Digital Filmmaking For Kids For Dummies

PROJECT 14

Location Hunting and Props

Good locations and props can make your film look great. Finding the right locations and props for your film is important, but it’s not always as easy as it may seem.

Many of the locations in Hollywood films are stages and sets built in large studios. They do this so that they can have control over the location and so they don’t have to worry about closing off roads and public places. Of course, they have the money to do this, but as low-budget filmmakers we have to find real locations to use.

Props are any items or objects in the film that are used by the actors or that appear in the scenes. Imagine organizing all the props for a blockbuster film — it would take ages! This is why they have props departments: entire departments devoted to supplying props for the film. The props department uses the script to work out what props are needed in the film and then creates or finds those props.

Costumes are the clothes worn by the characters in the film. Again, large-scale films use costume departments to create or find the costumes needed for the film.

When writing your film, you may want to think about the locations, props, and costumes that are available to you. This will help prevent problems when it’s time to begin filming. Setting one of your scenes on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, for instance, may cause problems unless you live very close and can get permission. Setting your film in the 1800s may cause problems when looking for locations, ...