Shooting in colleges/ University with student Production Value

J

james d

Member
Hi guys,
Has anyone got an ideas on how to cheaply shoot scenes depicting college students on site without hiring 50 or a hundred extras?

Are there any ways around this, has anyone approached a school to shoot scenes for a feature or short movie asking permission of the students(release form?).

Or is literally hiring out campus location on weekends with extras the only way.
Would love to hear peoples ideas on this,

I have even considered shooting the location bare kinda like a virtual backlot thing and then comping in stand in extras for what I got planned.
 
james d said:
Hi guys,
Has anyone got an ideas on how to cheaply shoot scenes depicting college students on site without hiring 50 or a hundred extras?

Are there any ways around this, has anyone approached a school to shoot scenes for a feature or short movie asking permission of the students(release form?).

Or is literally hiring out campus location on weekends with extras the only way.
Would love to hear peoples ideas on this,

I have even considered shooting the location bare kinda like a virtual backlot thing and then comping in stand in extras for what I got planned.
Click to expand...

Most colleges/universities will allow currently-enrolled students to use the grounds for reasonable (i.e., not going to obstruct the daily order of things or leave a mess) video production. If you're not enrolled, find a student there who's interested in "producing" your film, and then take them with you to talk to whoever you need to talk to and get the proper release to shoot on university grounds. As far as personal releases go, I don't know if it's still acceptable to put up signs saying "We're filming, and if you walk into the shot, you'll be in the film"...? You'll probably have to get individual releases if you intend to take the film to a distrib. I'm sure others know more about this than I do (and you can just search the site, there are tons of threads on the topic of release forms and legalities).

Good luck!

-EMB
 
Eric Boellner said:
Most colleges/universities will allow currently-enrolled students to use the grounds for reasonable (i.e., not going to obstruct the daily order of things or leave a mess) video production. If you're not enrolled, find a student there who's interested in "producing" your film, and then take them with you to talk to whoever you need to talk to and get the proper release to shoot on university grounds. As far as personal releases go, I don't know if it's still acceptable to put up signs saying "We're filming, and if you walk into the shot, you'll be in the film"...? You'll probably have to get individual releases if you intend to take the film to a distrib. I'm sure others know more about this than I do (and you can just search the site, there are tons of threads on the topic of release forms and legalities).


Good luck!

-EMB
Click to expand...



thanks you have put my mind at ease, I have thought of this but hearing someone else think the same makes it plausible.. Making someone a producer on the film.. Now I just got to find a suitable candidate. Editing and sound should also come into this to pull it off.

thanks!
 
We run into this fairly often (and I actually work for a University). Luckily for me every student signs a modified release form as part of their acceptance letter, so we're free to shoot wherever and whenever we want as long as it doesn't disrupt classes/education (in your case simply putting a sign up around the shooting area stating that beyond it you might end up on camera should be sufficient, but it depends on the school). For larger background/filler crowds what we've done is either get a nice day where students will definitely be outside playing frisbee, tanning, reading, etc etc and then stage a couple actors in the foreground to keep emphasis off of the background (in case one of the students happens to be staring at the camera or some other nonsense) - we typically find that students are willing to be in videos in exchange for a University shirt or gift card to the bookstore or local coffee shop (college students love freebies! use it to your advantage). In my overall experience though universities are usually pretty accommodating provided you get the proper release forms, have insurance, and go through the proper channels from the start.

Adam
 
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