Location, Location, Location! How Filming Locations Impact Production
A good location can make or break a filming project. From big-budget Hollywood films to TV series, a filming location impacts what a director and team are able to do with their production. Think about the Devil’s Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the famous Verzasca Dam bungee jump in Goldeneye, or the various random quarries, soundstages, and other locations that have played host to Star Trek episodes.
The choice of filming locations is one of the most critical decisions a producer can make. Whether your story unfolds in the great Canadian wilderness, the stone-paved streets of Ancient Rome, or small-town America, deciding whether to film at real-life locales or in the controlled environment of a studio will shape your storytelling, influence budget and logistics, and determine many aspects of the final product.
Filming in a Studio Offers Control and Creativity
Filming on a studio set offers production teams unparalleled control over their environment. Directors and crew can use studios to design sets that are tailored specifically for what a story needs, free from unexpected interruptions or the unpredictability of being outside and wrangling with Mother Nature.
Studios are, inherently, customizable environments. They are blank canvases upon which entire worlds can be built. If your show is set on a space station, you can’t just find a real-world analog; you need to build that in a studio setting. Studios can be morphed into the perfect location with precision that might not be possible or feasible in reality.
Studio filming locations are also inherently more efficient. Everything is contained within a single site, so moving equipment and personnel becomes significantly easier. This saves time and reduces stress.
As any producer on a film project knows, time is money, and not having to deal with weather is a further boost in efficiency. Rain, snow, and other inclement weather are non-issues, and your studio environment can be lit as brightly or as dimly as you want it around the clock. Scenes filmed over several days can maintain visual continuity, and there will never be a risk that your production will have to wait days or even weeks for rain to clear up.
Studios are particularly valuable for productions requiring elaborate sets, lots of CGI, or scenes that just wouldn’t be practical to film on location. Harry Potter’s Hogwarts is a location that could only exist in a film studio.
Filming On-Location Offers True Authenticity
Go back to that Goldeneye video from the start of the blog post. It’s been about two decades since that movie came out, and isn’t that clip still stunning? Even knowing it is a trained stuntman doing movie magic and not Pierce Brosnan, your stomach can’t help but drop a little bit when he jumps into oblivion. That’s the sort of emotion that simply can’t be captured through filming on a soundstage studio set, even with the help of CGI.
Filming on-site at a real-world location can provide a level of authenticity and visual depth that’s hard to replicate. On-location shoots immerse viewers and actors alike in the story’s world, adding tangible texture to the production.
Remember the baking hot sun of Tatooine in Star Wars (actually Tunisia) or the ruins at Petra in the final scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? These locations brought authenticity to their respective films. And the adventure of The Goonies would only feel right in the lush, rainy mountains of the Oregon coast.
Real-world locations bring a sense of place that studio sets often struggle to achieve. Think about how The Lord of the Rings fans now associate the majestic landscapes of New Zealand with Middle-earth—and how the CGI-heavy Hobbit films failed to recapture that same grandeur. Could the bustling streets of Manhattan in Sex and the City have been replicated on a soundstage?
When characters interact with genuine surroundings, their performances can feel more organic. The environment becomes a character itself, adding layers to the narrative.
On-Site Filming Locations Present Budget and Logistics Challenges
On-location shoots can elevate the verisimilitude of a film, but they introduce significant logistical challenges.
Let’s say you want to film a movie scene at one of the many gorgeous villas on Italy’s Lake Como, like the producers of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. What will it cost to fly your team to Italy and put them up for the duration of the shoot, plus transport or rent equipment? Lake Como is an extremely popular tourist destination, and the Villa del Balbianello even more so. How much will it cost to get the permits and rent the entire structure out, and what if the weather during your stay doesn’t suit your scene?
Budgets for blockbuster films can range in the hundreds of millions of dollars, so perhaps if your film is big enough, this won’t be a concern. But if you’re a less-established studio that might be lucky to have a budget of a couple million dollars—if that—then you might have to reconsider your plans.
That said, some productions can benefit from partnerships with local governments or tourism boards that offer financial incentives. For instance, Canada and several US states provide tax breaks to filmmakers that make on-location shoots more affordable.
Filming Locations Can Create Audience Appeal
In a world saturated with media, and especially saturated with CGI, choosing the right filming location can make a production really stand out. Think about how fans of Game of Thrones flocked to Dubrovnik, Croatia, after it stood in as King’s Landing. For filmmakers, deciding between studio filming and on-location filming presents a challenge, and the right answer often depends on the specific needs of the story.
If you need precise control over the environment or believe you may require heavy visual effects or set manipulation, a studio production may make more sense. If you’re looking to leverage the natural majesty or historical or cultural significance of a real-world setting, however, there’s often no substitute for the real thing.
Ultimately, the right choice of filming location depends on a production’s goals, the needed resources, and the creative vision. The choice of filming location impacts every part of a production, from budget and logistics to the effect on audiences. Studios offer precision and control, while on-location shoots have no substitute when it comes to authenticity.
If you’re looking for a great studio location in the San Diego area, visit Lightz Out Studios for a well-equipped, efficient filming location for your video production.
The choice of filming locations is one of the most critical decisions a producer can make. Whether your story unfolds in the great Canadian wilderness, the stone-paved streets of Ancient Rome, or small-town America, deciding whether to film at real-life locales or in the controlled environment of a studio will shape your storytelling, influence budget and logistics, and determine many aspects of the final product.
Filming in a Studio Offers Control and Creativity
Filming on a studio set offers production teams unparalleled control over their environment. Directors and crew can use studios to design sets that are tailored specifically for what a story needs, free from unexpected interruptions or the unpredictability of being outside and wrangling with Mother Nature.
Studios are, inherently, customizable environments. They are blank canvases upon which entire worlds can be built. If your show is set on a space station, you can’t just find a real-world analog; you need to build that in a studio setting. Studios can be morphed into the perfect location with precision that might not be possible or feasible in reality.
Studio filming locations are also inherently more efficient. Everything is contained within a single site, so moving equipment and personnel becomes significantly easier. This saves time and reduces stress.
As any producer on a film project knows, time is money, and not having to deal with weather is a further boost in efficiency. Rain, snow, and other inclement weather are non-issues, and your studio environment can be lit as brightly or as dimly as you want it around the clock. Scenes filmed over several days can maintain visual continuity, and there will never be a risk that your production will have to wait days or even weeks for rain to clear up.
Studios are particularly valuable for productions requiring elaborate sets, lots of CGI, or scenes that just wouldn’t be practical to film on location. Harry Potter’s Hogwarts is a location that could only exist in a film studio.
Filming On-Location Offers True Authenticity
Go back to that Goldeneye video from the start of the blog post. It’s been about two decades since that movie came out, and isn’t that clip still stunning? Even knowing it is a trained stuntman doing movie magic and not Pierce Brosnan, your stomach can’t help but drop a little bit when he jumps into oblivion. That’s the sort of emotion that simply can’t be captured through filming on a soundstage studio set, even with the help of CGI.
Filming on-site at a real-world location can provide a level of authenticity and visual depth that’s hard to replicate. On-location shoots immerse viewers and actors alike in the story’s world, adding tangible texture to the production.
Remember the baking hot sun of Tatooine in Star Wars (actually Tunisia) or the ruins at Petra in the final scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? These locations brought authenticity to their respective films. And the adventure of The Goonies would only feel right in the lush, rainy mountains of the Oregon coast.
Real-world locations bring a sense of place that studio sets often struggle to achieve. Think about how The Lord of the Rings fans now associate the majestic landscapes of New Zealand with Middle-earth—and how the CGI-heavy Hobbit films failed to recapture that same grandeur. Could the bustling streets of Manhattan in Sex and the City have been replicated on a soundstage?
When characters interact with genuine surroundings, their performances can feel more organic. The environment becomes a character itself, adding layers to the narrative.
On-Site Filming Locations Present Budget and Logistics Challenges
On-location shoots can elevate the verisimilitude of a film, but they introduce significant logistical challenges.
Let’s say you want to film a movie scene at one of the many gorgeous villas on Italy’s Lake Como, like the producers of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. What will it cost to fly your team to Italy and put them up for the duration of the shoot, plus transport or rent equipment? Lake Como is an extremely popular tourist destination, and the Villa del Balbianello even more so. How much will it cost to get the permits and rent the entire structure out, and what if the weather during your stay doesn’t suit your scene?
Budgets for blockbuster films can range in the hundreds of millions of dollars, so perhaps if your film is big enough, this won’t be a concern. But if you’re a less-established studio that might be lucky to have a budget of a couple million dollars—if that—then you might have to reconsider your plans.
That said, some productions can benefit from partnerships with local governments or tourism boards that offer financial incentives. For instance, Canada and several US states provide tax breaks to filmmakers that make on-location shoots more affordable.
Filming Locations Can Create Audience Appeal
In a world saturated with media, and especially saturated with CGI, choosing the right filming location can make a production really stand out. Think about how fans of Game of Thrones flocked to Dubrovnik, Croatia, after it stood in as King’s Landing. For filmmakers, deciding between studio filming and on-location filming presents a challenge, and the right answer often depends on the specific needs of the story.
If you need precise control over the environment or believe you may require heavy visual effects or set manipulation, a studio production may make more sense. If you’re looking to leverage the natural majesty or historical or cultural significance of a real-world setting, however, there’s often no substitute for the real thing.
Ultimately, the right choice of filming location depends on a production’s goals, the needed resources, and the creative vision. The choice of filming location impacts every part of a production, from budget and logistics to the effect on audiences. Studios offer precision and control, while on-location shoots have no substitute when it comes to authenticity.
If you’re looking for a great studio location in the San Diego area, visit Lightz Out Studios for a well-equipped, efficient filming location for your video production.
