WHAT IS A FILM VIRTUAL SCOUT? (In the Entertainment industry.)

Virtual Scouting / Photo Credit: Street Visit

WHAT IS A FILM VIRTUAL SCOUT? (In the Entertainment industry.)         

Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductionsllc.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/DumbDogProductionsLLC/ thank you.

What is a film virtual scout?  

Apart from the actors, everything else in the frame of your movies is a set, prop, or a location, or sometimes even a Visual Effect (virtual background). ... When scouting a movie location, the first thing I look for, whether it's an interior or an exterior is how much work it is going to take to make it camera-ready.

Location scouting is just one more facet of the photographic process that takes time and money to carry out. It can get especially difficult if you are planning an out-of-town shoot. A lot of times this would mean arriving at the shoot location a day early. But there isn't always the time or budget to allow for that in many case Google can come to your rescue.

There are a series of steps that you can go through in order to evaluate potential locations.  These include considering locations we’ve used in the past, researching new locations online, working with film commissions and hiring location scouts.

Researching new locations online. If you are researching locations that you haven’t visited before, you need to get our hands a little dirtier.  Like most dirty searches these days, this one starts with the internet.  Nothing speaks more loudly to a photographer (or a client!) than photographs, so that’s what we look for first.  If you know that you have to do a shoot that will have autumn foliage with rugged mountains in North America, you can start spinning through images on Flickr looking for the right type of environment.  Usually a few places start to rise to the top, and that’s when you start to cross reference them with our other resources.

Working with film commissions. Most municipalities in the States have an office that specializes in the production of film and television.  It is their job to attract and facilitate media projects that will bring business to their area, so they have a lot of tools to help you learn about the area and eventually execute a shoot.  They can recommend popular locations, send photo and video examples and help with the permit process if you get that far.  These offices are a great resource.

Hiring location scouts. Once you’ve done some online research and received information from the film and video office we will have further narrowed the search.  Now you’re usually looking at 2-3 places and it’s time for us to get some very specific information.  At this point, more frequently than not, you shell out a little money to get some current scouting photos from specific locations via a hired local location scout.  These people are an invaluable resource.  They specialize in maintaining a library of possible locations of all sorts within their geographic area.  You can find good location scouts via the office of film/video or by just searching for them online.  The good ones have thousands of photos on file, relationships with the people and businesses in their locale, and are happy to go out and shoot photos of current conditions in the locations that you’re interested in.  You will generally hire location scouts for this pre-scouting phase and you also make sure to work with them when we actually arrive on the ground.

Researching locations online, again. In order to make sure the deck is stacked in our favor, you should be in the habit of hopping on the computer one more time.  This time you turn into a total dork at your desk and immerse yourself in Google Earth, Google Maps Street View, and any other tools you can come up with.  You are looking for actual locations now, as in specific trails, buildings, roads, etc.  Even going as far as taking into account what time of day light will be hitting the potential locations.  Pairing this research with the resources of the location scout can lead to a very solid understanding of what you will see on location long before we even head to the airport.

The whole process can be executed in just a day or two, and often is, due to tight timelines.  Once complete, our research is packaged and presented to the client via a web gallery or pitch deck, and generally comes with a strong, well supported recommendation for a certain location.  Nine times out of ten the client will arrive at the same conclusion as we did and it’s time for the production team to start booking flights and lodging.  That’s all there is to it…almost.  Except for that one great challenge of location photography: weather.

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Careers Hub, Screen Play Scripts, Elements of Cinema, Script Doctor, ASCAP, Film Independent, Any Possibility, CTLsites, NYFA, Future Learn, Mad Studios, DP School Chase Jarvis,

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Virtual Scouting / Photo Credit: Street Visit