Tips for filming in public

USNFilms

USNFilms

Well saturday is my first shoot that I will be doing in a decently populated area. I'll be filming a scene from my zombie short film, "The Biohazard", and it will take place on a walking bridge across a river that connects two towns. a person walks across the bridge about every 5 minutes, and right on the otherside of the bridge are a lot of cars that are constantly driving.

Since it's a zombie movie, i can't really have random people walking around in my shot nor cars driving around, as it's a post apocalyptic scenario. I already know I need to keep my shots tight to avoid cars and possible bystanders. are there any other things I can do to get in, film, and get out as fast as possible without much stress from the general public? any advice from personal experience? thanks
 
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Shoot very early. Setup at before sunrise if you need, walk thru a day before w/o makeup. AND YES..see if you need permission. At least notify the cops. People do strange things when you have people in makeup and covered w/ fake blood
 
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Get there at 4.30.
Start shooting as soon as you have enough light. You'll find almost no people, and if you do, they won't be many, so you can have someone to tell them that you are try to shoot something for "film school" and ask them to wait a second for you to get your shot. Let them go through, and keep doing this till you have every shot you need.
 
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Early Saturday or Sunday morning.

Consider having anyone not on camera to be off camera to let passersby that there's people making a video short (sounds less pretentious than "making a film", even though that's what you're doing) up ahead.

Use cell phone or antique walkie-talkies, if you got 'em, for headzups when rolling.
(Somehow, "when SanDisking" doesn't sound cool or right).
 
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Hide your camera inside a vehicle. If no one can see the camera no one will know what's up. Keep your crew to a minimum, or at least don't have them all stand around in one spot.

As for permits, you're in Maine and your camera is in a van! As soon as the law shows up the van can just drive away. Who needs permits? Not me! :)

Good luck.
 
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It's worth looking up the number to your city's film commission, or the Maine Film Commission if your city doesn't have one. A lot of cities let you shoot without a permit as long as you don't block traffic (pedestrian and vehicular traffic). Sometimes that means no tripods on the sidewalk. That's when a tripod in a pickup or vehicle (as has been said) is handy.

If that's the case, show up early and every so often if someone walks by, just stop for 30 seconds then continue. We did that for our park/bridge scene in Noble. We actually set up a dolly and everything, and every 10-12 minutes someone would walk by and we'd smile and wave and keep going. The police did bug us when shootng the outdoor cafe bit. We had the restaraunt's permission but the officer was wary of us being on the sidewalk next to it. My awesome ADhandled it while I oversaw setup, explained that the law said we could be there, this was news to the officer so he had to call and check haha. Sure enough, we were fine, he just asked us to move our 20ft of dolly track off the public sidewalk and into the cafe ha.

Remember, public places belong to everyone and police exist to help. It's easy as a filmmaker to think of them as the guys stopping production, but when you do it right (which is often cheap or free) they're on your side.
 
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Guerrilla tip - no tripods or light stands.

If you're totally handheld with everything, in most cities, no permit is needed. Just think about how many tourists are walking around with camcorders, and how many news crews are on the scene, etc. Camera, lights, reflectors... everything must be handheld. If it's touching the ground, it is a production.
 
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Yeeah be careful, here in England a whole section of motorway got shut down because a "gunman" was seen on a bridge above the motorway several times. Turns out it was local students making a film, but because the right people weren't told (For us it's Kent Film Office) people didn't know, so when they got the call they assumed the worst.

Just have to use your common sense
 
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I would have gotten permission from the city. Outside of major cities it's usually actually not that hard.

Good advice on starting early. I shot my street exteriors in my last film starting at 8:00 AM on Sunday morning in a small town, had virtually no problems, and I had a screaming girl getting her shirt ripped off.
 
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indietalk said:
Guerrilla tip - no tripods or light stands.

If you're totally handheld with everything, in most cities, no permit is needed. Just think about how many tourists are walking around with camcorders, and how many news crews are on the scene, etc. Camera, lights, reflectors... everything must be handheld. If it's touching the ground, it is a production.
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Really? So this is why a lot of short filmmakers choose to do the handheld thing? Cause of budget? I couldn't find a law in the lawbooks, saying that a tripod makes all the legal difference, but if that's the case... But wouldn't hand held be criticized, if the short was submitted to festivals, or whatever you are planning on doing with it?
 
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harmonica44 said:
Really? So this is why a lot of short filmmakers choose to do the handheld thing? Cause of budget? I couldn't find a law in the lawbooks, saying that a tripod makes all the legal difference, but if that's the case... But wouldn't hand held be criticized, if the short was submitted to festivals, or whatever you are planning on doing with it?
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You can always use a steadicam? thats still concidered "handheld" and i think looks the best. You can get one for a 5-6lb camera/dslr on ebay for about 100usd.
 
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brettzdamn said:
You can always use a steadicam? thats still concidered "handheld" and i think looks the best. You can get one for a 5-6lb camera/dslr on ebay for about 100usd.
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A "steadicam" that any of us can afford is still pretty shaky unless you're just standing there. It basically looks like handheld with a proper heavy broadcast/film camera. It's marginally better than a should rig as far as steadiness IMO.
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
A "steadicam" that any of us can afford is still pretty shaky unless you're just standing there. It basically looks like handheld with a proper heavy broadcast/film camera. It's marginally better than a should rig as far as steadiness IMO.
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I have seen some pretty good footage from steadicams that are affordable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1A6_Sj9YLc&feature=related that one is $100usd and i think it looks pretty good. Their are so many affordable nice looking "steadicams"


This is a video of the same stabalizer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgkgPakDXRY&feature=related I think it looks pretty dam good for only a 100 bucks!
 
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brettzdamn said:
I have seen some pretty good footage from steadicams that are affordable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1A6_Sj9YLc&feature=related that one is $100usd and i think it looks pretty good. Their are so many affordable nice looking "steadicams"


This is a video of the same stabalizer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgkgPakDXRY&feature=related I think it looks pretty dam good for only a 100 bucks!
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That was pretty decent. A flycam nano is closer to $200 than $100 though, and that was obviously a VERY experienced operator (which is really the key to any steadicam), walking at a constant speed in mostly straight lines down a very smooth surface. Point taken, in the right situation, with the right operator, you can get decent results. With a "real" steadicam I have seen a guy get pulled backwards by an assistant with radical right and left turns and you'd have a hard time knowing it wasn't a jib.


As an "aesthetic" point. For the shot in the video I can't imagine why (other than to make the demo) you'd do anything on that perfectly smooth hospital floor other than mount a tripod on a set of dolly wheels and roll the camera getting perfectly smooth movement that would have looked even better.

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Saw the second video which is more impressive, very skilled operator there (which again is the key). Both do expose one of the hazards here with DSLR, Saw a LITTLE rolling shutter in the first video, second one has BAD rolling shutter in a couple of spots which is the problem doing anything but very slow controlled movement with DSLR. We also don't know what was done is post to smooth those shots out. maybe nothing, maybe something.
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
For the shot in the video I can't imagine why (other than to make the demo) you'd do anything on that perfectly smooth hospital floor other than mount a tripod on a set of dolly wheels and roll the camera getting perfectly smooth movement that would have looked even better.
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haha i was thinking that exact same thing! any way on ebay i saw a flycam nano for 115 buy it now and it was new. Any way for me.. im either going to get a fly cam nano or build a diy dolly :)
 
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I've tried em all, in person, and the real Stedicam (c) is the only one that's any good. The cheap stabilizers are what you would expect. The stedicams, even the cheap 8k ones, are like magic. I put one on and walked around with it, and a 50 lb camera just floated effortlessly in front of me taking perfect tracking shots with the lightest touch. It literally amazed me. I came back from NAB and I'd completely forgotten about the camera I'd just bought. I was that into the stedicam.

It's expensive, I'll give you that, but they are really, really well made compared to the off brand substitutes.
 
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Nate North said:
I've tried em all, in person, and the real Stedicam (c) is the only one that's any good. The cheap stabilizers are what you would expect. The stedicams, even the cheap 8k ones, are like magic. I put one on and walked around with it, and a 50 lb camera just floated effortlessly in front of me taking perfect tracking shots with the lightest touch. It literally amazed me. I came back from NAB and I'd completely forgotten about the camera I'd just bought. I was that into the stedicam.

It's expensive, I'll give you that, but they are really, really well made compared to the off brand substitutes.
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thats awsome man! one day i want to work with one :D
 
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