Shooting in Cemetery

Hawk Teflon

Hawk Teflon

Veteran
(Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, but didn't know which area to post)

I'm planning an upcoming shoot that the script calls for a cemetery, but I don't know the proper procedure for that. The scene is about 4 minutes long or so, so it's not just a walk through or anything. What steps do I need to go through to make sure that it's done correctly. I'm not talking about lighting / camera work / etc, but contacting the proper people. I didn't know if anyone had experience in this and could share what they've learned.
 
Step one: contact the people in charge of maintaining or who own the cemetery. If you get caught without permission, you are going to be a local pariah, and possibly facing trespassing charges. And any footage shot could be subject to seizure for violation of privacy, unauthorized useage of names, etc. Or open you up for lawsuits.

A cemetery is an area of profound emotion, and people do not like it if something is done that they might consider distasteful or disrespectful of their loved ones interred there. Not saying that's what you are going to do, but it comes down to perception. What could be perceived of your actions?

Get permission, most cemeteries have a groundskeeping staff. Start by asking them who you need to talk to. If there is a chapel on the grounds, ask there.
 
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Yeah, what Doc said. I did this very recently for the cemetary scene in MARIANNE.

Different churches have different rules about it, but from what I understand, shooting a church interior is a much bigger deal than shooting an exterior or the cemetary.

We also needed a closeup on a tombstone with the name Marianne on it (we only needed the name, not the date or the family name or anything) so I went out to a cemetary, called the people who were in charge of it, and asked them to find me a stone with that name that nobody living owned. They were glad to help. Saved me a bunch of cash so I wouldn't have to have one made for just a very shot closeup.
 
I´m in the same boat, thou I have to wait for snow (since covering the place with film snow is not exactly what they want.) My shot includes a crane, and a closeup of the stone. We make a fake stone that we can put over the real stone. Maybe it helped a bit that our family grave is there, so we could use our own grave for the shot.

Frank
 
I found that one of the keys to shooting in a cemetery is letting them know that you are NOT shooting a zombie/horror flick (assuming you aren't). They get people trying to do that all the time. Go down in person, with a copy of the scene, and offer to let them read it.

Act like a respectful professional and you increase your odds tenfold.
 
If needed go to local county tax assessor's office. Describe the property to a clerk. Most likely he or she can track down the proper owners of the cemetery. This will only be an address for tax notices but you can easily find a number from there.
 
Hey guys, thank you very much!

No, this isn't for The Jones' (zombie flick), but just a short that I'm working on. It's just a scene where a girl is talking to the tombstone to reflect on their past.
 
Jawa Ex Machina said:
Different churches have different rules about it, but from what I understand, shooting a church interior is a much bigger deal than shooting an exterior or the cemetary.
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The one time I ever shot in a church, I simply said, "Hey we're doing project for school and I was wondering could we shoot a scene here." The nun asked what the scene was, I told her, and she said okay and went on about her business. She was totally cool. Keep in mind it was a few blocks from Columbia and doubt I was the first to do some scenes there.

-Nate
 
Nathyn said:
The one time I ever shot in a church, I simply said, "Hey we're doing project for school and I was wondering could we shoot a scene here." The nun asked what the scene was, I told her, and she said okay and went on about her business. She was totally cool. Keep in mind it was a few blocks from Columbia and doubt I was the first to do some scenes there.

-Nate
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Yeah it's all very different. The church I needed to feature in Marianne wouldn't allow us to shoot anything interior, but they let us use the exterior and cemetary (luckily, since the film is shot on location and that particular church is important to me and the story).
Instead we had to shoot the interior at another church about 2 hours away by car, and they were totally cool about it. They even helped us get a ton of free extras, and we got the priest and everything (it's a funeral scene).
So yeah, it depends on the church.
 
The church I needed to feature in Marianne wouldn't allow us to shoot anything interior, but they let us use the exterior and cemetary (luckily, since the film is shot on location and that particular church is important to me and the story).

I'm not sure I get this - I mean, yeah, I can see asking for permission if you have your gear/crew on private property, but the exteriors by themselves shouldn't be a problem. For example, if I'm standing on a public street, I can shoot into your bedroom window and record and publish whatever I want - if your property is accessible from a public space, I don't have to ask for permission. Of course, if I were to as much as set a foot on your property while shooting, well, that's different. So depending on from where you were shooting, you may or may not have had to ask the Church to shoot exteriors.
 
OldCorpse said:
The church I needed to feature in Marianne wouldn't allow us to shoot anything interior, but they let us use the exterior and cemetary (luckily, since the film is shot on location and that particular church is important to me and the story).

I'm not sure I get this - I mean, yeah, I can see asking for permission if you have your gear/crew on private property, but the exteriors by themselves shouldn't be a problem. For example, if I'm standing on a public street, I can shoot into your bedroom window and record and publish whatever I want - if your property is accessible from a public space, I don't have to ask for permission. Of course, if I were to as much as set a foot on your property while shooting, well, that's different. So depending on from where you were shooting, you may or may not have had to ask the Church to shoot exteriors.
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No, we were on the church's property.
 
I remember in my buddies hometown they'd drink around the firepit for a while and then wonder over to the cemetary for a midnight stroll and my buddy's friend would point out the headstones of her family and friends.

You might want to try a small town and use the flattery offensive to get a location. Chances are, the person you ask, knows everyone buried there and would think it a hoot that you're filming a movie there.
 
Last time I shot in a church it was a sequence for a documentary on drag queens and cross-dressing, hosted by one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

I thought it was remarkably open-minded, and very generous for a Roman Catholic congregation to welcome us in to do that.
 
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