Location Scouting

Will Vincent

Will Vincent

If you've done location scouting, I'm interested in hearing about your process.


What sorts of things do you do when location scouting?

Are there any particular tools you use that you find particularly helpful?

What kind of assets do you assemble throughout the location scouting process? (photos, releases, etc)
 
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No surprise from me, but I bring a recorder and a mic. I don't need it, but clients do not hear a location the same way that I do. Most filmmakers are visually oriented and have never been trained to listen. When I play back the location recording at my studio the client finally hears all of the things I heard; this is the "forced sonic perspective" that a mic gives you.
 
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I always check for restrooms, amount of power plugs, ask about air traffic, car traffick, how noisy neighbors, take a note of flooring to make a desicion about shoes. Also windows for lighting, a color in general. Parking (paid or free). If I'm shooting that has a potential for danger (stunts, action scenes), I note a location of a hospital.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
No surprise from me, but I bring a recorder and a mic. I don't need it, but clients do not hear a location the same way that I do. Most filmmakers are visually oriented and have never been trained to listen. When I play back the location recording at my studio the client finally hears all of the things I heard; this is the "forced sonic perspective" that a mic gives you.
Click to expand...

Wow. Never thought of that. I'm going to bring an audio recorder the next time I go looking for a location.

Thank you so much. You've probably saved me from hours and hours of ADR.
 
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Also pay attention to the neighborhood, schedules, time of year, etc.

That really nice quiet backyard is next to a public park - but they play little league baseball in the spring and Pop Warner football in the fall Saturday and Sunday mornings.

A very nice quiet rooftop - until the AC units go on in the spring.

A very lovely, quiet forest clearing - that will have intense locusts during the day and frantic crickets as the weather warms up.

Traffic patterns - rush hours are very busy, the rest of the day is fairly quiet; weekends are moderate all day.

Airport nearby? Trains? Highways? Possible construction?

Think sonically!!!!!!!!!
 
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Where I was filming recently the cicadas are crazy loud as soon as the sun goes down.. and the crickets are pretty noisy all day every day..

Not sure what to do about those crickets.. we positioned the mic away from the forest as best we could but you can definitely hear them throughout the dialogue
 
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Lots of good advice already. Off the top of my head:

- Scouting data sheet (generic kind from the web)
- iPhone app that shows the sun's position in the sky throughout the shooting date (for shadows & shooting direction). This was VERY helpful. We based our shooting order around the sun's position.
- Compass.
- Draw a quick site map (indicate North).
- Notes on anything that could be a safety issue.
- Measuring tapes (15' & 100') (measure space, door widths, ceiling height).
- Digital camera (duh!)
- Photos of the electrical panel.
- Quick notes on available outlets.
- Circuit tester to confirm which outlets are working.
- Local water, electrical & toilet services.
- Crew Parking.
- Cast & Crew staging area that won't be in the way of the shoot.
- Potential places to stage a generator.
- I'm a VFX dork so I also shoot my grey sphere & chrome ball as ref.
 
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My biggest lesson in location scouting is to visit the location at the same time of day you plan to shoot. If you don't do this at the time of scouting, at least do it before production. Friends and I visited a beautiful house at night for a short film. The movie was set at night but we were shooting in the day. Guess what we did not realize by not visiting the house in the day? The place was covered in windows. Big windows and little cutesie windows way high up. We got way behind schedule on Day 1 (3 day shoot) ND'ing all the windows which was not in the schedule. Luckily the owners let us leave it up for the following two days despite the short notice.
 
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In London, I check local timetables for events and engineering works. Recently shot a short and a small section was in Rooney's boxing gym.

First time I went there, it was as quiet as could be - nicely tucked away under some arches, parking, water, toilets, security (who's going to break into a boxing gym to steal stuff), electricity and easily accessible. I strolled away feeling rather smug with myself at discovering such a good location and was wondering why more crews didn't use it as it was so short-film friendly.

Day of the shoot turn up, lights, cameras, sound, markit and this huge rumble comes through, heavy enough that everything's shaking. Turns out the day I scouted it, there were engineering works meaning all the trains had been cancelled whereas on the day of the shoot we had trains every 2 minutes. And the trains were directly above the boxing gym so the vibrations were enough to shake the cameras. Apologies to the very, very, very patient sound recordist who is on IT...

He did a great job albeit with a huge amount of eye-rolling...
 
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Location Scouts

I have a friend who is a location scout and she said that the easiest way to look for film location is to search it online. Especially if she's busy with all those tasks at hand or if she's looking for those locations that are too far from where they are presently at. By means of online searching, she can easily take a glimpse of the locations the film requires. One of the locations she have searched is http://5401olympic.com, a house location that is packed with film-friendly features. There are so many sites which offers an easy access in finding film locations. You don't need to go places to places just to inquire, as it takes time,all you have to do is search. Although a walk-through is also needed to see these places.
 
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Cycling around with a camera is my favourite way, but it limits my action radius.
Google maps and streetview are helpful as well, although there is a risk the situation has changed if you don't check it in reality.
A sul calculator to know the position of the sun when you will be shooting is also invaluable.
 
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