How do I get access to a news van and News camera?? Indie film maker

[Crossroads Films]

Hello, Our script for our film requires various items (news van, news camera, police officer, police car, fire truck, mini marts, offices)...I was just wondering if anybody has experience in finding locations or getting items?

 

[deltoidjohn]

What is your budget? That will largely influence how you should go about sourcing theses items, or even if you should. News cameras can be rented from plenty of places or you can pick up an old Betacam unit on eBay fairly cheap. You can just use any old van and get stickers made up to place on the side and make it look like like a news van.

Also, for any shoot involving any characters playing emergency services personel, be sure you contact both the police and the relevent emergency services to notify them of your intentions. You should also read up on local laws and contact a lawyer regarding the situation, espescially if the shoot is happening in public, because it might be illegal to imitate a Police Officer in some areas.

If you are not operating on a budget which allows you to hire all these items from a studio, and shoot in a closed area (either with roadblocks or in a rented outdoor set) then my advice would be to change your script so it's less complicated. Use sirens and flashing lighting to suggest the presence of Fire Brigade and Police vehicles without actually showing them, and avoid wide shots that will reveal the whole scene.

It's also worth mentioning that here in Australia we have a volunteer Rural Fire Service. This is a volunteer-run service which assists in community projects such as backburning for bushfire prevention, rubbish incineration, community education, etc. They also assist in emergency response and have a lot of the same inventory as the emergency fire and rescue services. You might want to look up if you have a similar service in your area as they might be able to you out.

On the other hand, you could just ignore everything I've said and try and shoot the scene in public using your own props and costumes. That way you'll probably cause mass public hysteria and get real police, fire-trucks and news crews turning up to your shoot.