how do you approach shooting in neighborhoods?

no. it's not. it's not the least bit unprofessional. it's how many news shooters get the shots they need.

There is a vast difference between news work and commercial videography. The rules are different. Even with news, they don't have full autonomy to go anywhere they want.

if we all waited for permission and clearance, NOTHING would ever get done.

And that camera assistant from 'Midnight Rider' would still be alive.

The truth is, things get done ALL THE TIME with proper permissions and clearances. I would venture to say that MOST professional productions get the necessary permissions to shoot where they need to shoot. I, for one, have shot -- with full permissions and clearances -- an extremely low budget feature in locations that included a hospital (patient room, hallway and lobby), a city cemetery (which allowed me to erect my own custom headstone), a bar/restaurant, a historic old mansion, and a professional office building (interior and exterior). None of those locations cost me a dime.

Getting proper permissions eliminated a lot of potential legal problems. And if anyone on my cast or crew had gotten injured while on any of these locations, things could have gotten VERY messy if I hadn't had permission to be there.
 
David. The OP was on a public street where he didn't need to seek permissions. It is not required so I don't know why your barking at him and comparing not seeking (un-necessary) city approval to shoot from a sidewalk to disobeying direct orders to not film on a live rail line. These situations are so different and have nothing in common.

What the OP is doing is legal.
What midnight rider did was not legal.
 
David. The OP was on a public street where he didn't need to seek permissions. It is not required so I don't know why your barking at him and comparing not seeking (un-necessary) city approval to shoot from a sidewalk to disobeying direct orders to not film on a live rail line. These situations are so different and have nothing in common.

What the OP is doing is legal.
What midnight rider did was not legal.

I never questioned that the shoot the OP wrote about was legal and proper. Clearly the OP had the permission he needed for that particular shoot.

My comments were about the statement that "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission". I objected to that blanket statement, for the reasons I've stated.
 
My comments were about the statement that "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission". I objected to that blanket statement, for the reasons I've stated.

I didn't take the OPs statement as anything more than referencing his current situation. For him it was much easier to ask forgiveness from annoyed people than to ask their permission which was not required but was suggested earlier in the thread.

If you take as a statement for every situation then I agree proper channels are the way to go for safety crew and safety of content. No clients wants to find out they can't legally use the footage they paid for.
 
I didn't take the OPs statement as anything more than referencing his current situation. For him it was much easier to ask forgiveness from annoyed people than to ask their permission which was not required but was suggested earlier in the thread.

If you take as a statement for every situation then I agree proper channels are the way to go for safety crew and safety of content. No clients wants to find out they can't legally use the footage they paid for.

I didn't take it as applying to his current situation because he HAD the permission of the reality company -- in fact, they are paying him to do what he's doing. So unless he trespasses on private property, which I have no reason to think he is, then he's completely in the right, as far as I know.

But all too many people adopt that 'easier to get forgiveness than permission' mantra to excuse trespassing on private property, putting themselves and their crew at potential risk and violating the rights of the property owners, simply because they don't want to bother taking the time and energy to do it properly. I have no reason to believe the OP does this, but there are plenty of other people who do. And doing so is both unprofessional and potentially dangerous. That's all I'm saying.
 
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