Tip # 21: Important considerations during the location scout

By Sinéad Ferguson (Producer/Production designer)

This is part seven in a seven part series on finding the right locations.

When looking for a location put the word out, email friends, family, post on film forums. Use the internet, it’s an invaluable research tool. Keep your eyes open at all times. I find I do it instinctively and now have a mental catalogue of lots of interesting potential filming locations all over Brighton that are filed away should we ever need them.

Once you find it, here are some important things to keep in mind:

1. Where possible have all the necessary people with you, producer, director, DOP, production designer. Everyone will be looking for different attributes in a location. Incorporate a proper recce at the same time. Ultimately it saves time and making unnecessary trips back and forth and you can all immediately discount or agree on the potential of a location. Also bring the right equipment with you, either a camera or camcorder, a note book for those important notes, a tape measure and a light meter.

Inside The Rainbow Inn, restaurant shoot.

2. You also need to find the balance between the aesthetic and the practical. The place may look great but will there be enough room for all your equipment? Parking for your cast and crew? What facilities are available? Will it be too difficult to light? What are the sound conditions? What are the power sources and are you able to tap into it? Are there separate circuits capable of handling your lighting? You want to avoid having to use a generator, it’s costly and a nightmare for sound.

3. On exterior shoots make sure there are facilities available for your cast and crew. We shot in Alfriston on two freezing cold days in November so had to organise somewhere to do wardrobe changes, use a toilet if necessary and stay warm when not shooting. Fortunately The Smugglers Inn was kind enough to allow us to use their premises.

The kitchen shoot in the Master Mariner,
Brighton Marina.

4. You must also take into account the distance between locations. Obviously when scheduling your shoot you will always aim to shoot in one location a day but there may be some days where it is unavoidable and you have to move from one to another. This time spent packing up and moving long distances from A to B to set up again, is valuable time lost when you could be shooting your film.

5. Finally when filming it goes without saying that Public Liability Insurance is essential and when securing locations this is a must. It is also an added reassurance to the proprietor that should anything go wrong he or she won’t be left out of pocket or liable for damages. When negotiating a location another good bargaining tool in your arsenal is offering a credit in your film and publicity for their business when and where possible.

The council shoot, Litlington Village Hall.

Tip # 20: How to get permission to use a location

By Sinéad Ferguson (Producer/Production designer)

This is part six in a seven part series on finding the right locations.

Here comes the difficult part, finally finding your locations is one thing, getting permission to use them is another thing entirely and isn’t always particularly easy. In securing a location no matter how small and incidental, never underestimate how important it is to be sincere, enthusiastic and passionate about your film. It’s contagious and can often be the tipping point. It can be the difference between getting that important location or losing it. The genuine and friendly approach has yet to fail me. Be upfront, clear and honest when you approach the owner and tell them exactly just what filming on their premises will entail.

(Photo above left: Lead actor Jos Lawton on location
during the kitchen shoot at the Master Mariner,
with the production team consulting behind him.)

Admittedly it’s tempting to gloss over things to get permission, but don’t compromise your integrity and be anything less than truthful and respectful. Give the person the common courtsey of your honesty and allow them to make a well informed decision. Your honesty shows you are trustworthy and in the long run this is important. I formed good relationships especially with our two primary locations in particular Ed at The Rainbow Inn and Asher in The Master Mariner. Truthfully it wasn’t all that difficult as they happen to be very nice guys and I genuinely like them.

Top: The Rainbow Inn manager Luke,
with actress Verity Marshall.
Above: Rainbow Inn manager Ed
observes the crew in action during the night shoot.

Our two main interior locations were working restaurants and pubs. Now convincing someone that it’s a good idea to allow you to bring actors, and a film crew with lots of equipment traipsing in and out of their premises can be a little difficult. Also as they are working restaurants and pubs they are obviously in use all day. Our small budget meant we couldn’t pay to shut them down, meaning that they would also have to be willing to allow us on their premises overnight. Thankfully they did and so all filming that took place in these locations were night shoots. Not ideal to say the least, I know the cast and crew weren’t overjoyed by the prospect and neither were we. However they were all good sports and on a low budget some compromises have to be made to get what you want and this was one of them. Plus Dan, Itsuka and I were confident that the end results on screen would be worth those long and mentally exhausting night shoots.

Master Mariner (Brighton) manager Asher Burman on set
during the kitchen shoot, speaking with director Dan (left).

Tip # 18: Seamless locations… Finding the kitchen

By Sinéad Ferguson (Producer/Production designer)

This is part four in a seven part series on finding the right locations.

Right so we had found our restaurant now we needed the kitchen. Considering we used three separate locations in Lewes, Brighton and Alfriston to create “The Amble Inn” (an exterior scene was shot at the Moonrakers in Alfriston) it was vital that all the locations were seamless. Finding a kitchen that would fit and be believable as the kitchen of The Rainbow Inn proved to be immensely difficult. The kitchen at the Rainbow Inn although quite big had incredibly low ceilings and narrow spaces, and the set up meant that unfortunately we couldn’t use it. So we had to find an alternative. We visited kitchen after kitchen and they all were either too large or industrial, too small with the wrong equipment or logistically just impossible to film in.

The kitchens at The Rainbow Inn.

This was the location that had us pulling our hair out, time was running out, and it seemed every kitchen we visited was just one disappointment after another. That is until just as we began to think we had exhausted all our options Dan and I saw the kitchen in The Master Mariner in Brighton. It was perfect -the right size, feel, look and layout and it was almost ideal for filming. When it came to getting permission, we had met Asher the owner before so he knew us. We told him all about our film and what we had set out to achieve, and luckily for us Asher also has a real love for film so was happy to give us permission to use it.

The kitchens at The Master Mariner, as seen in the film.

We had finally caught a break and found our kitchen. I remember at the time we had a hundred and one other things on our plate with pre production and securing our kitchen that day was a much needed bit of success and good news for us.

Vist The Master Mariner, in Brighton Marina:

http://www.the-master-mariner.co.uk/

Asher Burman, manager of the Master Mariner,
films the crew in his kitchen.

Cast and crew filming in the kitchens of The Master Mariner.

Tip # 17: Trust your instincts… Finding your key location

By Sinéad Ferguson (Producer/Production designer)

This is part three in a seven part series on finding the right locations.

So now that we had our village, our base so to speak we could start working on everything else. Choosing Alfriston as our Ambleton would colour and influence all our other choices in locations. Such as our restaurant, our general store, Chris’s home and so on. We also wanted where and when possible to have locations that were “two for ones” as in both the interior and exterior of the location were appropriate and fortunately we did just that. This logistically made filming that bit easier saving us time and extra shoots . For us it was imperative that all our locations were seamless and that even though for example Chris’s house was actually in Brighton and The Rainbow Inn, is in Lewes their interiors and exteriors aesthetically had to fit and feel like they were part of and belonged to the village in Alfriston.

Finding our “Amble Inn” was no easy task after a lot of research we had a list of 30 or 40 that on paper at least were maybes. We spent two full days driving around almost all of East Sussex.

Sinéad Ferguson (Production designer) and
Itsuka Yamasaki (writer) during the
location scout at The Rainbow Inn.

On visiting them however they just didn't fit the bill. They were either too small, the decor wasn’t suitable, they would be impossible to film in and the list just went on and on. We finally narrowed it down to two possibilities - one a restaurant in Alfriston itself and the other The Rainbow Inn just outside Lewes. I made up my mind instantly and fell for The Rainbow Inn. From a production designer point of view, in my mind’s eye aesthetically it was exactly what I was looking for. It had character, warmth and charm with its unmatching chairs and great little quirky details. It was traditional but had subtle modern touches here and there. I knew it would look great on screen and I could completely envision and believe John and Kate living and working here.

Sinéad (far left) and Itsuka (far right) taking notes in what
was to become the famous bar in the film.

I was absolutely convinced that it was perfect and trusted my instincts on this but had to a little bit of persuading. Dan (director) had reservations at first and rightly so, it wasn’t completely open plan as we had initially wanted. Also filming wouldn’t be easy and he had to rethink and work out potential alternatives. Fortunately for us though, he is a little genius and he worked out ways it could be done. Success!

Well no, there was still the small matter of actually getting permission and securing the location...

Visit The Rainbow Inn here... http://www.rainbowsussex.com/

The wonderful Rainbow Inn as seen in the film.