ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXRunning out of time to find location (Northern Ireland)
8 years, 8 months ago - Ian Templeton
Hi Folks,
I'm planning on making a two character short in January that is set in an empty housing estate/area, essentially written to be as minimalistic as possible with a view to a more practical shoot. And yet here I am, still trying to find at least three separate streets of vacant/abandoned terraced housing (with no cars in shot).
This is a Belfast based shoot that is close to zero budget so I'm pretty much limited to what is on this island. You might think (as I did) that there would be many neglected sites but it turns out there's been a strong focus on getting these areas redeveloped in the past couple of years and the sites I knew of whilst writing are now gone. I've almost exhausted the local housing assocations, some of which have been more forthright with information than others.
The majority of the external shots are slow and simple tracks down the centre of empty streets, with very limited action taking place.
So, the long shot first of all - does anyone here know of any such streets anywhere in Ireland? Failing that, does anyone have experience of getting people to move cars etc out of shot without any incentive other than goodwill? Is it even feasible for me to consider trying to clear a whole street of cars?
Any advice or information would be very much appreciated.
Ian
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8 years, 8 months ago - Matt
Hi Ian. How's it going? Another shooter from Belfast. Have you tried around North Belfast, the likes of the New Lodge? It'll be difficult to get a carless street but know that around New Lodge Youth Club there are loads of abandoned houses that they are getting ready to redevelop. Good luck. Keep me posted on how ya get on.
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Matt SHOW
8 years, 8 months ago - Ian Templeton
Hi Matt, thanks for the reply. Yes, that's Hillman Street, I've actually arranged with the NIHE (the houses should still be standing come January) to use a house there for the interiors - the view out the window is that of boarded up housing. Unfortunately though, it and the street beside it aren't quite suitable for a good clean tracking shot - the YC is very colourful at one end and there's a normal inhabited street looking up the other.
Aside from those two streets, however, I'm coming up short. There are a couple of NIHE area offices that have been difficult to get a response from, ones that I think are more likely to have what I'm looking for. But I've got the impression from some others that they wouldn't like to be too forthcoming about such sites in their area for fear of bad publicity etc. With New Lodge, I found out about it before contacting the relevant office.
Thanks again and if you do stumble upon any, please let me know - I'm convinced there's at least a couple somewhere!
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Ian Templeton SHOW
8 years, 8 months ago - Matt
Hey Ian, did you get any joy with your location? I'm at the MAC at Belfast Media Festival tomorrow, so can ask around and let you know if anyone has any suggestions.
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Matt SHOW
8 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Ian, if you're fighting and getting nowhere, do what filmmakers the world over do, and cheat! Use a matte painting to extend an empty street, use VFX to remove cars, etc. Talk to someone like Wozy on this site who does a lot of VFX post work, he or another VFX super may be able to suggest how you can get something like the shots you want.
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW
8 years, 8 months ago - Ian Templeton
Hi Matt, I have yet to locate any fully derelict streets so that would be great if you find out anything that might help. I'm already planning to try and get a few vacated for the time I need. No idea on the chances of it coming off but I may as well try. It also seems that Liverpool might still have a lot of these streets so I may be able to take a day there for the shots without characters.
Paddy, the street where my interior location is half empty so I was planning to only use it for the tighter shot. However, I would definitely be interested in VFX if I can believe that it will be seamless - with this being almost zero budget, I hadn't really considered it as a viable option. I'll see if I can get in touch with Wozy.
Thanks guys.
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Ian Templeton SHOW
8 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
It's not my area really, but for instance if you are shooting on a half derelict street, just make sure the action happens in front of a suitable looking property. Then you can either matte paint (ie photoshop, in 2016) around the action area with other scenes of destruction, or dirty-up some of the better looking properties. How you approach and shoot will make all the difference as to how effective this can be - if you are wanting complex camera moves over a long distance your costs will be far higher than if you have a locked-off shot so a digital artist doesn't have to worry about matching camera moves, and can just apply the matte.
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW
8 years, 8 months ago - Ian Templeton
Fortunately, I actually have enough of a derelict street for most of my requirements in terms of exterior action - what I need the empty streets for are for a number of full street length tracking shots. These are incredibly basic shots that are repeated in their variations throughout the piece. So it seems like using VFX for this may indeed be slightly out of reach.
I am resigned to trying to find a street or two where residents are generous enough to move their cars for a few hours. No idea of what my chances are but if you don't ask and all that...
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Ian Templeton SHOW
8 years, 8 months ago - Matt
Ian - gonna send you a PM. Was walking down Sparmount street this morning and the only cars there belong to the building site that is on one side of the street. The other side of the street is derelict housing. Took some photos that I can shoot you over.
Response from 8 years, 8 months ago - Matt SHOW