I would imagine a lot of would depend upon what city, what you were doing a the time and your reaction towards the police.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Yeah they dont like it if you hit them or shout abuse at them! ?xx(?

We were filming outside the houses of parliament (UK) the other week and although we did have permission to film there, not one police officer even questioned us about it which I thought was surprising. I guess it depends on the officer, city, country etc as rjschwarz said.

I'm shooting in toronto ... which is a pretty good city to shoot in ... basically isnt the worst they can do is say you don't have a permit to shoot here -- you have to leave ?

Can they write you a ticket ?

I know what you mean, I need to shoot a fight scene underneath a public tunnel at a train station. My production company isnt official and if I have to get insurance then its going to mean setting one up which will cost me too much money. Which is why I'm also tempted to just go and shoot it. Cleary.

www.myspace.com/b31_film_productions

We filmed at the Metro station near us, just got told we couldnae film there. when ive worked people have never had pemits because of low budget etc and i was just helping out.

A lot would depend on time, it might not cost anything for the permit, but can you wait. If so, try for the permit, also raises awareness for your project.

Be aware though, i doubt that filming with replica guns etc, will be tolerated.

If you are just looking to shoot a small scene that doesnt need a tripod and a long shoot, you could probably shoot 'from hip'

http://filmind.meetup.com/296/?gj=sj3