By Hilda Rothfuss
Film tax credits in a state are among the things an excellent location scout takes into account prior to selecting a film location. A location scout searches out the perfect locations for your film - this individual is your "reel" estate broker. Anybody can be a location scout, but someone who does it for a living will be acquainted with every type of location, saving you weeks or even months of searching for the right place.
If you can't afford a location scout, you can hire someone who's eager to drive around, make phone calls, and search the Internet - or you can do it yourself. Finding the right locations for a film takes time. Contact your local film commission (if there's one in your city) and ask if it can recommend a location scout, or call your city permit office and ask if it can refer you to a location scout.
If you ever considered that searching for locations for filming was a pain stacking task, just a brief understanding of the notion of location library would make you understand that it was an illusion. Providing the luxury of exploring locations in the comforts of one's house or office; such libraries maintain stock photographs and other details of several locations which one can explore. Thus, for example if one is looking for a film location in London then one could only have two alternatives if one isn't planning to go with the library.
You will have to do some research in your area. So get in your car with your script in hand and see if there's an area nearby that you can use for free. Some places will let you shoot your movie for free or without permits. Small mom and pop shops are a great place to start. Let say that you need to go out of the country to shoot, and you're looking for help from a location scout in London but you don't know how to pick a reliable one. The first alternative is that that you find someone you trust who stays in London and have him explore the location and the other one entailing more cost is that one is staying out of London and would have to travel all the way to London to explore locations. Cost, as you might already know, leaps to the sky in this case; the time one has to spend is not any less either. It is, therefore, highly suggestible to take the services of a location library which could take one through all the prospective locations through a virtual exhibition of each one's look and ambience.
Being a location scout would appear to be essentially the most fun out of all the jobs offered within the filmmaking industry, particularly with all the film tax credits to consider. It looks like it will be a dream trip to travel and see if a location checks out or not. Believe it or not, complications abound in securing a location to shoot.
If you can't afford a location scout, you can hire someone who's eager to drive around, make phone calls, and search the Internet - or you can do it yourself. Finding the right locations for a film takes time. Contact your local film commission (if there's one in your city) and ask if it can recommend a location scout, or call your city permit office and ask if it can refer you to a location scout.
If you ever considered that searching for locations for filming was a pain stacking task, just a brief understanding of the notion of location library would make you understand that it was an illusion. Providing the luxury of exploring locations in the comforts of one's house or office; such libraries maintain stock photographs and other details of several locations which one can explore. Thus, for example if one is looking for a film location in London then one could only have two alternatives if one isn't planning to go with the library.
You will have to do some research in your area. So get in your car with your script in hand and see if there's an area nearby that you can use for free. Some places will let you shoot your movie for free or without permits. Small mom and pop shops are a great place to start. Let say that you need to go out of the country to shoot, and you're looking for help from a location scout in London but you don't know how to pick a reliable one. The first alternative is that that you find someone you trust who stays in London and have him explore the location and the other one entailing more cost is that one is staying out of London and would have to travel all the way to London to explore locations. Cost, as you might already know, leaps to the sky in this case; the time one has to spend is not any less either. It is, therefore, highly suggestible to take the services of a location library which could take one through all the prospective locations through a virtual exhibition of each one's look and ambience.
Being a location scout would appear to be essentially the most fun out of all the jobs offered within the filmmaking industry, particularly with all the film tax credits to consider. It looks like it will be a dream trip to travel and see if a location checks out or not. Believe it or not, complications abound in securing a location to shoot.
About the Author:
Film tax credits is a thing that motion picture firms and studios are incredibly conscious of. There are lots of resources in relation to film tax incentives online and in the respective government offices you could read more about.