Oh... my location looks similar to a Hollywood film.

D

DDirector

Veteran
So, I am working on this movie and I've come up with several cool ideas and I have this great location in mind.
But, after seeing it, it looks very familiar. It looks like a scene from the Batman movie.

Not only that, but I have a kidnapper, and he is wearing a mask, and it happens to be a bad clown looking clown mask. I guess you can say its somewhat similar to the Joker.

Well, I've honestly never seen Batman. Yes, I haven't.
So, I never knew about the room being very similar looking. I was told by a friend it looks similar to Batman. So, i searched some pictures up and it is really similar.
*I'm talking about the small white brick room.

What do you think about using a location that is similar to a popular movie? Will people think that I am trying to copy a location of another movie when I never really intended to?

The location looks too awesome to pass on, but its just so similar looking to Batman.
 
Just curious. If you haven't seen the movie, how do you KNOW it looks similar?

So make it look different.

Own the location.
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Exactly. Don't use the same angles, well, the one from the movie you haven't seen, LOL.
 
Doc Bernard said:
Just curious. If you haven't seen the movie, how do you KNOW it looks similar?

Exactly. Don't use the same angles, well, the one from the movie you haven't seen, LOL.
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I've seen pictures. As I said before, I was told it looks like it came from Batman and found out it looks the very similar.
So, thats how I know that it looks the similar. ;)
 
Then this is where you need to get creative. Do it in a way, that the viewer does not say "ooh, looks like Batman". You want them to say "wow, that looked great" Coordinate with the production team, see how it's going to be colored, get with the camera department and ask what the angles are going to be and how it affects your scenery.

Another area of concern, but one you may not have any control over.......the talent. Not too many people went to see Batman just to see the backdrops and sets. Most people went to see the the story unfold, and that is the responsibility of the direction and the delivery.

Just a couple of things to think about. This craft is so interconnected to every department. LOL, and you thought film-making was easy.
 
Use the great location for a different scene instead?

Sadly, some people will automatically judge a similar looking scene as being a ripoff even when it isn't.

And why not hire the Batman DVD and judge for yourself how accidentally similar it and your planned shots really are?
 
There are locations that are re-used over and over by different productions, precisely because they're film production-friendly. I shot a spot in a warehouse that Inception also used, and since then I've also recognized it in two commercials and a TV series. Only production people who have shot there before would notice.
 
It doesn't matter if it's intentional or not, if it appears to the casual viewer that you "ripped off" the look, then in their minds you did. You gotta change it up. I once shot a civil war scene where a soldier held a musket over his shoulder out of camera range. This cast a shadow over the ground over another actor. Even though it was an authentic civil war musket shadow, in the end all anyone else saw was an authentic boom pole shadow. I still catch hell for that one. It doesn't matter the back story, the *only* thing that matters is what's on the screen.

My advice from a producer perspective is: what is so damned important about that room, what else will do instead?

My advice from a director perspective is: try a creative shakeup. What is it psychologically you are trying achieve with that location? Try a creative exercise where you invert what you want with a location that is 180 degrees different. In other words, cast against type with your location. Instead of a bland bunker location, what if it's a field? A field of flowers? A church? It might be ironic. It might just add more depth. Or it might not - but it couldn't hurt to try. The trick is to free up your attachments and experiment in your mind without bias.
 
dcarstens said:
There are locations that are re-used over and over by different productions, precisely because they're film production-friendly. I shot a spot in a warehouse that Inception also used, and since then I've also recognized it in two commercials and a TV series. Only production people who have shot there before would notice.
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Same with a hospital set I was on once. Seen it 5 more times in other productions.
 
j said:
I once shot a civil war scene where a soldier held a musket over his shoulder out of camera range. This cast a shadow over the ground over another actor. Even though it was an authentic civil war musket shadow, in the end all anyone else saw was an authentic boom pole shadow. I still catch hell for that one. It doesn't matter the back story, the *only* thing that matters is what's on the screen.
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For a lesson in shadow puppetry in film, I'd recommend "The Third Man"(1948)

Who the hell knows what that shadow portends... but it can't be good... but in most cases, there is a 'payoff' where the viewer does have the producer of the shadow revealed.

Sort of like telling a joke, and not giving the punchline... In you example, you set up for the shadow, the main joke line, but didn't give the punchline that clarifies the origin of the shadow.


The-Third-Man.jpg
 
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