Where do the live locations come into play?

One thing I often wonder is how do you write a location in a script? Say the script says they hang on a bridge. You'd have to have a real bridge and access to do it, right? Say in The Terminator Arnie arrives near the Griffin Observatory- was that written in the screenplay specifically or they must have thought about it before hitting the floor? Say like in T2 where he arrives in a random alleyway why didn't they do that in the first? Contacts, networking?

rishi851 said:

One thing I often wonder is how do you write a location in a script? Say the script says they hang on a bridge. You'd have to have a real bridge and access to do it, right?

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If you are writing a movie to make yourself and you have a very
low budget you should only write locations you have access to.
Just makes sense. If you are writing to sell the script then you
should write what is best for your story. Any location that YOU
feel fits.

rishi851 said:

Say in The Terminator Arnie arrives near the Griffin Observatory- was that written in the screenplay specifically or they must have thought about it before hitting the floor? Say like in T2 where he arrives in a random alleyway why didn't they do that in the first? Contacts, networking?

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The Griffith Observatory was not in the original script. The movie
opens in a schoolyard. When Herd raised the money for the movie
they changed the location.

There are many, many changes between the script and production.

Most times when you go on location you see things that can add to your scene for aesthetic. It would not be planed but take full advantage of that.