Locations are often a problem for film shoots. Most movies require a wide variety of locations that can be hard to come by and get the rights to shoot at. One of the best strategies for gaining access to a lot of locations is to enroll temporarily at a film school and shoot there.
Before we get to the more concrete location-based benefits, there are a lot of more abstract benefits to being an enrolled student. First of all, you get an I.D. card. This card alone entitles you many discounts. A lot of venues and stores offer students discounts upfront, and a lot of suppliers of equipment can be found at student discount.
Your I.D. can also act as a kind of get-out-of-trouble-free card. People expect students to push boundaries. This is true of individuals, business owners and even police and security officers.
If you are shooting at a location that you don't technically have the rights to, you can often say that you're shooting a student film and get out of trouble a lot easier than if you would otherwise. People are more likely to either just ask you to leave, or to let you finish up. You can even play the sob story that you need to shoot the scene to pass your class.
I have also found that people tend to have less questions when they hear that a production is just a student film. Perhaps they think that it has little to no commercial value and not worth their time to investigate further.
For whatever reason, saying you're shooting a student film and flashing an I.D. card can get you out of a lot of jams.
Being enrolled at a school also provides you with a ton of free resources. Depending on the school you could get free or cheap access to high-level equipment, you have access to students who are happy to either act or be members of your crew (some of whom might actually be talented). You may even get some financial support from the school's AV department.
School cafeterias are a great resources, and a great replacement for craft services. If you're shooting with an all-student cast and crew, chances are everyone will be able to eat for free or cheap. It's a lot less of a hassle to break for lunch and walk over to the cafeteria and then leave with everyone satisfied, than it is to try and cater to everyone on your own.
Overall, for a small investment you will give yourself access to resources that cost a lot of money in the 'real world' and a powerful safety net in case things go wrong. In many ways, there is no greater investment you can make than getting yourself cheaply enrolled at a local community college and taking every advantage you can out of it.
Continue for more on film production at film making blog and our film production software page.
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