From location to location, project to project, Film Scouts are creatures of movement. It can be difficult to find time to stop and look at some of the tech, software and tools for film location scouting that are out there to help make life a little easier and faster. It’s an ever-changing landscape and we hope the below are some ideas that can help.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). While sometimes getting a bad rap and used as a catch-all phrase for the latest innovations in technology AI and ML can perform useful tasks that normally require human intelligence or learning. You can use AI and ML to automate, optimize, or personalize your film location scouting tasks, such as scheduling, budgeting, invoicing, reporting, or marketing. For example, you can use AI to create smart calendars or reminders for your film location visits or trips, or you can use ML to analyse your film location preferences or feedback and suggest the best options for you.
The list of AI uses is ever-growing so it’s worth doing a little research to see if what you need might be other there.
Apps: There are a wide range of apps out there to help you create, organise, or share your film location lists, notes, images, or videos, or to access, manage, or communicate with your film location contacts, contracts, or schedules. Remember many of these integrate to save you time and energy.
🌤️ SunCalc is an app that shows sun movement and sunlight phases during the given day at a given location. You can use SunCalc to see sun positions at sunrise, specified time and sunset. You can also see the variation of sun trajectories during the year. SunCalc can help you plan and optimize your film location lighting and exposure. For example, you can use SunCalc to find out when is the golden hour or blue hour at your film location, or how long is the shadow length at a certain time of the day.
📸 Some can help with making the most out of your photography / to create and share your film location mood boards or storyboards.
🖼️ Canva is an app that allows you to create graphics and designs using photos, templates or from scratch. You can use Canva to edit, crop, rotate, or add filters or effects to your film location photos. You can also use Canva to create mood boards, neighbourhood notices, flyers, or presentations for your film location projects.
Hardware: A not-so-new but very useful piece of tech is drones. Use them to scout, survey, or document film locations from different angles, heights, or perspectives, or to create aerial shots or scenes for your project. For example, you can use drones to fly over a mountain range or a desert island without risking your life, or you can use drones to shoot a chase scene or a battle scene from above.
Our community: It’s worth noting that there is a third way to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and innovations in film location scouting, and that’s through crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is a method of soliciting, receiving, or evaluating film location ideas, proposals, or submissions from various sources like online communities, platforms, or networks. You can use crowdsourcing to get film location suggestions from your social media followers or to receive feedback on your location choices from peers or experts. There are some amazing Facebook Groups out there that are supportive and helpful – it’s worth checking them out and getting connected to your community.
The above is just a drop in the ocean when it comes to some of the tools for film location scouting that are available to us at our fingertips. If you have some, you’d like to recommend for us to share please let us know. We’ll endeavour to bring you regular blogs on what resources are out there to help, and of course the team at Location HQ are only a phone call away. 😊