Filming a low-budget car chase

R

Rick_Leuce

Hi, I've never participated in an independent film before, but I've always wanted to make one.

I was wondering if anyone here has ever tried to do a car chase for an indie film and if they had any advice. The one I was planning on doing is sort of "Bullitt Style", it would happed on some back roads then finish on an interstate. I'm not totaling any cars, just busting a couple bumpers and setting up an effect that looks like the radiator is cracked and spewing from under the hood.

My biggest problem with this is that I would need to close down about 3 miles of interstate and I was wondering where I would need to go to get permission, and what I'd need to do: like film on days/times with little traffic, set up detour signs, get police to help, etc.

The chase would be continuous and each shooting would last less than 2 minutes, so I figured I might be able to have a few police officers holding stop/go signs that hold the traffic up, let us shoot, then once were far enough away, the interstate can be moving again. So the highway would be held up for like 60-120 seconds at a time once every 15-30 minutes within a 2-3 hour window. Hopefully all the shots we keep will have been done in the same day so that it looks/feels consistent.

I'm not planning on doing this chase for a while, but its very important to the movie that this chase is in it. I'll set up some practice car videos (non-highway) so that I know what I'm getting into and so that I have something to show for what I'm trying to do. And yes, when I said "Bullitt" style, I meant the chase is between a Ford and a Dodge (but not necessarily like the ones from that movie) :cool:
 
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Stop/Go signs are not enough for a full blown car chase. The film board alone is going to require you have a lot more, let alone insurance companies etc.

For some sort of perspective - we wanted to close down a road in film school to shoot a short. It was going to cost us over $3,000 each day just for a stop/go setup.

As it was, we ended up using a private road which looked better, and we were able to shoot a lot quicker.

Without shooting as part of a school, there's all sorts of insurances you'll need, on top of everything everyone else has mentioned (i.e. stunties, car hire etc.). We needed insurance for our hero car for that short - it was required for two days and all it had to do was drive. The insurance cost ~$500 on top of the ~$400 car hire. Put them in stunts and your premium is going to go up exponentially (not to mention the double hire of the car etc.)
 
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You know, maybe I'm wrong about all of this... I'm not from Georgia.

Given the recent train track incident, maybe standard operating procedure for filmmaking in Georgia is to throw caution to the wind and screw safety, because you know.. getting a shot that "looks cool" is really the only important thing.
 
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Ambitious first project Rick. What's your budget? Also check out interviews by Mike Cahill, the director of Another Earth. He used his police officer friend to shut down a road for him to shoot the accident in the beginning. But your shoot sounds like you're going to need quite a few friends who're cops.
 
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trueindie said:
Ambitious first project Rick. What's your budget? Also check out interviews by Mike Cahill, the director of Another Earth. He used his police officer friend to shut down a road for him to shoot the accident in the beginning. But your shoot sounds like you're going to need quite a few friends who're cops.
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I don't know how much the whole 90-minute(ish) movie will cost, but I figure that the car chase alone (excluding the materials I have now) will cost me 15-20k for that chase alone (I'm super frugal and patient). However, 10-15k of the resources I will use in that chase (cop cars, special cameras, etc.) could be re-used in future film projects and sequels (like roll-bars and whatnot).

Since this chase is very important to me and I want it done right, I'm half tempted to create a substitute car chase for my first installment and save this very expensive and complicated chase for a sequel. The chase was also meant to be in-tune (or synchronized) to the music of Linkin Park: "New Divide"

In fact, this wouldn't be the first over-the-top thing I've decided to post-pone to a sequel. I've post-poned so much cool stuff for a later film, I'm actually calling this my "prequel".

So it seems to be that the advice I'm getting is to NOT do this chase for my first movie, which is probably a good idea.
 
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jax_rox said:
Stop/Go signs are not enough for a full blown car chase. The film board alone is going to require you have a lot more, let alone insurance companies etc.

For some sort of perspective - we wanted to close down a road in film school to shoot a short. It was going to cost us over $3,000 each day just for a stop/go setup.

As it was, we ended up using a private road which looked better, and we were able to shoot a lot quicker.

Without shooting as part of a school, there's all sorts of insurances you'll need, on top of everything everyone else has mentioned (i.e. stunties, car hire etc.). We needed insurance for our hero car for that short - it was required for two days and all it had to do was drive. The insurance cost ~$500 on top of the ~$400 car hire. Put them in stunts and your premium is going to go up exponentially (not to mention the double hire of the car etc.)
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Point taken. So what would be a good substitute car-chase for a first film. It probably will have to happen on some back roads during Church, but what are some good cheap ways of going about a chase involving 2 cars while making it feel real and exciting. Since the shotgun thing might need professionals and lots of money, what's a good way for the chasing car (antagonist) to lose sight of the protagonist's car? (without crashing or totaling the antagonist's car)

Thanks guys :)
 
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H F S
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Rick_Leuce said:
I was wondering if anyone here has ever tried to do a car chase for an indie film and if they had any advice. The one I was planning on doing is sort of "Bullitt Style", it would happed on some back roads then finish on an interstate. I'm not totaling any cars, just busting a couple bumpers and setting up an effect that looks like the radiator is cracked and spewing from under the hood.
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Trash the interstate idea. Getting the clearance to clear out an interstate would be EXPENSIVE. Far more than your budget. Even if you could, you'd have to create fake traffic. There are all sorts of problems you could run into. You're taking risks, being unsafe, and it would be incredibly difficult and frustrating. What you should do is invest that money elsewhere. Perhaps you should rewrite the script with a different type of car sequence.... perhaps one that doesn't require shutting down interstates and busting some bumpers. You can use a combination of interesting camera techniques, go-pro/small camera mounts in interesting places, skillfully post sound work, subtle VFX/SFX, and legal acquiring of suitable locations.

Rick_Leuce said:
Of course not. Which is exactly why I'm doing something that hasn't been done before. It will be a 100% realistic, no CGI, no Fast & Furious inconsistencies, pure, plausibly-set car chase. It will obey the laws of physics and science.
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If movies obeyed laws of science and were purely realistic, audiences would be scratching their heads, laughing, or people would be thrown off, or the pacing of the film would be clunky.

The highway chase will feature a Thunderbird, a used police Dodge Charger, and a real shotgun with rubber bullets. The passenger of the Dodge will shoot through the Thunderbird's rear bumper and puncture a fake gas tank filled with colored water. I will make sure there is some sort of "plate" to protect the Thunderbird's real gas tank.
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No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.


DO NOT! I repeat, DO NOT do that! This is how filmmakers get killed. Consider everything that could go wrong. EVERYTHING.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy's_law

Use CGI. use CGI! USE CGI! DOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT try to do that. Use CGI. Trust me on this one.

If you are going to do it, you better not go guerilla. Get the proper legal work, contracts, stunt drivers, stunt coordinators, proper gear, insurance, car with protective plate, SFX coordinators, etc.

Rick_Leuce said:
The film will feature one cruising scene, one brief police chase (no damage), and a car chase between the protagonist and the antagonist (damage to both cars).

The police chase will be largely "slow speed" (only driving 5-10 MPH over speed limit)

I'm not going to start with the highway chase, but it probably will consume most of the movie's budget as I'll need to hire "fake traffic" to weave between. It will also require a fake custom-fit "gas tank", a fake "radiator" that can be remote controlled to spew steam, a fake remote-controlled airbag that looks convincing but doesn't hurt the driver and can be reused several times, and a few spare front bumpers for the Dodge and a few spare rear bumpers for the Thunderbird.
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This all makes me want to cry. The statement about slow speed is absurd. With clever camera work and editing tricks, you can make someone driving 10MPH look like they are driving 90MPH. In Terrence Malick's commentary for The New World, he explains how shaky cam and awesome Foley + sound design made the walking/jogging actor look like he was running as fast as he possibly could. The gas tank, radiator, airbag, and bumpers will add up to the budget you already have set-aside for the scene.

Rick_Leuce said:
It's not that bad is it? :hmm:
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It's atrocious. Rethink & start from scratch.

Rick_Leuce said:
Sorry, I'm new here. Is "BTS" a filming term of some sort?

Thanks
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Behind the scenes.

Rick_Leuce said:
I don't know how much the whole 90-minute(ish) movie will cost, but I figure that the car chase alone (excluding the materials I have now) will cost me 15-20k for that chase alone (I'm super frugal and patient). However, 10-15k of the resources I will use in that chase (cop cars, special cameras, etc.) could be re-used in future film projects and sequels (like roll-bars and whatnot).
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Trust me, that money will be eaten up quickly. Invest that money into catering, transportation, locations, gear rentals, accommodation for cast & crew, as well as post production work adds up QUICKLY. Those things that I just listed eat up your budget fast.

The chase was also meant to be in-tune (or synchronized) to the music of Linkin Park: "New Divide"
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http://ymuchomas.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/high-school-talk-about-self.gif

So it seems to be that the advice I'm getting is to NOT do this chase for my first movie, which is probably a good idea.
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No, chases are awesome. Just as long as they don't interrupt the flow of a story or go over your budget and will make your life a living H#LL!
 
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Thank you for your consideration. Ok, I'll start from scratch. I need some tips on how to make a car chase with no CGI (only special effects) that is legal and under budget. It needs to be plausible, realistic, interesting, exciting, and fulfilling.

It doesn't need to be perfect, just satisfactory in the realm of first attempts at an indie.

I will do small practice vids first, but as an actual chase for an indie movie, what's a good idea?

I'll do that dangerous, expensive scene at another time.
 
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Rick_Leuce said:
Point taken. So what would be a good substitute car-chase for a first film.
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Are you kidding?

What you really want is to build up excitement and/or tension. That's up to you and the story you want to tell. There's the basic duel/shootout, a fight with or without all sorts of weapons, the hidden bomb, the good guy(s) holed up with bad guys all around, the bad guy(s) holed up with hostages, and a dozen other similar scenarios. Just start going through the list of your favorite action/adventure films for ideas.


The whole idea is to create something that will engage and interest your audience within your budget.


Preproduce your project, then preproduce some more.

I am currently involved in the pre-preproduction of what should be a pretty nice project (yes, I've got the gig). Pre-preproduction? Yup. The writer of the film has already put in about $10,000. The script has been through two different "script doctors" and an active line producer/UPM has already been retained in addition to a legal beagle. They (the writer and producer) are currently contacting potential department heads (which is how I got involved - the writer and I go back 40+ years), contacting various state film commissions about tax breaks/credits, potential budgets (I gave a range of audio post budgets from $50k to $250k, for example), etc. They've been watching lots of indie films in their search for actors, directors and DPs; the concept here is to retain very talented folks who have done some really nice work but haven't hit it big, yet.

Stage Two will be locking down the department heads and lead actors. The idea is to have lots of very solid resumés on both sides of the camera to attract investors, along with a complete budget breakdown - including post and marketing. (An aside; the writer is a long-time advertising/marketing professional, so the funding drive will be very professionally done. Besides knowing what he is doing in that regard he has LOTS of media contacts as well as wealthy relatives and all their friends.)

The very tentative budget now stands at around $750,000. How did they get there? $20,000 for preproduction, $300,000 for production, $200,000 for post, $150,000 for marketing. That's $670,000; add 10% ($67,000) as an emergency fund (that brings it up to $737,000) and round up.
 
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Rick_Leuce said:
Ok, I'll start from scratch. I need some tips on how to make a car chase with no CGI (only special effects) that is legal and under budget. It needs to be plausible, realistic, interesting, exciting, and fulfilling.
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Personally, car chases bore the coherence right out of me.
So I advise you have one of our fellow forum members suggest a few recent and well appreciated theatrical car chases.
Pick one or two. Analyze what, when, and how the sequence was shot (distances, angles, and movement). And recreate it.

I just looked at google maps and you have a big beautiful Hwy 53 west of you with just enough curves in the road to make it interesting and plenty of scenic pastures and forests about.
(I spent plenty of time backpacking through the Cohutta Wilderness, almost bought that little defunct train station in Mineral Bluff a couple decades ago, and other useless trivia. I know the terrain and area.)

If your skill level can handle it and you wanna make your audience puke shoot a twisty turny chase along Hwy 52 between Elijay and Chatsworth.


All you need to begin with is two vehicles, two drivers, I'll assume you're behind the camera, and a motivating reason why one character is chasing another.


And just fer schitzengiggles, what do you plan on doing with your 90min chase film?
Who, where is anyone going to see this?
 
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Rick_Leuce said:
Point taken. So what would be a good substitute car-chase for a first film.
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My advice? Learn to crawl before you attempt to run a marathon. Literally no-one's first film was ever great, and very few were even good. Even Directors whose 'debut features' are incredible have a few failed/terrible shorts under their belt.

My suggestion would be to keep dreaming - keep planning the movie with the car chase, but put it on the backburner. Get some experience in the industry, direct a few smaller-scale shorts, and maybe even a smaller scale feature.

Then, you can make your car-chase film. When you have the experience to do so. The contacts, friends and knowledge that can help you make it safe, as well as awesome. The funding to do it all properly.

There's no shame in putting a film on the backburner until you're in a better position to get it made properly. If you start smaller, and work your way up to it, there's a good chance that the film you want to make (or end up making) could do great things for your career.

If you careen ahead anyway and bumble around about it with 0 knowledge or experience, there's a good chance that this film could be your (or other's) last - whether thats because of reputation or injuries/death.
 
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