Filming permit question

S

sonicfan287

Hi, Im new here and I might not be as professional as some of you (actually probably not most of you). My films are on youtube.com/sonicfan287 if anyone's interested but now that Im done plugging myself, I have a question about filming permits.

My biggest problem making movies so far hasnt been so much that my camera is average at best or even finding a cast. I have those things, but my problem is location, plain and simple. Im tired of filming movies at my house or at public parks because if I try to film somewhere else Im asked to leave. Basically my latest project is a secret agent parody movie, but I want it to be taken seriously, which means ideally, Id like to film some scenes at my public beach and i need a big building that could serve as a business for my fictional villain, stuff like that. I researched film permits for my area (I live in Connecticut) and in addition to requiring liability insurance, it also only appears that people with high reputations in film making or fully staffed camera crews are eligible for permits. Is there anyone else in my situation, who just wants to make a decent youtube video without breaking the bank who's trying to get a permit, and how did you get around it (if you did). If it helps at all, I dont plan to film in public cities or anywhere where anyone will be filmed besides the people who've agreed to be in the movie.

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
im definately going to need shots of guns firing. is it safe for my camera to be positioned in front of it? is there any chance of a projectile firing? or is the concern the gas and powder debris?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
PleaseDraftMe said:
just trying to learn some info before i go out and hire a liscensed pyrotechnician. its not like i went out last night and shot blanks at people.
Click to expand...
I hear ya. I just feel the need to stress safety when it comes to real guns, even if you're familiar with real guns. There are rarely used in film, and when they are, they are never pointed at anyone. There are too many dangers.

They are as loud as real guns, so you could blow someone's ear drum out. You could get burns. You could actually fire a projectile.

Non-guns are prop replicas that make a flash and smoke. The sound is added in post. You won't see cartridges eject though, if that matters. You could use revolvers, or just add CGI in post, or fake somehow (ting, ting sound). These are the safe alternative and what are commonly used in film.

Search "non-guns" and check them out.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Dear Friends:
I would like to convey a story about what can happen to you without a permit, that I witnessed, although this has never happened to me, on any of my productions, because I always get the permits, insurance, and any releases need before I consider going on location. I am primarily a producer, if you check my web site, www.amburlesk.com, your may read my biography, but I also work as a writer, director, and actor. In this particular case, I was acting and the Director/Filmmaker/Producer/writer was making a one hour MOW. It was his first one and he wanted a Marina scene that overlooked the Blue Pacific Ocean. So he looked around and found one he liked. He did not do his homework. There are restrictions on this Marina because it is a very upscale and exclusive area. No film shooting permitted on Sundays, Shooting can only be done during the hours of Nine A.M. to Four P.M. and can not impede the local traffic, written permission has to be obtained by the Harbor Master, and a city and County Permit must be obtained prior to shooting. The marina must be placed on the $2,000,000.00 dollar liability insurance policy. You all get the picture by now but he didn't back then. He rented the equipment and on the day of the shoot, we all arrived to base camp. Breakfast consisted of the Starbuck's Specials and some breakfast burritos from Carl's Jr... A makeup/wardrobe trailer was parked in the public driveway boat ramp area, and our grip truck was sitting on public parking closest the area of the marina where we we're going to shoot. At eight thirty a.m. the P.A. came for us to go to set. So, there we were, all gathered on the set, the director blocking the shot again, when the Harbor Master came and wanted to see the permits. Of course, they did not exist. He shrugged his shoulder's and left. The director sighed and thought the Harbor Master had given him a pass to shoot. Foolish assumption. The Harbor Master called the local police, who came down and asked again for the permits. Again they could not appear because they did not exist. The police then confiscated all the equipment and the Makeup trailer and the grip truck plus issued a trespassing ticket. By the time it had gotten all straightened out, including getting the permits, insurance, written permission, paying parking fees, legal fees, equipment rental fees for more days and the rental penalties for returning the equipment late, and salaries for everybody, the budget for the shoot had doubled, the production scheduler was forced to use some of the time scheduled for post, in order to meet the demands of the Show-runner at the network, and the weather had turned from sunny california to windy and cloudy with a chance of rain. This was the worst running without a permit incident, I have ever seen but I have had several friends in recent months that have been given tickets in places, we never need to have permits before. The moral of the story, get the permits, in most places it is simple and less of a headache than the alternative. In one case, I know of the city is so enamored with filmmakers, they will throw in police and fire for free, get you discounts at the local hotels, provide local catering at costs that you can not beat and it is arrange all from city hall. Use a few of there people for extras and they will bend over backwards to make sure you have no problems. I hope this bit of knowledge helps you. Good luck and may your first movie be a masculine movie, er be a successful movie. Yeah that is what I meant to say. :)

We now use non-guns, that have moving parts, exclusively and then take that work to CGI at post. Its cleaner and safer and then guns themselves cost only a fraction of working props. I would suggest you get a copy of L.A.411 or go to the web site www.la411.com to find a Gunmaster.
Break a leg but don't shoot anybody. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Great info in this thread.

It's such a toss up if you need a permit or not on private property. I'm looking to shoot a short next month and have been looking for a parking garage. I have a friend who's acting in my film who works at an elementary school. They have an underground parking garage I want to use, and my friend spoke with the principal about shooting there over a weekend and said we'd only have to pay the security guard to stay late, depending on how the shoot goes. But there's a nasty loud generator down there we want to turn off and she mentioned speaking with the plant manager.

I'm going to speak with her next week and ask her to sign a location agreement. I'm trying to avoid the permit, being I can't afford insurance. Any suggestions or things I should be prepared to ask or answer?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top