How to choose a filming location (what actually matters)
A location that looks beautiful in photos can be impossible to shoot in. Here is what we check before recommending a space.
Ceiling height
The first thing a DP asks. Below 2.8 m lighting gets complicated — there is nowhere to put your sources and you catch the ceiling in frame. Above 3.2 m you work comfortably. That is why we record the height for every location in the database.
Access and distance to the door
It is not just whether you can drive up, but how far you carry the gear from the vehicle to the space. Fourth floor with no lift, 40 metres from the street, means an extra hour on load-in and load-out — twice a day.
Natural light and orientation
How many windows, which side they face, and what you see through them. A room with beautiful morning light can be unusable in the afternoon. And if a new block of flats sits in the window, the period atmosphere is gone.
Blackout capability
Can the space be fully darkened? If yes, you shoot night for day and you are not tied to the clock. If not, the whole schedule depends on the light outside.
Noise
Sound is expensive to fix. A location next to a busy road, under a flight path, or beside a construction site can ruin a full shooting day. Check on site, at the hour you will actually be shooting.
What you are allowed to do
Can you move furniture? Put nails in the walls? Paint, use fire, use water? A perfect space where you cannot change anything is a problem for the art department. We ask this upfront for every location.
The logistics around it
Where the crew waits, where catering goes, where the cast changes, where the truck parks. None of this shows up in photos, but it decides whether the shooting day runs smoothly or turns into chaos.
Looking for a location?
Tell us what you are shooting and what you need. We will send options that actually work.
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