Shooting burning buildings at DVinfo.net

Andris Krastins · December 7th, 2008, 07:59 AM

Hello,
I have a great script for an indie feature film, and it involves a story about volunteer firefighters.
I've talked with the possible team and we've agreed to try to prepare for it till Autumn 2009 (it's a very complicated script and requires a considerable budget).

The main technical and management problem however is that there have to be several scenes with a few burning country houses, and neither of us has any experience with this.

We're thinking of constructing a few carcases and then burning them ourselves, but maybe much of the work can be done with digital effects and green screen?

We would probably also have to get a permission from the local council and pay for a firefighter car on stand by if anything goes wrong.

How would you advise to prepare and proceed with this problem, any experience you can share?

Thanks!

Jad Meouchy · December 12th, 2008, 02:46 PM

Wait until the fire dept (any local fire dept, or maybe one in a favorable shooting location) is burning a building for training purposes. This happens once or twice per year for a reasonably sized department. The firefighters will already be there and suited up, so you could conceivably cut your budget for the sequence by 50% or better.

Andris Krastins · December 12th, 2008, 02:50 PM

Wow, thanks for this advice, I didn't know that they do that!

December 7th, 2008, 07:59 AM	#1
Andris Krastins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lielvārde, Latvia Posts: 326	Shooting burning buildings Hello, I have a great script for an indie feature film, and it involves a story about volunteer firefighters. I've talked with the possible team and we've agreed to try to prepare for it till Autumn 2009 (it's a very complicated script and requires a considerable budget). The main technical and management problem however is that there have to be several scenes with a few burning country houses, and neither of us has any experience with this. We're thinking of constructing a few carcases and then burning them ourselves, but maybe much of the work can be done with digital effects and green screen? We would probably also have to get a permission from the local council and pay for a firefighter car on stand by if anything goes wrong. How would you advise to prepare and proceed with this problem, any experience you can share? Thanks!

December 12th, 2008, 02:46 PM	#2
Jad Meouchy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 663	Wait until the fire dept (any local fire dept, or maybe one in a favorable shooting location) is burning a building for training purposes. This happens once or twice per year for a reasonably sized department. The firefighters will already be there and suited up, so you could conceivably cut your budget for the sequence by 50% or better. __________________ software engineer

December 12th, 2008, 02:50 PM	#3
Andris Krastins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lielvārde, Latvia Posts: 326	Wow, thanks for this advice, I didn't know that they do that!