Shooting at the airport

[Speezy]

Does anyone know if there are any legal issues with shooting planes at an airport? I need some good b-roll of planes taking off and landing but living in a post-9/11 world ya know, I don't want to get snatched up. ???

[Jive]

I would find a location not so near to the airport that you can get the shots you need instead of shooting at or just outside the airport.

There's military checkpoints on all the side-roads around the nearby airport, and they basically pulled their guns on me when I told them that I wanted to record planes taking off and landing. They pretty sternly told me to turn around and leave even after I explained to them why I needed to videotape the planes. I just drove a little ways away and found a nearby park that had a great view of the planes taking off, so it worked out nicely in the end.

[Speezy]

Wow, That's pretty serious. Thanks for the tip!

[mrbimmer]

That would suck if anyone got shot shooting planes for b-roll.

[DVX100Shooter]

What city do you live in? What kind of planes are you looking to shoot...if worst comes to worst just get some Stock Footage of some planes...Actually I have my own Stock Footage collection of B-Roll (I shoot News) and I DO have some plane video. It's on BetaSP though but I can dump it down to MiniDV.

[Speezy]

I thought about going with stock but I figured it would be least expensive to just shoot it myself.

[speedbump]

I had a job in airport security last year, and I was very twitchy when it came to people getting close as they could to the runway, while setting up some sort of tripod. Our airports are so susceptable to surface-to-air missle attack, that the couple of times I saw guys park on public roads near the runways, I watched them closely until I was sure they were just shooting video.

You can get some some great footage from public accessways, but I recommend that you don't wear a turban while you are doing it. On the other hand, our security policy makers are so poo pooing scared of offending Arabs, that they might avoid talking to you just so they appear not to be 'profiling'. Municipal police, however, are a different story, and have no qualms about getting in your face between doughnuts.

Interestingly, the local news stations have complete run of our airport, which means they can bring cameras to places where photography is not allowed to the general public, like, say, security checkpoints. They can park where they want, whenever they want, without fear of towing, and they do so without escorts. I was appalled that any old news crew could just show up anywhere on site, but that is the political reality of the situation.

You can either shoot without permission, or you can try to call ahead to the airport and let 'em know what your intentions are. Of course, that opens the possibility that some flunky in charge will decide to cover his or her butt and tell you 'no.'

Good luck.

[J.R. Hudson]

I agree in that finding a loaction where you can get the shots and not draw attention to yourself; however it might kill you to contact the secuirty department at the airpost and find out if you can get access. Approach them as a filmmaker and you never know what they will do for you.

[David Jimerson]

Including charging you an arm and a leg for a "permit."

[Speezy]

Hah! Doesn't help that I'm based in NYC either. Maybe if I wear a Krispy Kreme Donuts shirt perhaps?