|       

Photographic location agency and filming location library glossary of terms

 

Agent

A person responsible for the professional business dealings of a location house; event location or photographic studio. An agent typically negotiates the contracts of location hire on behalf of the location owner, equally an agent has some part in selecting or recommending a location for the client. See also location agent.

 

Art Director

The person who has to oversee and manage artists; craftspeople and who may build the sets.

 

Behind the Scenes filming

Known as BTS, is off-camera goings on associated with filmmaking. The footage is often used on the client’s website for promotional usage.

 

Blockbuster film

Known as a Hit, it’s a movie, which is a huge financial success. In common usage a "blockbuster" is a movie that has more than $100 million sales upon release in North America.

 

Booking Fee

This is the fee in addition to the location hire cost. It is also known as a library fee or administration fee.

 

Call Sheet

A listing of which artists, photographers, assistants, stylists, actors will be required and when they will be required. The producer of the shoot creates call sheets.

 

Director

The main creative artist on a movie or film set. A director is typically (but not always) the driving artistic front behind the filming process. In general, the director has complete artistic control over all aspects of the movie.

 

Director of Photography

A DOP is ultimately responsible for the process of shooting or filming a scene in the way the Director wishes it to be done. The Director of Photography has a number of possible duties: selection of locations, lighting style, the angle of the shoot and overall storyboard.

 

Dolly

A dolly is a small truck, which rolls along tracks, it holds the camera and sometimes it carries the Director. Its other meaning is the actual action of moving the camera towards or away from the object that it is pointing at.

 

Feature Film

Is a movie lasting at least 40-45 minutes (two reels) long and is intended for theatrical cinema release, this is in contrast to a short film.

 

Location

The geographical setting of a photo shoot or film. This can be a house, street, studio or country. Typically the actual place is referred to as a location house. Often referred to as filming location and photo shoot location.

 

Location Agency

An online visual website displaying properties for location hire by photographers, directors, stylists and clients.

 

Location Company

Can be referred to as a location agency or location library. This is usually an online website, which represents properties for filming, photo shoots and events.

 

Location Fee

The price paid to hire the location for the agreed hours and purpose as well as the team size.

 

Location Filming

Also referred to as Location, On Location, Location Shooting

 

Filming which occurs at a location place not constructed specifically for the production. Typically this is outdoors, a well-known location, or a real place, which suffices.

 

Location Hire

The process of working with a location agency to book and hire a suitable location house, location studio or location venue.

 

Location House

The property to be hired for a photo shoot, TV production, event space or film.

 

Location Manager

The main contact that manages various aspects of filming a movie on location. Tasked with contacting the relevant authorities for permission to shoot in specific places. For the most part, the Location Manager is not always based on location and therefore, has an Assistant Location Manager who represents the production department and manages the department's interests on set.

 

Location Owner

The proprietor of a location house; photographic studio or event space. They are usually the main contact for any enquiries that a location company may have.

 

Location Scout

A person who looks for suitable filming locations, photo shoot locations and event spaces.

 

Location Permit

An application to the local borough council on behalf of a filming unit to suspend an area of a street or public space for parking during filming.

 

Recce visit

This is a viewing or visit to a site to inspect the location. It can be referred to as a pre-visit.

 

Still Photographer

Stills Photographer. Normally this relates to a photo shoot but in terms of a movie, they take stills photographs alongside the camera operator.

 

Studio

This can be a photographic studio, a clean white space or a company that makes movies. Larger studios tend to have extensive in-house soundstages, which are also called studios where filming can be done.

 

Unit Base

A parking area or parking base for the production of a film or large photo shoot. It is normally located near the location and has good access.

 

Videographer

A person who works in the video arena — recording moving images and sound. On a set, they may also be responsible for the lighting as well as the audio and images captured by the video camera/camcorder. Videographers differ from cinematographers as they record using video cameras and camcorders while cinematographers use actual film cameras to shoot film footage onto motion picture film stock. However, it is important to say that the development of high definition digital cinematography, however, is quickly blurring this distinction.