Motion Picture Locations Scouts Considering Film Tax Incentives

By Edwin Trauernicht


For a film location scout, locating the perfect location that functions both as an interior and as an exterior may be challenging even when considering film tax incentives. Remember that you can film the exterior of a house and then make use of a different house's interior, or even construct the indoor rooms on a soundstage. Doing this gives you a more controlled environment.

The ideal film location provides proper facilities and amenities for your film crew such as a bar and snack area as well as toilet facilities. The comfort of your film crew has to be taking into consideration. In addition to this there should be electrical hookups and power available for all your equipment. The state offers varied outdoor locations, including snow-capped mountains, sandy beaches, rolling vineyards and misty forests -- not to mention the hilly streets of San Francisco and palm-fringed urban landscape of L.A. The state's coast has hosted such films as "Sideways" and "Pirates of the Caribbean 3," its arid stretches have doubled for Iraq and Afghanistan, and at the center of the action is Hollywood, the longtime center of the global entertainment industry, with its backlots and studios.

Important equipment for a location scout includes a good camera, a clean driving licence, a cell phone, a compass and the capability to hop into a vehicle and drive off into the yonder at potentially very short notice.

What kind of camera? It needn't cost a lot of money, but you have to have confidence that it will never let you down. All scouting these days is digital, so get yourself a good digital camera and lots of memory storage. All locations look better in natural light, so get a camera that will get good results in low light, avoid using a flash, and a monopod will enable you to get sharper pictyres without lugging a tripod around. What kind of car would you need? Reliable, economical, comfortable and clean. Reliable because there are deadlines to be met and you must deliver on time; economical and comfortable because you are very likely to be covering huge distances within a year; clean because there will be people you will meet - important to you and the project - who don't know you and assess you by what they see. Turning up in an old banger (or worse, on a motor bike) has been known to give the shivers to the lord of the manor!

Aside from the fact that your set location needs to cater for all of your equipment and be eligible for film tax incentives, it also needs to be as comfy as possible for your actors and film crew. The basics have to be covered i.e. Stable electrical connections and storage for backup equipment is necessary. When getting your location, make sure that these topics are covered within your contract as any delay can prove to be costly. A remote location might work best for a motion picture or commercial (if the budget permits) but for smaller budgets you might have to take into consideration the use of different props or back drops to keep your costs down. The alternative could be to utilize a sound stage.




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