Casting dead people

lovefilm

lovefilm

Active member
I'm planning to shoot some scenes at a cemetary that might involve the tomb and the name of the deceased person. Of course, I'll give the credits but I'm wondering if this is legal. Do I have to notify the relatives of the deceased person about this? I'm thinking about using special effects also but I'm not an FX expert and don't have a big budget to pay for one :undecided
 
it's probably legal, but could be offensive - would you want your granny's grave used as the backdrop for a zombie film?

personally i'd try to shoot with shallow depth of field (so your actors are in focus but any tombstone lettering is out of focus, and use fake tombstones for any close ups
 
Peter Jackson had som trouble when he was filming in a cemitary when doing Braindead

I found this on wiki.

In a lawsuit, Bradley v Wingnut Films Ltd [1993] 1 NZLR 415, it was alleged that the comedy horror film Brain Dead had infringed the privacy of the plaintiffs by containing pictures of the plaintiff's family tombstone. The tombstone appeared on the film for less than 14 seconds. It never appeared in its entirety, only the letters "BRA" were visible behind a person sitting on the wall at the side of the plot. After reviewing the New Zealand judicial authorities on privacy, Gallen J stated: the present situation in New Zealand ... is that there are three strong statements in the High Court in favour of the existence of such a tort in this country and an acceptance by the Court of Appeal that the concept is at least arguable. This case became one of the series of cases which contributed to the introduction of Tort of Invasions of Privacy in New Zealand.
 
You might be able to just shoot the backside of the headstones, but you will still have to deal with the cemetary and get permission.
 
Yeah go with what Capt Quirk says, when i enquired about this they gave me an old worn down cemetary or two to film at. Said I may do whatever I like put be respective etc. You'd be suprised though how much some co-operatoin could get you instead of just filming rogue. Interesting title for a thread btw.
 
Very simple matter to shoot back of stones and add lettering in post. AE tracking should suffice once suitably aged letters have been mocked in photoshop. If close enough you may need 3D "chiseled" letters.
 
Iceviking said:
Peter Jackson had som trouble when he was filming in a cemitary when doing Braindead

I found this on wiki.

In a lawsuit, Bradley v Wingnut Films Ltd [1993] 1 NZLR 415, it was alleged that the comedy horror film Brain Dead had infringed the privacy of the plaintiffs by containing pictures of the plaintiff's family tombstone. The tombstone appeared on the film for less than 14 seconds. It never appeared in its entirety, only the letters "BRA" were visible behind a person sitting on the wall at the side of the plot. After reviewing the New Zealand judicial authorities on privacy, Gallen J stated: the present situation in New Zealand ... is that there are three strong statements in the High Court in favour of the existence of such a tort in this country and an acceptance by the Court of Appeal that the concept is at least arguable. This case became one of the series of cases which contributed to the introduction of Tort of Invasions of Privacy in New Zealand.
Click to expand...

Do you know if he gets away with it?
 
Ki-Ki said:
Yeah go with what Capt Quirk says, when i enquired about this they gave me an old worn down cemetary or two to film at. Said I may do whatever I like put be respective etc. You'd be suprised though how much some co-operatoin could get you instead of just filming rogue. Interesting title for a thread btw.
Click to expand...

How did you find the information? and did you have to tell the relatives of the deceased person? Thanks for complementing the title :).
 
Quote:Originally Posted by Ki-Ki
Yeah go with what Capt Quirk says, when i enquired about this they gave me an old worn down cemetary or two to film at. Said I may do whatever I like put be respective etc. You'd be suprised though how much some co-operatoin could get you instead of just filming rogue. Interesting title for a thread btw.

How did you find the information? and did you have to tell the relatives of the deceased person? Thanks for complementing the title :).
Click to expand...

I contacted the local Film Commision, in my case it was the 'South Wales Film Commision, British Isles' there quite helpfull. Normally every town or city has one. Where they have an index of places to shoot, facilities, list of local cast and crew etc although each area has there own variation.

I didn't have to tell anyone no, because where i filmed turned out to be so bad you couldnt even work out the lettering on the gravestones. I wanted to film in a cemetary well looked over, but where i did it was totally left to the dogs so to speak. It's probably dating back to like the 15th, 16th centuary which is quite sad all the same.

Edit: Where do you live?
 
Interesting. I've just finished filming my first short, and for some scenes we used a graveyard. The vicar was very co-operative, even gave us a list of possible clashes.
We needed a gravestone to fall on someone, so we get a friend (Profesional scenic artist) to paint one to look real, she did a great job.
We BTW being Ealing Film and Video Makers, based in Greenford, W London.
Cheers,
Dave
 
Ki-Ki said:
I contacted the local Film Commision, in my case it was the 'South Wales Film Commision, British Isles' there quite helpfull. Normally every town or city has one. Where they have an index of places to shoot, facilities, list of local cast and crew etc although each area has there own variation.

I didn't have to tell anyone no, because where i filmed turned out to be so bad you couldnt even work out the lettering on the gravestones. I wanted to film in a cemetary well looked over, but where i did it was totally left to the dogs so to speak. It's probably dating back to like the 15th, 16th centuary which is quite sad all the same.

Edit: Where do you live?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I live in Hawaii. I intend to use the deceased person's name but it looks like I'll be in a lot of troubles if I use a real name. I'm thinking about creating a fake tombstone now. Have you finished your film yet? If you have, can I take a look?
 
daveswan said:
Interesting. I've just finished filming my first short, and for some scenes we used a graveyard. The vicar was very co-operative, even gave us a list of possible clashes.
We needed a gravestone to fall on someone, so we get a friend (Profesional scenic artist) to paint one to look real, she did a great job.
We BTW being Ealing Film and Video Makers, based in Greenford, W London.
Cheers,
Dave
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about making a tombstone with cardboards now. I don't want to get haunted by real ghosts besides all the legal troubles :)[SIZE=-1] [/SIZE]
 
We did a cemetary scene and it was in the release that we couldn't show actual, full names. It was more than easy enough to shoot around it. We even had people laying up against the tombstones and such. Play with your depth of field a bit and it makes it even easier. Back way the hell up and zoom in. :)

Also, Hawaii is a place of spirit, so you don't want to go treading on local customs.

j.
 
For 'Afterlife' we actually got a REAL headstone, engraved with our deceased character's name -- for FREE. We contacted a local monument company. They had a gravestone they'd made a mistake on. They were planning to bust it up and use it for cornerstones. Instead, they engraved the opposite side. Then they brought it out to the shooting location, set it up, and took it away a couple days later -- all for screen credit.

Check with your local monument companies. Maybe you can get the same kind of deal.
 
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