depends.... what types of locations are you using?

www.maketradefair.com
www.thehungersite.com
www.oxfam.ca

The location I need is an abandoned looking area. Any unused, empty space will do. It would work even better if the area wasn't clean or had random debris everywhere. Nothing special, just an empty space.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

The first thing to consider is what the location owner is thinking. What if someone gets hurt on my property...do you have insurance? How many people and how much equipment will be showing up on my property? Will the business be interupted by the shoot? These are the simple ideas to think about. You have to reassure the owner of what your shoot entails. Simply show up and talk with the owner. Tell them exactly what you plan to do. Any stunts? Any vehicles? Describe the shoot. Go for it!

I had to shoot one short scene, (about 20 seconds on screen)in a fancy restaurant in paris, for my student short film. So me and my producer just went to downtown, and asked for the manager in every nice restaurant that pleased my eyes. and about the 6th one we asked, agreed happily. you just have to try to talk to them, even though you think the chances are low that they'll agree. else you'll never get started.
..keep us updated about the progress

I think it's easier if you're a student, though: if you're Joe Sixpack who wants to bring some friends around to make a movie with no money to send to some film festivals, it's very different to Jane Smart who's studying at Cambridge Film School (or whatever).

In the latter case people who know nothing about movies can more readily understand why you're trying to make one with no money and expect some kind of prestige to come back to them from it. Plus, of course, if you burn the place down they have a school to sue rather than some guy who works in Starbucks :).

As it would seem, I'm "Joe Sixpack". I'm getting a lot of turn downs and unreturned phone calls. As a result of that, I look less and less like a filmmaker to the actors. Now I'm losing their interest. At first, I thought I could set a date to shoot, then schedule to use the location. That hasn't worked. Would it work better if I secured use first then picked a date?

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

I was working with one location guy and he didn't seem to understand low budget. Started wanting a thousand a day, that sort of thing. Best to make it clear you'll give a shout out in the film or whatever you expect to pay up front and save some time. Also, the details of what will happen, how long, and how many crew/cast can help eliviate some of the questions that would plague a location owner.

At other times you can just find the spot and shoot. I shot for three days on the top floor of a parking structure (on a University) and nobody noticed or cared.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

That's going to be my next option. To shoot from a roof top or a parking deck. I'll have to work on my sound though. My camera isn't able is use an external mic. Seems like I get everything except dialoge with the onboard mic. Thats part of why I wanted an indoor location. I get much better sound indoors.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

Yes sound was a big problem, if I were to do it again I'd invest in a wind-sock for the microphone.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA