What makes a great film location? Period Perfect.

In the 3rd part of our series of what makes a great film location, we look at a fast diminishing attribute - an untouched interior. Most of us when we buy a house to live in want to modernise it; whether by knocking down walls, putting in central heating, replacing old floors or investing in the latest Italian kitchen. This is natural - unless you are using your property as a means of making a living through being a filming and photo-shoot location then your first priority is going to be making a modern and comfortable home. 

However, the trend to modernise means that there is a big shortage of really authentic period interiors. This is a shame as there is always demand for locations which are "period perfect".  Just think about the number of period dramas and films which you see on TV or in the cinema - all of them will have been filmed on location in houses where original interiors have been preserved. 

The interest for period perfect properties is also extending from Georgian and Victorian (and earlier) to more recent decades like the 30's 60's 70's and 80's.  In fact at Lavish Locations barely a week goes by when we are not scouring our database for a house with a retro feel (complete with avacado bathroom suite) or a typical 1980's apartment.

So before you get rid of all your period features why not consider turning them to your advantage by creating a location which is true to the period the house was built? Add in some classic furniture and you could be on to a real money spinner as far as location work is concerned. 

Click here to see some great examples of sought after "period perfect" locations. 

What makes a great film location? Size matters!

Lavish Locations is constantly on the look-out for great new locations for film, TV and photo-shoots, but when location owners send us in their pictures, what are the attributes we look for which tell us whether it will be a successful location for filming? 

In last week's blog we looked at the first aspect of a successful film location - its location. In this week's blog we look at a second and vital aspect that which will spell the difference between lots of work or virtually none: the size of the location - in particular its key rooms.

You've probably seen footage of filming on TV or even witnessed a film being made on location. If you have you will have noticed how the action is often just taking place in a small corner of the room, but that the rest of the room is made up of cameras, lighting, crew members (who can number well over 30 for a typical film) and equipment, all of which can dwarf the actual scene being filmed. 

Now try to imagine all that in a typical 12 ft x 15 ft living room and you can see where the problems begin. Filming needs space, space to get the right perspective, the right shot, and the right movement, all of which is impossible if everybody is crammed into a small room. 

So the next rule of a great film location is really good sized rooms, whether they are kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms bedrooms or bathrooms, as far as filming is concerned the bigger the better. 

If you are considering registering your house with a location agency then take a realistic look at the size of your key rooms. If they are spacious and can accommodate a film crew then it will certainly be an advantage when it comes to being proposed for film and TV jobs. 

Look out for the next in our series of what makes a great film location and maximise your location's  chances of being selected for filming and TV.

What makes a great film location? Its location!

Every day Lavish Locations is called by hopeful property owners wanting to register their property with our location agency. Although we can never entirely predict which properties will be successful, there are some attributes that we look for which will almost certainly mean that your location will be considered for TV or a feature film, rather than immediately ruled out. In the first of our series: "What makes for a great film location?" we look at the first and one of the most important factors: its location!

It is a sad fact that many beautiful buildings are overlooked time and time again just because they are too far from London - or to be more precise, too far from the film studios west of London. The reason isn't anything other than money. If a location is too far from the production's base then the crew needs travel expenses and hotel rooms  - and for 50 people or more, that can prove too expensive for anything other than the highest budget movie. So where is the ideal location for film work? Just imagine that central London is the centre of a clock face and that the numbers are around the home counties just outside the M25. If the hands of the clock are saying 20 to 10 and you live between those hands then you are in perfect film location territory.  If you are in London, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire then you have a much better chance than most of getting picked as a film or TV location. 

You will see from the Lavish Locations website that although we specialise in locations in the South East of the UK, we do have plenty of locations across the country. We will always consider exceptional properties and if your location is offering something that cannot be had close to London then there is a good chance that we will accept it.

Over the next few weeks we will be telling you about the other all so important attributes we look for which tell us whether your location has star potential. Next time: "Size matters!"

 

Popular location styles - minimal

We are often asked what style of location we are looking for in our library and our answer is always the same: for filming anything goes and you just can't predict what the director will be looking for - it depends on the film. That is why the Lavish Locations library is full of all types of film location from stylish loft apartments to derelict buildings.

However, when we take the call from the location manager or producer there are certain styles of property that we are asked for over and over again.

The first style we are going to look at is "minimal" and the Lavish Locations library boasts a large number of beautiful architect designed minimal buildings. However, there is one building that stands out amongst all others and is exclusive to Lavish Locations: Skywood House. Skywood was designed by its architect owner Graham Phillips and is one of the most successful locations for filming and photo-shoots in the UK. Constantly in demand from producers and photographers who are seeking the ultimate photogenic building, Skywood has starred in numerous films, TV dramas, commercials and photo-shoots.

Click here to see more Skywood images on the Lavish Locations website and see why it retains its popularity year after year.

Choosing the right agency to represent your location

If you type "location agency" into the internet search engines you'll see a long list of results, so how do you choose an agency which is right for you? In our view there are 4 factors to consider when making your choice:

1. Size. Location agencies come in in all shapes and sizes - some have only a handful of locations on their books while others like Lavish Locations have thousands. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The smaller agencies tend to specialize in stylish properties for the photographic industry. If your house is very stylish and fits their look then you could do well in a smaller agency. However, if you also want to get film work then these are not the agencies for you as film industry professionals need a much larger and more diverse range of locations to meet their needs. The advantage of a locations agency like Lavish Locations is that our clients span the film and photographic industries and your location can be considered for both.

2. Clients. You need to make sure that the agency you choose has lots of clients so that there is the potential for lots of work. Most agencies publish their credits on their website - take a look and see whether it is a long list. If it isn't, you might have to question whether they are going to give your location the exposure you are after. 

3. Specialism. As well as specialising in film or photographic, there are lots of other ways that locations agencies differ. Some will specialise regionally- although Lavish Locations has locations all over the UK on our books, our real specialism is in the South East of England. If your location is in the West Country or Scotland, you may do better with a location agency that specialises in that area. They can also specialise by property type - Lavish Locations is particularly known for our residential locations, whereas others may be better known for offices or industrial buildings. Try to match your location agency to the type of location you are registering.

4. Website. Take a close look at the locations agencies' websites before making your choice as this is going to be the shop window for your location. How good is their search function? How easy is it to find a location in the right area with the right features? Remember, if you find this difficult their clients will likely find it difficult too. Lavish Locations completely redesigned our website last year after consulting with our clients so that we could build it around their needs. Our website is widely considered to have the best search function in the business.

Once you've done your research try to get some recommendations from others you know who are already using their property as a location. At Lavish Locations we find that most of the locations which register with us have done so on the recommendation of a film professional or location owner. To us, every referral or recommendation is the best compliment we could receive!

How is the credit crunch affecting the film and photographic industries?

The bad news is all around us, the consumer isn't spending, unemployment is rising and companies are drastically cutting their advertising budgets. The film and photographic industries can't escape this reality - even today we learned that ITV is cutting 600 jobs and a number of its programs, blaming the fall in advertising revenue as their primary motive.

But it isn't all bad news for Lavish Locations. We've seen two clear trends emerging over the last few months: first that volumes are not being affected as much as budgets and second, that we are seeing a large number of new and high quality locations coming on to our books.

Our clients, whether they be a film production companies, stills production companies or editorial magazines are still shooting on location. However, their budgets are much tighter than they have been, in some cases coming down by 10% or more. Fortunately our location owners are not holding out for unrealistic location fees and in almost all cases have been prepared to negotiate to meet our clients' budgets.

The second trend which has to be great for the industry is the number of new and original locations which have been registering with Lavish Locations. Lavish Locations has featured in numerous newspapers, magazines and websites in articles designed to help people increase their incomes through new and imaginative ways. What better way than to use your house as a film or photo-shoot location? Not only do you get a nice cheque for your trouble (even with reduced budgets you can still expect to clear a minimum of several hundred pounds upwards) you get the opportunity to get a real glimpse behind the scenes of a fascinating business.

So even with the recession in full force, there are still lots of reasons to be optimistic in the film and photographic business with our clients benefiting from lots of new and original locations being registered, and our locations, if they are prepared to work for reduced budgets, still benefiting from lots of work.

Keep reading our blog to learn how the changing business climate will affect the locations business.