When I was writing the script I was envisioning the location in my head of an abandoned warehouse. It met the criteria of the cliched "rap music video" we tried to emulate as well as would play well with our story and give plenty of obstacles for our characters to play with. The location I had in mind while writing was a location I stumbled upon outside of downtown and explored with some friends over the summer. Here are a few images from the location:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradshootsyou/7563493544/in/photostream/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradshootsyou/7563365612/in/photostream/lightbox/
So my primary goal was to get access to this exact location for use to film in. I set out one day to do some scouting by myself and get some information on the owner(s) of the building.
PARDON THE BEARDNESS
The outside of the location I had shot in previously.
I went to the location and a gentleman in a hard hat greeted me and asked "what're ya looking' for?" I asked if he knew the owners of the building and he forwarded me the information of the Events Coordinator Kris Howell. After a meet up with Kris he managed to explain the location was not fit for filming due to dangerous elements and the possibility and risk of injury with the cast and crew on filming day.
After discussing pricing options and other routes we could take, Kris suggested a different building he owned right next door to the one I had previous explored that was more suitable for the safety of our crew. I agreed to the terms without looking at the building and scheduled a meet up the next day to bring Karl Allsop along to do a run through of the script and scout the location before shoot day instead of running in completely blind.
On the drive back I viewed a few more locations that caught my eye.
Another location I found on the drive.
THE NEXT DAY
Karl Allsop and I picked up a camera and decided to go en-route to the location to get an idea of lighting scenarios and the location itself. We met with Kris Howell and he was kind enough to give us a tour of the facilities we were eyeing for the shoot as well as another location he offered to us as a contingency. The first location he showed us was an artist studio space across the street from our intended shooting spot.
After a tour of the facility we worked our way across the street and browsed the location to set our film and develop a walk-through where I could properly direct our actors. A walk through of the location can be seen at the bottom of the blog post.
Without a doubt, Karl and I developed a strong confidence in our location after our run through and i'm certainly glad we had the opportunity to do so.
A still from the run through at the location.
