Proper Steps to record in town

[Gregory]

I am going to do an ad contest shoot in January. I need to shoot it in front of a fountain.

Here is my problem. The only viable fountain to use is on the town square, I do not want to have to have to approach the town godfather (in our town although we have a mayor it is not the mayor). Could i get by shooting the scene without going to the mayor’s office? It will be one scene, I will have two video cameras, 1 still camera. A crew of 4 and 1 actor. Any chance pulling this off on a Sunday afternoon without going to the town hall?

[Jeff]

I would think that you should be alright going to shoot without permission on the steps. It’s just scenery (unless it is some ancient artifact). You wouldn’t necessarily need to get permission from the mayors office if you were shooting one scene there and you weren’t crowding the streets or anything.

As long as you are not making a huge scene and causing the flow of traffic you should be fine in my opinion.

Jeff Gilden

EVM, Inc.

http://www.evmwebdesign.com

[PJ]

If it is public property you are good to go.

[birdcat]

It depends on your town’s ordinances. I know in NY City to use a tripod you need a permit (this was a topic of discussion a few years ago when the laws were changed).

I would at least call the town’s offices and ask before jumping.

Also, beware of any copyrighted/trademarked items that may be unintentionally included (billboards, shop windows, etc…).

[Gregory]

Thanks Birdcat, I did not consider that the camera may pick up copyrighted stuff in the background.

[Author]

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