Challenges for film location scouts, and how to overcome them

Rail Estate:

So to better understand your role as a location scout, what is one of the biggest challenges that you regularly face?

Adam, Location Scout:

Communication. Getting hold of the actual owner, the actual person that’s going to make decisions, that’s the hardest part. Especially if there has never been any filming on the premises before, the owner can understandably be a bit sceptical about what’s going to happen.

Rail Estate: 

Okay, so there needs to be coherence between the owner and the person who you’re talking to?

Adam, Location Scout:

Yes, but that’s the problem: it’s getting through to the right person, because you can send email after email and not hear anything.

It sounds crazy because you’re essentially offering somebody money to use an area or something of theirs. But sometimes you’ll get somebody who’s in charge of answering these emails, who will answer yes or no on behalf of the actual owner. And it will turn out that the owner won’t actually know anything about it.

“That’s the problem: it’s getting through to the right person, because you can send email after email and not hear anything.”

Rail Estate: 

And what is generally the best way to solve this problem?

Adam, Location Scout:

You can often ask somebody else that works in the industry if they’ve been to that area and what to look out for. If there has been filming there in the past, then they’re up to speed. 

Sometimes solutions appear out of the blue. For instance, I worked with a lady who had a warehouse that we filmed at, and she wasn’t the easiest person to deal with. I got pre-warned, so I could better prepare myself. 

So this warehouse was perfect. The Director and producer loved it. And I managed to get it for a snip. 

The way that I managed to source it did take a bit of luck. So I sent a synopsis of the script to the warehouse owner and I got lucky. It turned out that the character was from the same country that this lady was from. So she liked it. Stories like that make this job feel special sometimes. The film that it was for turned out to be quite a hit in the short film industry.

Rail Estate: 

What other obstacles have you run into before?

Adam, Location Scout:

Other difficult things could include working relationships with the crew, or you could be given very minimal information about what kind of location you need to find, which makes it hard.

At this stage in my career, I haven’t led massive blockbusters or anything, I’ve only worked on them as an assistant. I’ve predominantly been in charge when working on short films. With short films, there’s challenge in having communication between you and the director and the producer about what the budget is, what it is that they’re at, what they’re looking for, and then giving them options.

Rail Estate: 

Do you have any success stories of times when you found a location that fit perfectly?

Adam, Location Scout:

The one that comes to mind is the warehouse example for a short film. It’s actually harder to scout a location for a short film than it is for a feature film, because you’ve got money to throw at a location for a feature film.

When you’re working for a short film and you’ve got a tight budget, and you find, let’s say, a warehouse, and they tell you how much it is, there’s then the additional challenge of using your own selling skills. You’re not only trying to find somewhere for options, you’re trying to find somewhere that fits in the budget as well.

“It’s actually harder to scout a location for a short film than it is for a feature film.”

Rail Estate: 

So what are the highs of your job?

Adam, Location Scout:

The high point is finding a location that fits the brief, everybody is happy, and the filming goes plain sailing.

Rail Estate:

And what about the lows?

Adam, Location Scout:

The low is not getting enough credit. The location department definitely doesn’t get enough credit in the film industry. Crew walk onto a location and don’t even think about how this location’s come about, they don’t think about the prep.

For example, I worked on a project over the summer, which took three weeks of location prep.

When it came to filming, the crew arrived for a day and a half to film, and that was it. 

I think that areas such as camera, costume and sound tend to get much more credit than location does.

Rail Estate:

What happens if a perfect location is too far from the production office? How do the crew get there and where do they stay?

Adam, Location Scout:

The general rule is that if a location is more than 30 miles away from the production office, the crew have to be put up in hotels. But it’s always negotiable. They won’t put all the crew up, so it depends on where you are in the chain.

Rail Estate:

How does this impact your role?

Adam, Location Scout:

Sometimes you can be encouraged to find places that are close to the production office. But, it’s more about matching the brief. It’s best to give them options. 

So for instance, when I went to film school, the film school was the production office. And that was in Beaconsville near High Wycombe, and we ended up shooting in Yorkshire. It was the furthest that any grad film has been away from school. Obviously the tutors were quite apprehensive about it, but we made it work. But it’s a bit different on a feature. 

The key thing to do is to give the producers options to choose from. It also depends on the budget. If they’ve got money to burn, paying for a hotel is a drop in the ocean. It really just all depends on what the budget is. 

In London, it is more likely that you’ll be given the task to find something within the 30 mile range. This could be something like “find a house that’s vacant within 25 miles of the office.”

Rail Estate:

And how would you begin sourcing that?

Adam, Location scout:

Sometimes you find the house first, and then make it appear run-down. Other times you can go to estate agents and find someone who is currently renovating. Or you could get in touch with the council, if a council house is what you’re looking for. Or you could even knock on doors, and see if you get lucky.

The hard bit is when they ask how many people will be coming, and you have to say 150.

Rail Estate:

What types of locations are particularly difficult to find to film at?

Adam, Location scout:

Trains. Trains and train stations are really difficult logistics-wise. That was one thing that we struggled with on a short film, was getting permission to shoot on a train down in Buckinghamshire. 

We had to ask the train line directly and explain what it was that we were looking to do. That part is key, because if there is a lot of action or guns, you need to let them know early.

But this particular scene was pretty straightforward, it was just her staring out into the window. Because the film was low budget, we just shot it when the train ran. It went to a dead end and then came back again. So they allowed us to film from the time it went from one station to the next, and then back to the same station, so we had about seven minutes between each platform.

Rail Estate:

So do you have a limited number of takes on trains?

Adam, Location scout:

It’s not just that, there’s also budget constraints. So if you need to extend your filming time, it will cost a lot more. If you have a scene with no dialogue, you should be able to get it done. A scene with dialogue will take longer, and it might involve prep, which then involves more logistics, timing, days and money.

Rail Estate: 

What factors can be important when it comes to filming at train stations?

Adam, Location scout:

Things like if it’s in the countryside, or a built-up city, its history, how many lines go into that train station, how many trains run there.

It can also be good to know if there’s a ticket office, because some train stations don’t even have one anymore. There are plenty of scenes where a character goes to the ticket office and buys a ticket, so the station needs to have one.

Lots of period dramas use train stations to film at. So the historical features are important to understand.

Then you may also need to consider: Can you get a steam train on the track? How many people are allowed to stand on the platform? Are they allowed to go down this track? Are they allowed to stop at this train station?

In terms of amenities for the crew, you also need to know if there are unit bases close by. For a train station scene in a period drama for ITV, for example, you would likely have about 250 crew members, with tech vehicles coming in and out for camera and sound.

So it is a lot of organising.

Skip the difficult logistics, and use Rail Estate Search for your film location scouting!

Rail Estate facilitates filming at UK railway stations. We have teamed up with our film-friendly railway operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which has 4 train brands; Thameslink, Great Northern, Gatwick Express and Southern. 

Filming productions can use these stations in London and the South East of England as amazing locations. Whether you’re looking for a busy London station or a quiet country location, GTR has a selection of modern and traditional stations on its estate. 

Listed on our site are all the stations’ facilities, such as toilets, Wi-Fi, and ticket gates for the all-important entry shot.

As well as this, we handle the logistics, and let you skip the middleman, and the more difficult parts of location scouting.