Filming at a Franchise

sfoster

sfoster

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There is a frozen yogurt shop nearby and I'm really friendly with the owners.
I want to ask them about filming a small scene the the shop, but I am concerned since they are only a franchise and do not own the brand name.

For example if they owned one mcdonalds, would I be allowed to include the mcdonalds logo and everything in my short film.. Somehow i think not?

If I cannot, how difficult is it to remove the logo in post? There are these big colored stars with the name in the middle, a simple fill with a low tolerance would do the trick in a photo editing program.

Do I have to film in a certain restricted way? i.e. stable tripod shot without anyone moving in front of the logo section?

I haven't yet invested in a real editing program like fcp so i can't just open it up and tinker around.
 
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if I had some stickers that were all the same, and looked like a fake company.. then i could cover up all the little ones.

but how can i be sure they wouldn't leave an ugly residue behind?
I can't mess up the store
 
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I'm not sure what kind of scene you'd be filming there, but perhaps you could hang a banner in the background that says something like "grand opening" (or something along those lines) to cover up a bulk of the logos? I dunno, just my random idea.
 
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It's a simple dialogue scene inside. Grand opening banner is a nice idea.

NickysFX said:
If it's just Youtube nobody is going to care anyways. Are you getting money out of the film?
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No money out of the film, but I am concerned the owners of the franchise will deny me permission. They might have their own concerns and doubts so I want to be as prepared as possible to allay their fears of legal trouble.
 
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The other thing you could do is contact head office and simply ask if you could use their logos in your film - if they say 'no,' you're no worse off than you are now. If they say yes, then that's your problem solved.
 
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mussonman said:
It doesn't seem you bothered to search google for methods first.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how...ost+production&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

That might help.


As for shooting with a stable shot or with actors moving in front, google "motion tracking" and "rotoscoping"
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The point is, doing it in post is neither quick nor easy for a beginner - and even for the seasoned pro who might find it easy, certainly not quick.
It's easier and quicker to replace the logos with production design (and often give a better result)
 
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Also, depending on what camera/lenses you use, you may not even need to do it in post. With the right depth of field, you may be able to blur any logos during shooting.
 
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IMO you're already spending too much time on this location for a small scene, never mind what it'll cost you in time during production and post. It's not a "free" location at all. Find another place to shoot it.

Good luck.
 
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GuerrillaAngel said:
IMO you're already spending too much time on this location for a small scene, never mind what it'll cost you in time during production and post. It's not a "free" location at all. Find another place to shoot it.

Good luck.
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Keep in mind this is my first short and it's only 3 pages.
The small scene is 1/4 of my whole film.

It's tough to just use a store. Right now I have more time than money, so it's a fair tradeoff if I have to post a couple lost dog flyers over their logos and whatnot.


jax_rox said:
The point is, doing it in post is neither quick nor easy for a beginner - and even for the seasoned pro who might find it easy, certainly not quick.
It's easier and quicker to replace the logos with production design (and often give a better result)
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is the kind of insight that is hard to gleam from a google search
 
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Great news!!
I talked to the owner tonight (and brought a gift with me :) ) and he said I can film at his store. Not only that, but he said he's under an older contract of the company and he's not technically a franchise!! he has all rights to use the logo and name, I don't have to do a single thing to prepare!!

on top of that, the store has like 12 chinese lanterns providing the light inside, it's awesome.
 
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