Shooting in a Mall - How tha F*$@?! HELLPPPP

Michael Rogers

Michael Rogers

Hey Guys (& possible gals),

I'm beginning work on my senior thesis film, and trying to find a mall to shoot in. I'm having terrible luck! I'm in the Kansas City area. I've tried live malls, dead malls, and they have all said no so far. Even when I offered getting insurance and small location fees. :rolleyes:

So...

Any helpful tips or bright ideas?

Is there a way I could fake it? :huh:

Here is a basic breakdown of the scene

Mall Santa - kids are lined up to see him. kids on Santa's lap. Santa is sick of this job. He stands and removes the beard and wig/hat yelling to the crowd that Santa isn't real. Crowd begins freaking out. Then there is a small dialogue scene between the Mall Santa and a child/child's mother.

(I plan to fabricate my own Santa Set)
 
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Michael Rogers said:
Is there a way I could fake it? :huh:
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Ahhh, the challenges of film student. Here's where I get to use the line I
always hated...

When I was your age....

Yes, there are ways to fake it. Making movies is all about faking it. We low
budget filmmakers are constantly forced to fake it. Faking it was what drew
me into filmmaking in the first place and why I spend the first 12 years
of my career in special efx. You're a film student. This is where you learn
how to fake it.

I know, you don't want to hear an old man tell you to learn, you want someone
to show you. And someone here will. But I just had to get that out. Faking it
is what makes us filmmakers. I bet you have the talent and ingenuity to figure
it out.
 
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I figure there has got to be a way I could fake it.

I mean, I know I could easily build flats, make fake walls, etc... But that wouldn't be very cost effective. Also, in terms of space - malls are big, open spaces where Santa sets go...

So how do I fake it, for cheap, but still look stellar? (age-old question, right? :P)
 
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You could set the scene inside a toy store inside the mall.. guerrilla a few establishing shots maybe some interiors of your characters walking in a mall.. then cut to the interior of the toy store..
 
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wheatgrinder said:
You could set the scene inside a toy store inside the mall.. guerrilla a few establishing shots maybe some interiors of your characters walking in a mall.. then cut to the interior of the toy store..
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That was going to be my suggestion. Guerrilla some shots around a local mall, then incorporate your Santa set. I bet it would work out for you.
 
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When do you need this scene by? If it could wait, what I would do is go to a mall a few weeks before Christmas, when there is a Santa with a line of kids. Get some wide establishing shots of the line, and then shoot your Santa actor later, in close-up.
 
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Yeah, why not just go Guerilla-Style? You can dub the audio later, and if you know anyone that works in the mall, you have insider advantages. Perhaps they'd be willing to participate in the shoot when no managers or customers are around. What kind of camera do you have, because if it's something small like a DSLR, you can just pretend you're dicking around with your photo-camera.
 
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something like that you dont realy even need a GS. Keep you tight shots tight, inside the santa set.
Keep you wide shots locked down. without any movement outside the set..

When you go to the mall, just burrow a nephew and be a nerdy dad.. \ uncle..
 
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