Important Tips on Location Scouting.

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Published: September 4, 2020 | Last Updated: November 8, 2024

One of the most important elements of any film shoot, be it commercial or narrative, is the location where you are filming. 

Locations can make or break an audience’s experience of the film or video, create the project’s production value, and maintain the suspension of disbelief of the story—and the best film directors and video creators know this. 

Location scouting is finding and locking down locations where you will be filming. 

While finding and securing locations can be daunting, anyone can do it with the right skill set and mindset. Here’s a step-by-step list summary:

  1. You can start by having a specific location in mind or googling images of places similar to those in the script. 
  2. Narrow it down to places geographically close to you with Google Maps, and even use Google Street View to preview them. 
  3. Make a list of places you can see all in one day, and take a notebook with you to write down anything the crew needs to know before showing up to shoot, including any concerns regarding sound, lighting, power, potential foot traffic, cell service, and parking. 
  4. While there, take as many pictures as possible to share with your director, cinematographer, production designer, and anyone else who needs to see them. 
  5. Finally, be prepared to file the appropriate permits to lock down the location for the film.

That’s it! It’s pretty straightforward, but more information is always more helpful than less, so let’s dive into everything you need to look for when scouting for locations below!

The art and business of location scouting

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Exterior view of the original film set used in Star Wars as Luke Skywalker’s Home on Tatooine. This location is still somewhat preserved in Tunisia.

As millions are spent by big-budget Hollywood movies every year to develop and create the perfect sets on studio-controlled sound stages, indie productions aren’t so lucky. 

But even the biggest productions still have to procure real-world locations for all sorts of films, be they historical period pieces, sweeping fantasy epics, or globetrotting action franchises.

While the role of “location scout” can be its specific job title on projects like the above, if you are a director or producer helming your indie film shoot, you may not be able to hire someone for that job. More than likely, you will probably have to do it yourself. 

Location scouting isn’t just finding a place and deciding to film there. Both public and private locations require specific permits for filming, though occasionally, you can get away with simply asking a favor from the business/location owner or stealing a shot here and there. 

However, remember that by “stealing shots,” you are quite literally stealing, and should your finished product go on to be a commercial success that you profit from, you are opening yourself up to liability by not getting the appropriate signatures on your location permits. 

Location managing as a career.

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If you work on bigger productions, you can actually make a career out of the locations department, working your way up to the role of Location Manager. This can be a fairly high-paying job with its own union. 

How to start looking for locations

Always start with the script or, in the case of a commercial project, the treatment. These are the holy texts for your location scout – and I’m not just saying that as a writer. You’ll need to break down the script, location by location, and make a master list of all the places you’ll need.

From there, you will work with the director or producers to discuss their vision for the locations.

If you are the director, you will work with the writer or producers to help you secure a location and share your vision for the locations listed. 

Once you or your team has a clear idea of what you want, begin by googling images of places that fit the description.

Once you find some options, create a lookbook, a shared folder, or a Pinterest board with all your ideas.

Start with locations near you.

Try to find some of the locations you’ve looked up on Google Maps. Narrow your search down to see if any are geographically nearby.

If your budget is limited, search for locations similar to your reference photos in your immediate area. You can preview them using Google Street View. 

If budget isn’t a concern, find your biggest locations first, then work backward to secure the smaller locations in the immediate area to make it easier on your production crew.

Remember – you aren’t just looking for the most photogenic location, but a place where you can also mount a production.

Time to venture out

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The Hobbiton Movie Set is a significant location in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit film series. Bilbo and Frodo Baggins start their adventurous journeys here. Based in New Zealand, it is now a tourism destination.

Once you have a comprehensive list of options, make an itinerary to visit as many as you can fit into one day. Make it easy on yourself by lumping up nearby places.

If you are scouting international locations, you’ll want to consult locals in that area for advice.

Once you’ve got your list of places, head out on your scouting adventure, but remember to bring a notebook.

Your goal should be to write down as much information as possible so the production team can arrive at the set as prepared as possible. 

What to look for on location

Once you arrive, here are a few ideas of what to jot down. 

Weather and lighting concerns. 

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First and foremost, if you are scouting an outdoor location, one of your first and most important concerns is the light and weather on the day that you will be shooting. 

Predicting the weather a few months in advance might be difficult if you are planning a production, but you can hedge your bets by talking to locals about what to expect.

Certain things, like wind, rain, and cloud coverage, are especially important to plan around. They affect not only the light but also the sound. Heavy rain can make a lot of noise. I’ll get back to sound in a minute.

As far as lighting goes, the best way to know what the lighting will be like is to arrive at the approximate time of day you plan to shoot. If you don’t know this offhand, defer to the director or what’s written in the script. 

This goes for both indoor and outdoor locations.

For outdoor locations, what’s the daylight situation? Are there any shaded areas that are easier to control? Or will they be casting shadows on the actor’s faces at the time you are planning to shoot? What about outdoor lighting, like street lamps for night shoots? 

For indoor locations, how much daylight gets through inside the room you will be shooting? If you’re shooting a night scene, can you black out the windows and shoot day for night?

How many natural sources of light are there? Will the DP need to bring extra lamps? 

Sound concerns

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Another big point of concern is sound. What does the location you are scouting sound like? Are there any immediate noise issues, like nearby freeway traffic, foghorns from ships in a harbor, chatter from local tourists, or droning from a nearby air conditioner? 

This applies to both indoor and outdoor locations. The sound team on the day will be able to work around certain noises, especially refrigerators or AC units, for indoor shoots, but the more they know going into it, the more they can prepare.

If an outdoor location is beautiful but has many sound concerns, like 80-mile-an-hour winds or a busy thoroughfare right next door, you will definitely want to consider that when comparing it with other options.

There are ways around this issue. For example, it might be a great location for an establishing shot, but then you could plan to shoot the dialogue scenes in close-ups somewhere else.  

Power concerns

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While you don’t necessarily need to know everything the Best Boy or Gaffer knows, noting any power outlets and indoor/outdoor power sources is necessary for planning the shoot. 

For starters, the production will need to know whether or not they will have to rent a generator depending on the power available and lighting needed for the scene’s look and feel.  

Usually, the DP will join the production team for a walkthrough tech scout once the location is picked, but providing this information earlier in the process can help save everyone a lot of time, especially if it helps the team decide between two similar locations. 

If you don’t know much about power, try attending a walkthrough with the camera team next time they scout a location for power or taking a class on lighting design and cinematography so you can keep track of how much power can be run through a location simultaneously. 

Foot traffic concerns

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This goes for any location scouting. Still, especially when scouting in urban areas, it’s a good idea to note how much pedestrian cross-traffic a location will have at the time you will be shooting. 

For example, how much foot traffic is outside if you’re filming at a local coffee shop?

If you’re filming on a city street, is it busy or relatively slow-paced?

Are there any nosey neighbors nearby who might be a problem? Or does everyone keep to themselves?

Factor in the day of shooting

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Your secluded beach might not be so secluded on weekends.

Don’t forget to factor in the days of the week as well.

Is the secluded beach you found actually secluded? Or are only a few people at the beach because it’s a workday, but when you show up to film on a Saturday in the heat of the day, the beach will be completely crowded out?

And if you’re planning a night shoot, you don’t want to forget about looking into any nightlife in the area, as nothing would ruin a shoot more than being in the middle of a climactic moment when a bunch of drunks come yelling out of a bar while they wait for their Uber!

Availability and access concerns

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Finally, it’s important to ensure that your location isn’t just good on paper but somewhere you could realistically mount a production. 

For example – let’s say you find the perfect secluded beach for your romantic climax of the film – but it takes an hour to drive in and out on a one-way backroad, and there’s no place to park the crew’s cars because the beach is located at the foot of a cliff! 

Availability and access concerns aren’t always deal-breakers, but it’s important to note them, especially if you are also planning on being the location manager of the shoot and will be responsible for coordinating the parking situation and getting in and out on the day of the shoot.

Factor in access to get help quickly in case of emergency

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Availability and access also refer to cell services and nearby facilities, like hospitals or food service options.

Suppose you are considering shooting two hours away from all civilization in the middle of the desert. In that case, you still need to take note of the closest hospital, where the production could order lunch from if they’ll have to coordinate outside catering, and what to do about bathrooms for the crew. 

Coordinating may not be your exact responsibility as a location scout, but knowing if it’s needed for any given location is! 

Take lots of pictures!

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Lastly, you will always want to take as many pictures as possible of any given location so the rest of the production team can accurately assess its potential as a location. 

If you’re diligent, this includes capturing every aspect of the location you see working into the scene as written in the script.

It also includes photos of the potential ways you could cut around it to match other locations and places where production could set up crafty and video village and not have to move around too much throughout the shoot. 

If this location is the perfect pick, the goal is to share these pictures with the director, cinematographer, production designer, and production team as necessary so that the whole team has all the information they need to prepare for the shoot. 

Once the location is picked, get ready to file your permits

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Once the production team has decided on the locations they would like to lock down, it becomes the location management team’s job to secure these locations by filing the appropriate permits with the local authorities to get permission to shoot there. 

In some cases, especially when dealing with private property, you may not need express permission from the city if you have the property owner’s permission, but it can depend on the budget and production value of your production. 

Suppose you’re retrofitting an abandoned mall to look like a period-accurate thriving center of commerce, like the TV show Stranger Things did in season 3 of the Netflix Original. In that case, you may have to let the city know, especially if you will be doing stunts, hoisting up massive HMI lights, and hosting 200+ extras inside.

Every city and state has its own rules about permitting, but for an example of what to expect, you can check out the State Film Permit rules from the California Film Commission here.

Look up the individual regulations local to the area you are planning on filming as far in advance as possible to confirm. 

Some areas, like specific neighborhoods, require express permission in the form of individual signatures from all surrounding neighbors who might be impacted by a commercial production shoot to sign off on the permits. This means going door to door! 

While this can be tedious, it’s always better to know the rules early and prepare in advance than to get blindsided a few weeks before shooting is set to begin because you didn’t do the work earlier.

Happy Location Scouting 

As the world continues to change and become ever more connected, the way we scout, discover, and permit movie locations may also change and adapt.

If you can think of any other important concerns to consider when scouting locations, share them in the comments!

Otherwise, happy location scouting!

Up Next: From Spaghetti Westerns to Game of Thrones: Revisiting Film Locations in Andalusia, Spain.

By Grant Harvey

Grant Harvey is a freelance writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker based out of Los Angeles. When he’s not working on his own feature-length screenplays and television pilots, Grant uses his passion and experience in film and videography to help others learn the tools, strategies, and equipment needed to create high-quality videos as a filmmaker of any skill level.

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