Well, this may sound pretty obvious but have you tried asking for permission before entering any of these places?
I've found that people are usually pretty reasonable if you ask in advance if you can have permission to shoot on their property.
How do you guys avoid the problem when trying to get footage in shops, bars etc of being told that you are not allowed to shoot there? It can be quite frustrating. Does anyone have any ideas?
Shooting with the camera in a bag with a hole cut out for the lens is one idea - but it's a little tricky to use the camera (ie adjust settings and frame things) that way...
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 15, 2003 06:24 AM: Message edited by: Justin M. ]</font>
Well, this may sound pretty obvious but have you tried asking for permission before entering any of these places?
I've found that people are usually pretty reasonable if you ask in advance if you can have permission to shoot on their property.
Best way I find is to contact as many suitable locations in pre-production as possible and try and secure a location in advance of the shoot- just turning up with a camera makes them edgy and they feel the need to do something about it: ie. kick you out.
I find that letting them in on some of the projects' details helps to get them interested... problems I've had include people saying yes, then later the person who said yes has a boss who gets annoyed something was greenlighted without their permission- and your request turns into a p1ssing contest in the ranks of the location bosses.Always make them think that they've got complete and total control. [img]wink.gif[/img]
I've never shot in a department store, but I can imagine that getting permission would be a nightmare.
<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ August 15, 2003 02:31 PM: Message edited by: Kev Owens ]</font></font>
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 15, 2003 02:31 PM: Message edited by: Kev Owens ]</font>
I have thought of that - one shot I need is in a department store - I don't want to risk getting there and have them say 'no'. Have you tried asking in a big department store or somewhere similar?
What line of approach do you use?
I'm all for going in and just doing it as quick as you can. Of course this is a bad idea if you're shooting film, because its a senseless waste of film if you have people getting on your case while you're filming.
I've always thought, if you ask and they say NO, and then you do it anyway, they'll be angrier than if you just do it and they kick you out.
Good luck, bro
mendon
Contact your local Film Commish... use terms like "Student" and they will know if there are any 'film-friendly' stores around... even if you have to go a couple of towns away... at least you will get the shot.
Good Luck
Also ensure them that none of their customers will be filmed. Some people are touchy about that kind of thing so it may help convince them.
Or you could do it true Guerilla style and just walk in like you own the place, go to a fairly vacant part of the store, shoot what you need fast and take off before there's anytime for people to ask questions. This works particularly well if the rest of the store is somewhat busy as the sales people are distracted from a few kids with a camera.
If a big security type guy comes to kick you out/pummel you, keep the cameras rolling and claim documentry. Documentry laws are different in terms of what you need permission for and the sight of the camera may make them think twice about being rude...
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is what I thought. So on Saturday I went for it. The lucky thing for me was that I only needed about 5 seconds of footage - if I'd needed much more then I'm sure this technique would be no use. As I only needed a few seconds by the time the sales assistants (or is that jobsworths) came over to stop me I had got what I needed. In Selfridges they were like hawks, in House of Fraser they were a little more slack - I shot about 40 seconds in there before anyone noticed. Tried it in threee different stores just to get a bit of coverage - and then when I got home I had the luxury of choosing the best shot.Originally posted by Tom Servo:
[QB]
I've always thought, if you ask and they say NO, and then you do it anyway, they'll be angrier than if you just do it and they kick you out.]
Really the best way to go about it.
I usually always ask before shooting. I once shot at the Tower of London without asking, and because I use a shoulder-mounted camera the guard came immediately over and asked us to abandon the shoot. Luckily, I got all the scenes I wanted.
On the London Eye, I spoke to their PR-department and managed to get a cabin for free! I just had to submit a copy of the footage which I happily did, together with a box of chocolates for the PR-manager as a sign of gratitude.
Similar with a London tourist bus - I just politely asked the guides as well as the people sitting on the bus and nobody objected. I got great shots of various London attractions for next to nothing as well as some nice interaction between the actors.
In my experience it always pays to ask - they usually permit you to shoot in one way or another.
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