I have a group of girls interested in making a video at some of our campus parties. They are looking to make the video for their personal use as well as a semi-distribution to few others on campus. My question is do I need to ask campus officials if we can film on campus or if I leave out historical landmarks and names of buildings/streets will it be legal. Also what kind of waiver do I need to obtain for people filmed in the video and those who participate in the partial nudity. Any information will be greatly appreciated.
I don't know about America, but in the UK technically you need the permission of the owner pretty much wherever you film. 'Technically', as in if it's not indentifiable and they don't know you shot there you're unlikely to get in trouble... but it's always better to get permission if you can.
As for forms, you should be able to find a standard release form on the web. Of course it won't neccesarily help if the actors dispute it, which is probably more likely than normal if they're nude: on the other hand, if you're shooting a fictional movie there's a strong argument that if an actor turned up for several days and acted in front of the camera they implicitly gave their permission for you to use the footage.
The girls are fine with the brief nudity, but I'm going for legal issues. Also if filming at a party in an unknown location do I need permission to film the 'crowd' or can I censor their faces? Do you know of a decent place on the web to get legal release forms?
I believe you can blur the faces and be safe. However if the crowd has greek letters or something identifiable you may have to blur that as well.
The thing to remember is even if you stay completely within the law, on a university campus they can still expel you for any number of things. Doesn't matter if you show historical buildings or not if they think you brought a bad rep to their university. Be careful.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
