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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Rick_Leuce said:
Please keep the comments, opinions, facts, suggestions, and ideas coming. I'm really excited. ;)
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OK

Rick_Leuce said:
I will make sure there is some sort of "plate" to protect the Thunderbird's real gas tank.
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1. Make sure it's a dinner plate rather than a salad or bread plate. This should reduce your chances of a catastrophic accident considerably, say to 50/50 or so.

2. Ideally you'd want full emergency services present. Of course fully equipped fire and paramedic crews are extremely expensive, a "lo budget indie" solution would be to replace all these expensively equipped personnel with a single, relatively cheap coroner. Real hardcore no budget indie would be to paint an old station-wagon black, get a few body bags and do it yourself. Hey, they're dead already, it only needs to be "good enuf".

3. Wannabe actors are a dime a dozen, so you can afford to burn through quite a few of them before it starts to cause any serious budgetary concerns. However, I would advise that you have a contingency in your budget, enough to cover a one way air fare, preferably to a country without an extradition treaty with the US.

4. Along the same lines as #3, you need to carefully plan where to shoot your scene. For example, somewhere within easy reach of an international airport would be a good idea. Maybe rayw or someone else with knowledge of the area can suggest a suitable location? This is another example of why pre-production planning is sooo important!

Anyway, hope this was useful? :)

G
 
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Hartsfield Airport. :D

HJAIA_Map.jpg


When'd that "Jackson" part get tacked on?
(Been a while since I lived there.)

5. Make sure to attach GoPro cameras to everything. They're the indie industry rave these days.

6. Collect authentic hi-quality audio only with on-camera microphones. (G, I'm surprises you didn't suggest this. Almost disappointed.)

7. Include children somehow in the high-speed chase to increase drama. They can be hapless pedestrians, hapless targets, passengers, prisoners, or even drivers. And outfit each child with a GoPro camera, as well.

8. Have law enforcement shut down the roads you're shooting on, but for God's sakes DON'T tell them you'll be firing any kind of firearm. So you better direct them to stand out of earshot about a hundred yards away.

http://thumbpress.com/100-things-i-learned-from-watching-movies/
 
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rayw said:
6. Collect authentic hi-quality audio only with on-camera microphones. (G, I'm surprises you didn't suggest this. Almost disappointed.)
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I did consider it but in this particular case I thought it would be overkill (excuse the pun) as the OP appears to have bigger fish to fry (excuse the pun again). On the other hand, as a professional sound designer, I would pay good money for some really authentic screams (and SFX!) of people trapped in a burning/exploding car. Oh well, I suppose that's what ADR and Foley Artists are for?

G
 
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Keep the chase simple:

first car drives away.
Second car follows.

They are a match in speed. So no bumping, cutting off, hitting.
When they leave town in the second car:
"Where are they going?"

On the highway the not-driver wants to use a shotgun. The driver says:
"are you stupid? You'll only use ammonition.
You can't even hit a stopped bus from 3 feet."

The cars drive on.

First car:
"We can't shake them here. Why did you choose a highway with no intersections! Idiot!!!"

In the first car gas starts to run out slowly.

But in the second car as well.
The second car stops first: completely out of gas. "Sh!t!!!"

Then they see the first car slowdown as well: out of gas.

In the first car they were happy to shake the 2nd car, but now they are stranded as well...

The man with the gun gets out of the 2nd car to run to the other car.
The driver says: "Wait!" but follows him as he doesn't listen.

In the first car: "There is a jerrycan in the trunk! Quick!"

Now you can choose: how much time do they have to fill the gastank before they get shot at?
Do they drive away while the man with the gun stops running and hisdriver catches up to tell him they have a jerrycan as well? (A bit stupid.)
Does the driver refill while the gunner runs and does he pick him up at the moment he throws his gun to the ground in anger because the first car gets away?

OR:
Does the first car drive away halfway the refill: dropping the jerrycan when they are shot at: leaving some fuel for the second car?

OR: does nothing happen and they both drive to the next 'stop' in the script? :P

--------------
just some ideas.

But I have the feeling the script is an excuse to make your carchase? :P
 
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WalterB - Story, RayW - Screenplay

Code: 
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY

At town's edge a red car drives away, blue car follows.

They are a match in speed, no bumps, cut-offs, or hits.

INT. BLUE CAR - DAY

NEIL, 20, country boy, drives while DICK, 20, clodhopper, rides 
shotgun with a shotgun.

			NEIL
		Where are they going?

Dick, raises the shotgun. 

			NEIL
		Dick, are you stupid? You'll 
		only use ammunition. You can't 
		even hit a stopped bus from 
		three feet.

The cars drive on.

INT. RED CAR - DAY

BOB, 20, bumpkin, drives while MIKE, 20, yokel, fiddles with an 
antique paper map.

The gas light turns on as the needle drops.

			BOB
		We could shake them here. But 
		you chose a country road 
		with no gas stations, idiot!

INT. BLUE CAR - DAY

The gas light turns on as the needle drops.

The engine grinds out of gas, the car stops. 

			NEIL
		Sh!t!

INT. RED CAR - DAY

Bob and Mike are happy to shake them, but their engine also grinds out 
of gas, their car stops.

INT. BLUE CAR - DAY

Dick gets out with the shotgun, runs towards the red car.

			NEIL
		Wait!

But Dick doesn't and Neil follows him.

INT. RED CAR - DAY

			BOB
		There is a jerrycan in 
		the trunk! Quick!
							END
What happens next?
 
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rayw said:
Code: 
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY

At town's edge a red car drives away, blue car follows.

They are a match in speed, no bumps, cut-offs, or hits.

INT. BLUE CAR - DAY

NEIL, 20, country boy, drives while DICK, 20, clodhopper, rides 
shotgun with a shotgun.

			NEIL
		Where are they going?

Dick, raises the shotgun. 

			NEIL
		Dick, are you stupid? You'll 
		only use ammunition. You can't 
		even hit a stopped bus from 
		three feet.

The cars drive on.

INT. RED CAR - DAY

BOB, 20, bumpkin, drives while MIKE, 20, yokel, fiddles with an 
antique paper map.

The gas light turns on as the needle drops.

			BOB
		We could shake them here. But 
		you chose a country road 
		with no gas stations, idiot!

INT. BLUE CAR - DAY

The gas light turns on as the needle drops.

The engine grinds out of gas, the car stops. 

			NEIL
		Sh!t!

INT. RED CAR - DAY

Bob and Mike are happy to shake them, but their engine also grinds out 
of gas, their car stops.

INT. BLUE CAR - DAY

Dick gets out with the shotgun, runs towards the red car.

			NEIL
		Wait!

But Dick doesn't and Neil follows him.

INT. RED CAR - DAY

			BOB
		There is a jerrycan in 
		the trunk! Quick!
							END
What happens next?
Click to expand...

Nice :)
 
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I'm convinced that I should wait to try this scene till I'm more experienced. The way the chase is supposed to end is when the protagonist's car's gas tank is punctured (he thinks the antagonist is aiming at his tires, not his fuel tank) so the protagonist waits until the antagonist's car is directly behind him, then slams on his brakes. The antagonist's car "hits" just hard enough to "crack his radiator" and "deploy his airbags". The antagonist pulls over immediately but the protagonist drives a few miles further before he realizes that his fuel level had been dropping. He parks it behind a service station then hails a cab.

Definitely not ready for this, I might hold onto it for later and substitute this action scene for a more affordable and manageable one. I might just have the antagonist follow the protagonist to his destination and they brawl it out or something. Still want to do a small police chase, but it can happen on a back road going 30-40 mph.
 
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I feel like I should let you in on the overall plot of the story, and not just an aspect I'm deciding to forgo for now.

The movie is basically about a homeless guy (who lives in one of those storage pods) who is socially awkward because he has largely kept to himself his entire life and is now trying to make something of himself. His perspective of the world is a little off, so he keeps doing "the right thing for the wrong reasons" and vice versa. The protagonist works at a convenience store, which is one day robbed and a couple people including a police officer were killed. Wanting to get revenge and bring the city's crime rate down, he becomes a police officer. While there, he does his job fine except that he secretly obsesses over trying to find the gang responsible for the store shooting. When the police believe that they found the group responsible for the killing, the protagonist has reason to believe that the group that is arrested is not the group that was responsible for his case.

The protagonist later on finds out that some of the police officers at the station he works at are dirty and were involved somehow. The dirty cops had covered their tracks and framed the crime on some petty thieves who were being tried for murder. You later on find out that the dirty cops were in charge of making sure that the rest of the police never found out about a major drug trafficking operation happening in that city. When a fellow police officer accidentally walked in on the dirty cops at the convenience store and saw something that made him suspicious, the dirty cops killed the good cop and some other people at the store at the time. They also robbed the cashier box and took out the cameras to look like a robbery.

Once the dirty cops suspect the protagonist is onto them, they plot to kill him and make it look like an accident.

Or something like that. It's a little dark for my taste, I'm trying to see what I can change around to keep it suspenseful and realistic. I also need a couple action scenes, because the store shooting happened when the protagonist wasn't there, he goes to the store and there's police surrounding it and investigating. This premise isn't too dissimilar from "Beverly Hills Cop".
 
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Shelve that for another time.

Write a similar short story of a guy robbing a gas station, then film it.

Might be both easier than the above story outline and more difficult to bag and tag than you think.
 
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