rooftop though - with a double tier like on the picture, so we won't even have to go close to the actual edge. It would be very few people, 2 actors, DoP, 1st AC and myself, with no extra kit, just the camera and a reflector. If I can't find anything we'll go for the VFX solution, but my fingers are crossed. Thanks again.

8 years, 9 months ago - Tony Oldham

At 0.10s was shot greenscreen waist height in park. No one ever got up on the bridge. Just find a dedicated VFX guy. This was done by a guy called Nick Treganza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5AM6k1QRco