Advice on shooting a movie in the middle of nowhere?

R

rebbons

What I mean by "in the middle of nowhere", is finding a very desolate area in my state where I can film period piece biopic set early in the 16th century.

My friends suggested just using a park to film at but I disagreed because if the audience identifies the location in which you filmed at, that can severely screw up the historical aspect of the location in your story you are trying to create SINCE I want to use a lot of wide angle shots.

So if I find an area, where there is no homes or anything for miles (Which I'm a little scared about), would it be legal to just film there and distribute the film for profit while using that desolate location and not contacting any state officials about it? Or would I have to contact city officials, show them the location, and see if whoever owns that piece of land (If anyone does) is going to sue me or something.


What are your opinions?
 
It's always a good idea to know who owns the land you're using, and determine what it's used for. If it's a hunting ground for example, especially this time of year. Once you've determined that, you can decide on permits and such.

You'll also need to carefully plan for safety, medical support, sanitation, food, power and accessibility. Being in the middle of nowhere solves some issues, but brings a whole host of its own.

CraigL
 
CraigL is right.

See if you can find a place that gives the illusion you are in the middle of nowhere, but is actually in civilization.

Besides what CraigL mentioned, you need a place to recharge battery packs for your equipment, bathrooms for your cast and crew (they will revolt without it), a place for the cast to change into costumes if they need to change into special period looks, and potential sound issues.
 
See if you can find a place that gives the illusion you are in the middle of nowhere, but is actually in civilization.
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3QjFbwbb74

Thought it would be helpful. Very convincing effect :yes:

Keep transportation, food, water, bathrooms, medical help in mind. It would be disappointing to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, wifi, bathrooms or cell phone connection. They'd start going all Lord of the Flies on you.

Imagine arriving and an actor needs to go to the bathroom.

I bought a shovel for us to dig holes to poop in

:no:
 
You might check with your state's film commission and see if they can help you find a spot. That's what they do to earn their kibble so use them. One thing you have to watch out for doing period pieces is anachranisms such as jet contrails, planes flying over, towers and other objects that you may not notice until you have filmed the shot. There is a scene in Ben Hur (I think) where you can see a wristwatch on the arm of one of the extras).
 
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