Evan Kubota wrote:"Like when we shot, it was clear that management would give us up rather than take the heat for giving permission, so we had to be very careful."
Exactly. So why get their 'permission' in the first case, when it will blow over at the first whiff of legal trouble?
Hmmm, well how about the gate is locked and we needed to drive about 6 or 7 cars and production trucks in, we needed to know where there was power, where the restrooms were, what areas we could or could not walk on, park our vehicles, etc. While it is pretty certain that the families would not show up in the middle of the night during the shoot, the night watchman is certainly going to call the management at the first sign of a 2000 watt quartz light switching on. Getting permission from the management minimizes the chance of us getting shut down with actors and crew members on the payroll for the evening. But, beyond that, I guess there's no reason to ask for permission at all! ;)
interesting discussion, I'm following it with much interest since I did some shooting in such a place recently. Anticipating difficulties I picked a time when really nobody was there, was well prepared and filmed the needed shots quickly without to much of a ruckus.
No harm done to anybody, but I wanted the film done and saw no use in entering probably endless disussions and waking up sleeping dogs. Will somebody ever sue me? No idea, but I REALLY doubt it very very much, since I am paranoid and took precautions 8)
But then I had no crew and trucks and mobile power plants..
In the end it depends on your style of shooting and footprint, but I prefer getting the stuff done and move on, using common sense like not filming a close-up of a fresh grave with nameplate or the people coming to care for some graves..
A lot depends on crew size, or as jean puts it, "footprint" - nice term.
Out in Etobicoke where I grew up, there are two pioneer graveyards. One is tiny, surrounded by newer chain link fence, then ancient wrought iron fence, and much over-growth. Still very accessible.
The other is a real item - it's in the middle of some highway on ramps/over passes. Quite the location, and the gate is usually sitting wide open for visitors. No church or even grounds keeper house, just the 'stones.
I have some old S8 footage of it, which I'll pull out and grab some frames off of, just for fun.
