Guerrilla - if Aronofsky can do it...

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

...then why can't I?

So, the most common advice is that we all play it safe. Always get permits, written permission, etc. And yet, one of the biggest movies of 2010 shot a scene on a NY subway, without permission. If they can get away with it, why the heck can't I?

It kinda makes me feel emboldened. It kinda makes me wanna write scenes that take place wherever the heck I want them to take place, and then fly under the radar. If you were to keep the scenes brief, use a small clandestine crew, lav mics, and a really shallow depth of field, I think you could get away with shooting in some REALLY public places.

Your thoughts? Something I haven't considered?
 
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rayw said:
Maybe you can start your own youtube channel of what you record guerrilla style!

CF walking around WalMart.
CF walking around City Hall.
CF walking around the movie theater.
CF walking around the emergency center.
CF running like h3ll from the security guards.
CF in the emergency center. :lol:
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Nah, dude. I'm talking about shooting a legit scene, with actual actors. I think I can pull it off! :yes:
 
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Some inspiration for ya. Shot guerilla-style in an Ikea. Been kicked out several times. Some of the camerawork in the later episodes is pretty amazing, keeping moving on the fly from room to room to different storylines, to avoid becoming a noticeable hassle in one spot for too long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9gkYw35Vws
 
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Zensteve said:
Some inspiration for ya. Shot guerilla-style in an Ikea. Been kicked out several times. Some of the camerawork in the later episodes is pretty amazing, keeping moving on the fly from room to room to different storylines, to avoid becoming a noticeable hassle in one spot for too long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9gkYw35Vws
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Haha! I love it! :lol:
 
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Uhhhh, hehehehe. Somebody just ordered a cheap telephoto lens and some cheap lav mics. Test-footage is needed. Probably won't shoot until January (super busy at work).

In the meanwhile, I'll entertain requests. The location can't be somewhere that we would be kicked out of, regardless of recording a video. Say, for example, an elementary school -- even without a camera, me and a few other random people would get kicked out. The location has to be a really public place, some place where everyone is allowed to be, but where you're not allowed to shoot a video. Such as a shopping mall.

Any specific locations requests/challenges? This is gonna be fun.

And the best part is that I'm not just doing it for fun. Besides answering the question of whether I can shoot guerrilla in a super-public place, I'm also going to use this exercise to learn and practice some sound design skills.
 
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Another idea to consider... If you or someone you're shooting with look young enough, pull the "student" card. "I'm filming something for class" gets you out of at least 50% more sticky situations than "I'm just...uh...filming something. For fun."

Also--

rayw said:
IDK about ~20 guys in a public parking deck, tho.
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--if you live in a lenient city this apparently isn't a problem either!
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Keep the backgrounds obscured enough, stay super low-profile, keep the scene-length to a minimum, why the heck not?
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No reason at all why you can't.

In two of your examples I, personally, see no reason to even try - Wal-Mart/Disneyland.
If the background is obscured enough to not create a distribution issue (E&O) then there
is really not reason to shoot there. But there is no reason at all why you can't shoot at
an airport or an ER.

I know from experience that they are hyper-aware of anything going on on airport
property. But there is no reason why you couldn't pull it off with careful planning. As
I mentioned, the worse that will happen is they will tell you to stop.
 
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insert_cliche_here said:
What about other people? I know if I was being filmed without permission I'd be pretty upset...
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...but would you make faces and pelvic thrust the camera in the background until their footage became unusable? Or maybe that's just something I would do :blush:

Regardless, I'm pretty confident that in a public setting, everyone there more or less gives implied consent to have a public image. The law isn't worded exactly like that, but it's something to that effect.
 
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Yep, the applications are definitely limited.

If shooting for a youtube video, then who gives a crap? Shoot whatever you want. But I'm talking about shooting something that would like to be distributed.

Ang, I agree -- capturing someone's image without their consent is shady, and that's definitely not my intent. The way I envision doing this, depth of field is going to be shallow, so unwilling participants will be unrecognizable. Besides the ethical implications, there are also legal concerns in showing people's likeness.

And as far as locations are concerned, Rik makes a great point. Why shoot at Disneyland, if you're forced to obscure the background so much that the audience can't tell we're at Disneyland? Might as well shoot at Knotts Berry Farms, or the state fair. I fully agree with the point Rik makes, and in fact I have a follow-up question that I'm hoping someone might know the answer to.

Let's say you've got some reason why your story really calls for a scene to take place at an amusement park. Your movie is too low-budget to do it legit, so you go guerrilla. You pull it off successfully. The final edit of the scene clearly takes place at a well-populated amusement park, but the only people who are recognizable are your cast, and the background is obscured enough that no audience member can tell which amusement park it was shot at.

But is that good enough for E&O? Though it's not apparent which amusement park you shot a scene at, it's obvious that you shot a scene somewhere. Even though the location is sufficiently obscured, are you still gonna need a location release?
 
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Zensteve said:
Some inspiration for ya. Shot guerilla-style in an Ikea. Been kicked out several times. Some of the camerawork in the later episodes is pretty amazing, keeping moving on the fly from room to room to different storylines, to avoid becoming a noticeable hassle in one spot for too long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9gkYw35Vws
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Wow, this is cool. IKEA should pay for this instead of kicking you out :lol:
 
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Zensteve said:
Some inspiration for ya. Shot guerilla-style in an Ikea. Been kicked out several times. Some of the camerawork in the later episodes is pretty amazing, keeping moving on the fly from room to room to different storylines, to avoid becoming a noticeable hassle in one spot for too long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9gkYw35Vws
Click to expand...


Oh my gosh, I liked it too! That was fun.
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Ang, I agree -- capturing someone's image without their consent is shady, and that's definitely not my intent. The way I envision doing this, depth of field is going to be shallow, so unwilling participants will be unrecognizable. Besides the ethical implications, there are also legal concerns in showing people's likeness.
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Thanks Joseph, that's what I was getting at. I hate having my photo taken by people I know, let alone being filmed without realising it by complete strangers for purposes I am unaware of. Shallow depth of field seems to be the way to get around that problem, but I really think if someone realised what you were doing and didn't want to be filmed, regardless of what the law says, the right thing to do would be to respect their wishes.
 
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As I am ill and staying at home today, I'd like to share my experiences with guerilla shooting.

We did a lot of those shoots, for example:

Two guys with "guns" running out of a car towards an apartment building. It was filmed out of that building, so the camera was not easily visible. We shot that scene twice, no one noticed it or at least no one cared. But it was the street, were one of the actors lived, so the neigbours knew him. To be honest, I would not do that again, because we just had luck.

Filming some footage of a bigger city festival. Some shots of the crowd, of a "living statue" and cool footage filmed from the big wheel. Some people looked a bit confused at us, but we did not get any trouble. As we filmed around lunch time, we did not get problems with drunk idiots ;)

Filming a desert scene at a playground. Around lunch time, when the kids are at home. The actor was dressed like Indiana Jones and we filmed him from a ladder to get the right camera angle. We passed by some construction workers with our stuff (the ladder, a little wooden door) several times. But again, no one disturbed us.


We did a lot more of those shoots, but almost all of them in public places like the above. Assuming you are using a small crew, I think if you are avoiding scenes with weapons etc., do not film other people and do not disturb traffic, stores or safety, there should not be problem. Sure, if you are filming at Ikea, they can kick you out and forbid to release the footage, but I doubt they would sue you.
 
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I just have to say this because I don't think anyone else has (unless I missed it)...

OP: Are you talking about Pi? That wasn't 2010... that was 1998.

Not that that changes the point of your argument.

[EDIT: Okay, shame on me. I haven't seen Black Swan yet... but it's interesting that he did the same thing in '98 with Pi. Guess he figured if he could get away with it once...)
 
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I like to use the family vacation comparison. Nobody is going to hassle a dad who's capturing footage of his family while they're sightseeing on vacation, so if your crew is just a guy holding a camera and a couple actors speaking dialogue you should have no problems.

As soon as you start introducing guns or yelling obscene dialogue lines is where you'll raise some eyebrows. Also, I'd bet filming at an airport is out of the question for obvious security issues. You could be a terrorist filming the layout of the entire airport.
 
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Moonshieldmedia:
Also, I'd bet filming at an airport is out of the question for obvious security issues. You could be a terrorist filming the layout of the entire airport.
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I'm sure you're right in terms of approval...but I'd be willing to bet that an actual terrorist would hide his/her camera :)
 
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