Produce (Short) Movies

The important thing to know is that short film locations have many of the same guidelines as features, but on a smaller scale.

If you’re not paying for a location, you can’t be as picky. You might end up shooting in a space because they’ll let you do it for free, more than because it fits ideally with your script.

The lovely thing about operating at this low/no-budget level of production is that you it forces you to get creative. Because in most cases, circumstances are not ideal, if you can execute what you need with good cinematic style and make it look like it was EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED from the audience’s perspective, you are a good filmmaker.

So your location may not be ideal, but embrace the challenge of having to think creatively to make it work well.

1. Finding the Location: My first step is to look at what I have access to. I have shot in my apartment twice. I have shot at my workplace once, which I had to get permission to do, but really worked out well because it was a block away from my other location for that shoot.

   The only thing about shooting where you live is that it can be chaotic. In the midst of producing, which can be a chaotic process in itself, you realize that the day before the shoot, as you were clearing out all the crap in your dining room to create a holding space for your actors, you’ve packed your car keys at the bottom of a box that is behind 2 other boxes, and it will take an hour to dig them out. You have a meeting with the director in 15 minutes and you can’t push it back because you’re picking up equipment right after that before the rental house closes. So you better start digging… fast.

2. My second step is to look at my contacts and to see what they might let me use or be able to get for me through their contacts.

3. The third place I look is to find a place that is “off the beaten path”, and that I could get away with shooting there for free and without asking. “Can this movie take place entirely in the middle of the desert?” You might have to tweak the script a bit to make this option work.

   If the answer is yes, then you also want to make sure the crew and cast, who is probably working for free, is willing to go out there to make your movie. A lot of the times they will be fine with it as long as you pay expenses (like gas). But then, is the location really free? It’s a bit of a balancing act.

   And if you start shooting there and you are told you must stop, but you’re only 2 hours into the day, not only does that end your day, but you will probably have to entirely reshoot the shots you’ve already gotten.

   Shooting without asking is a bit precarious, but I’ve done it successfully and I know a lot of other producers that have also.

4. Forth, I look for locations that I can pay with anything besides money. That means credit (actually, you should credit any and all people already mentioned that help you secure a location… this is a very valuable gift they are giving so acknowledge it), roll in the movie, make use of their business (hey, you’re going to need coffee anyway so why not buy from the coffeehouse you are shooting in), copy of the movie when it’s complete, etc. See cost of location for details.

5. Fifth is to just pay for the location. I’ve never had to do it and it’s not an ideal choice.