Recently I've been planning to shoot a short film called "The Admireur." The majority of the film takes place inside a high school. I went to my old high school to ask for permission to shoot there, (I graduated last year) and at first they seemed really supportive. Then they didn't get back to me for three weeks, and now they want me to insure them for $3,000,000 plus and additional $1,000,000 for every day I shoot inside the school.

Is this bull****?

I live in a small university town where everyone pretty much gets along... but we got this tight-ass principal two years ago who's making life difficult for everyone. I assumed the school district would be more responsive and helpful towards one of their own, but I guess I was wrong. I mean, Millions of dollars insurance coverage just to bring a camera inside the school?

I doubt that anyone else has encountered similar circumstances, but if any of you have, I would like to know what you did to rectify the situation.

bleh

try getting rights to the grounds of a town owned historic mansion. even though we're non-profit they want $1,800 per 8 hour day of shooting OUTSIDE on PUBLIC PROPERTY! they havn't even mentioned insurance yet....

maybe if you can get someone who you know inside the highschool to get permission under the desguise of a school project... claim he's assistant producer or something or try another highschool with that trick

goodluck

"...where wings take dream..."
- G. W. Bush

Just go higher then the principals and see what happens.

You have to remember the principals are responsible for everyone in that school, and if an angry parent calls in saying some guy ran into the girls washroom (or even phys ed class) with a camera, they will want blood...and they will turn to you!
But I know your not going to be pulling that kind of crap, its just a matter of convincing others.

If you don't look I'll force you to _=_

tell them that you are a student and that you are not making any money off of the filming...even if you do plan to make some money...then write up a contracts(if they let you) and have thme sign it saying that they will not ask for any money later on no matter what. It worked for me before.

Besides filming, the only other thing I ever did good was filming.

somewhat related topic...

how do u get permission to film in an abandoned house/building?

i need an abandoned house/building for a film i'm working on and i know of 2 locations near my grandmas, one is this little hillbilly shak of a house and the other is a cool 2 story "haunted house" style house that was recently abandoned an boarded up.

how do i get permission? i could easily just brake in...but i can't risk it


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really makes ya think about life, doesn't it? Like...the big question....what the hell is a croissant and what the hell is it doing in my pants?!

Ok, about the money to shoot on public property... How public? I mean, do you plan to shoot on the sidewalk, or inside a fence? On the sidewalk, you can do whatever the hell you want. Its public domain. Inside a fenced area (or on a lawn) is considered private property even if it is owned by city government. You could try going around them by contacting your state film commission, and pleading poverty. I did this in Florida. We wanted to soot in a state park. That costs a minimum of $500 per 8 hour day. I called the state film commission, and they waved the fee since I had no cash.

As for the highschool, thats a toughy. The Community college where I used to go to film school had insurance on all student shoots that covered broken equipment and injury to anyone involved on the shoot. It didnt cover damage to the property thouh. As a result, many places turned us down, but most were happy to see something. It was alot easier to say to someone in our initial conversation, "And we have full liability insurance for the cast and crew so your in no way liable." Might check out some local colleges, and see whats up.

Abandoned buildings are another animal. If its out in the middle of no where, I would (atleast, have in the past) just try and shoot in it "under the radar". Otherwise, you would need permission. You need to find out who controls the property. Often times, houses are boarded up for a reason. Like they are unstructurally sound. If this is the case or they have been Condemed, then no ones getting permission to get in. Now remember, you can stand outside and shoot the house you like as an establishing shot, then shoot the interior stuff elsewhere. Like I said before you can shoot from the sidewalk, and its public domain. The same is true with the outside of a structure.

I once tried to shoot in the huge building downtown. The managment said "You must be kidding. We have had real movies try to shoot here, and didnt let them in. Why would we let you?" I said, "OK, but i still going to shoot the outside of your building for my short." They got all pissed, talking about tresspassing and such. I told them there was nothing they could do about it, and if they wanted here was he date I would be shooting, so they could be sure to call the cops. Even though I didnt need it, i went ahead and pulled a permit for the street where I would be. They couldnt do jack, and the exterior of their building is the exterior I use in my short "The Elevator" Hope this info helps some.
R. Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans

Outside my city are huge areas of just hills and such, and there doesn't appear to be anything out there, it's close to a highway, and in between cities.

What would you guys do? Who should I contact about filming in that area? Should I even bother asking?

how big of a deal is it to you if you (a)aren't allowed to use footage from the location or (b) get a trespassing ticket. It's a gamble, but it sounds like a reasonably safe one. If owner or 5-0 shows, act like you belong there and you're not doing anything wrong, and maybe you can talk your way into staying. Saying it's for school always tends to gain sympathy points. Know that you are a liability by being there, so don't get hurt and sue or trash the place. It makes us run-and-gun, "below the radar" filmmakers look bad.

joren

For my upcoming film, I need a deserted town. I have one in mind, it's pretty close, and it has all the things I want to see on screen. It's perfect.

Not too much trafic goes through the town, but 18 wheelers making deliveries like to use it as a shortcut to big highways. When should I film there? I need scenes to take place there at all times of day.

"Don't breathe or I'll kill you!"

My best guess is figure when the trucks go thru, and work around their schedual.
Is it a ghost town -- I am not sure what u meant by deserted?

I remember when I was kid I went thru a ghost town when I was snowmobiling, it was the spookiest thing in the world. I should definately look into that though. Good spot for a zombie flick!

If you don't look I'll force you to _=_

And what if one wanted to film a Western. Where do you find those authtentic looking towns? And where do you get the horses?

And as for the high school thing, just keep complaining to someone till you get your way. That's what I'd do.

quote:

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Originally posted by I had Sex with your Wife!:
somewhat related topic...

how do u get permission to film in an abandoned house/building?

i need an abandoned house/building for a film i'm working on and i know of 2 locations near my grandmas, one is this little hillbilly shak of a house and the other is a cool 2 story "haunted house" style house that was recently abandoned an boarded up.

how do i get permission? i could easily just brake in...but i can't risk it

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There's a quote I would have liked to share with you, but I cant find it. I'ts from some politician.. anyway... it's "It is a hell of alot easier to appologize than to ask permission."

I think when it comes to abandoned buildings and such, I would just go in there and start shooting. If the 'authorities' come while your shooting or afterwards if they get word fromaneigborr or something, just do what I do best in this type of situation... Apologize!!! Be entirely respectful and put on that innocent boy look. Just tell them your students and were shooting a project for school, which called for an abandoned building. Be very respectful and appologetic, etc. The 'authorities' would have to be real dicks to press charges, unless whoever owns the house gets word and is real anal.

I bet you could get away with it though. Ive gotten myself out of many things by pulling this simple trick of telling them what they want to hear.

"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time"

all this talk about permits and tresspassing tickets and legality has got me wondering. i've shot a few scenes in a city parking garage before and we just went in, did our thing, and left without hassle. are you saying that we should have 'pulled permits' to do so? if we would have been caught, would a tresspassing ticket be given and if so, how much does one run?

(by the way, thanks Tizzy for the great info thus far)

-Justin
http://www.lone-palm.net/

usually highly populated areas don't scare me...i could be filming a scene where a man butchers some bitc* to death with a chainsaw on the sidewalk infront of Taco Bell and i'd do it...it's areas where no on is around that worries me...cause your gonna be the only one there, ya know? in another topic i explained my story of me and my friends filming in my neighbor's backyard, the woman there had last been there 6 months ago, so then our ass neighbors call cops on us...we basically apologized and told 'em we were doing it for school. we got away with tresspassing. thats a crime. i think most cops arn't *******z when it comes to that kind of stuff...matter of fact the cops even told my mom that he was happy we were making a movie instead of doing drugs...........if they only knew.

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really makes ya think about life, doesn't it? Like...the big question....what the hell is a croissant and what the hell is it doing in my pants?!

I was shooting a short film at my middle school (while I still went there) and simply asked my language arts teacher if I me and the 15 other kids could stay after school one day, and she said yes. All I had to do is cut a tiny bit of dialogue out of my script about lesbians and get the kids to get signed parent permission. So, of course this doesn't apply to the situation that started this thread, but it seems like if you start with a lower down person, and then only go to principles if they say no, you might have a better chance to get to make your film.

Also, at least where I'm from, all the schools, along with many other city owned buildings, can be rented out from the city by anyone willing to pay the cost. This is intended for people who want to use a classroom to teach a class or do a presentation, but, you might be able to slip the filming thing by them.

Wow. You know, it's funny, I too needed to use my old high school and I called my principal and asked him. His exact reply: "You got it. Name the day," and so I'm shooting next Thursday.

I guess some school people are just more cooperative.

Oh, and if anyone's in New Jersey and feels like showing up at my old school and being an extra next thursday...

--Alan

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http://www.alandenton.com
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I just talked to the superintendent of the school district and straightened the whole thing out. Off to the shoot.

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I don't want FOP godammit, I'm a Dapper Dan Man.

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Woooooo! Score one for the filmmakers! Good luck with the shoot.

-Thomas Chalifour

Writer/Director/Actor Extrodinaire
Tommy Boy Productions

We just shot a scene for our next film Distant Walls in our highschool. We didn't get permission. We didn't ask. We just went in, filmed our scene which took about an hour to light and coordinate all the extras and finish. And left without a fight. Sometimes its easier to just go and do it than request permission. Because we did ask permission, and the office said they would get back to us on that. But they never did, so we said **** it, and did it anyway. The janitors actually came up to us and we were like you wanna be in the movie? "Sure!" they said so they walk by in one of the shots. Authority sucks.

Thomas Verrette
tommy21485@earthlink.net
Imperial Pictures

yeah, never ask unless it's something you can get in big trouble for...whereas filming in a school, no biggie...

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TacoWagonProductions
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