ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years ago - Marlom Tander

Phoning location companies and complaining about the cost is a bit like phoning a Rolls Royce rental service and saying you can't find a cheap car.

You have talked to these guys?

http://content.met.police.uk/Site/mpsfilmunit

Though I suspect their co-operation may be script dependent :-)

cheers

11 years ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

It's not so much the websites that are pricey, but the locations. People don't invite a film crew twice, not once they've seen the devastation that so frequently follows. Those that do, take a premium to cover the massive inconvenience.

For prison cells though, some studios may have standing sets you can rent. They won't be £200, mind, or certainly not inside the M25 where a pub backroom costs £400!

11 years ago - ANDY LEWIS

Locations. Don't get me started. Ok then, I have dozen shorts which only need locations to be available and I can go ahead. As for prisons I have shot about 6 scenes with prison as a background. The last one was at The Rag Factory, off Brick Lane. There's a large room there which worked for wide shots. The wall is white glossy tiles. perfect. There was, maybe it's gone, a large iron gate which we used for cell bars. There's a stairway in one corner. As has been said before: with lighting and careful framing you can get a plausible shot. Go tight and put the background out of focus. You could be anywhere. Make a cheap establishing shot. You can always get an exterior still, Ken Burns it, add some rain, key in a moving tree, or a passing car, add sound effects. The audience will accept that the actors are inside. Good luck.

11 years ago - Nicholas Hughes

Alas, I have not found a location website that can accommodate low budget film making. Contrary to Paddy's experience, I found the administrative costs of most location companies to be very high. For example, I wanted to hire an abandoned quarry for a day's shoot. The place had no buildings, no facilities, no power or water but they wanted a around £800 for the location and slightly less (I forget the exact amount) for administrative purposes. That would have meant a third of my budget gone on a hole in the ground.

11 years ago - Nick Goundry

Professional location library websites will be a non-starter because they're targeting professional shoots, as you've found. My suggestion for a micro-budgeted shoot would be to see if any friends, family or relatives have a great cellar that you can film in for free. Or perhaps there's a local business near you that has something good? If you can't secure a location for a full 12 hours, can you break up the shoot over a number of days or weeks at the convenience of whoever owns the space?

Does it absolutely have to be a cellar? If you're planning to build a story around a great location, then perhaps the better option would be to find the best location you can get either for free, within budget, or in exchange for reasonable favours, and then rewrite the script around the new location. Or find the best fit for the script you have and then get creative with your shot list if it doesn't quite fit.

11 years ago - Shahid 'Shez' Hussain

Hi

Some good input and others not so much but nonetheless thank you to everyone for contributing.
I appreciate you all taking the time to share your knowledge, experiences and opinions.

Its been four months since my last short, and it looks like i'm going to have to wait longer only really because of a location.


“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
[Inaugural Address, January 20 1961]”
― John F. Kennedy

11 years ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Try calling a few studios and just asking, too. Point out you're on a budget, see what they come up with.

http://www.theoldpolicestation.org/#!
http://www.wimbledonstudios.com/film-tv-sets/police-station/police-cells/

Might be worth a try. Do allow for extras though, like power.

11 years ago - Richard Anthony Dunford

There's loads of great location websites with awesome locations but these are for people with studio budgets. The general average is gonna be about £1200 a day.

I was after a police cell for my no budget feature. Asked at Wimbledon studios (used to shoot TV's 'the Bill' there so still have the sets) but they wanted £4k per day. Eventually found somewhere for £100

Just have to ask around. Scour the internet for your local area or just find a space and rely on your production design to make it look like a cell

11 years ago - Shahid 'Shez' Hussain

I found one almost perfect location; a basement, concrete floor, bricked walls with medium size prison cell (should fit four adults). Pretty perfect for what i want.

So I emailed them and this is the reply I got.

"That location has a standardised fee structure, and for your kind of project the price would be £5000 per day + VAT. We also charge library fee of £300 for filming bookings."

I've done this many times, calling and emailing different location companies. And 99.9% of the time i can't afford the location, but I keep looking anyway.

But particular website/location really takes the p**s.
Thats more than double of my entire budget!!

Thanks as always Paddy, I will search the internet for (prison cell) standing sets to rent.
And thanks Nicholas for sharing your experience too.

11 years ago - Dan Selakovich

Considering your budget, you're just going to have to build it yourself. These kinds of sets are easy to DIY. I once turned a friends living room into a bar. What you want is much, much easier. Start here for some ideas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CchY95IYF1Y