shooting inside of a car any tips or suggestions?

[billygraydon]

I will be shooting a short film that takes place inside of a car is there anything I should be aware of ahead of time, any tips that will make filming easier, links, suggestions...etc basically I am asking, if anyone has anything to offer please do.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chris Santucci]

A car that's moving or standing still?

With actors?

Day or night?

The easiest way is to shoot when the ambient light (sun) is coming through the windshield. That way you won't have to worry so much about the variance in level between inside and outside.

Some people put ND gel on the windows to control the variance in level, but that also depends on whether you're lighting the actors which is generally done through the windshield or from the dashboard area.

You can tape lav mics to the ceiling (if it's framed out) or to the seats, depending upon where the actors are pointing their sound holes.

.

 

[clang]

Watch out for unwanted glass reflections. And if the car's engine is on, watch out for possible terrible sound.

And where will the camera be? Sure, it may be possible to film from other seats in the car, but that restricts your shots a lot. And shooting from outside the car (presuming it's moving) brings a whole bunch of new problems re camera mounts, safety, etc.

So plan your shots. I suggest doing some script read-throughs with temporary actors actually in a car, just to identify problems before you shoot for real.