Screenwriting : World Creation by Jeffrey Knepper

Generally, 0. Movie making is faking locations to fit the story. However some big films like James Bond require to shoot exotic locations because that's the JB brand.

I saw Equalizer 3 and the movie looks like a vacation ad for Italy. Beautiful exterior locations to my USA eyes. Made me look at air tickets.

I recently wrote an entire commissioned script located in Amsterdam without ever setting my foot there. Both Dutch employers raised thumbs up.

Dan ikr makes you question why a studio should be paying a location lol

If you are talking about the logistics of production, most film sets need to rent items and employ temporary workers, thus having local resources can be an essential factor. Moving all your gear and housing all your crew costs a lot and takes a great deal of management.

Then, on the flip side, regions with fledgling film industries tend to offer tax incentives that outweigh the issue above. Vicky Christina Barcelona was originally written to take place in San Francisco, but the incentives to go shoot in Spain were tempting enough to shift the production there.

LA is notoriously expensive and difficult to shoot within, and I can certainly vouch for that through experience. However, if you need anything from fixing your RED cameras in an emergency, to sourcing high value day players, to borrowing a picture car off another set, it can't be beaten.

Things can be regional too. Vegas has stricter laws on paying crew.

In terms of writing, it's really down to what an individual producer can deliver. One might look at all your scenes set on a private jet and not know how to make that happen, while another might be best friends with the best plane interiors guy in the business.

Modern green-screening, especially when combined with AI tools to create the mattes, means pretty much anything is possible for those who know how to use the tech.

CJ you definitely brought some insight in a way I never considered bc the question more had to do with what the audience see on screen yet what you said shows an integral side of that itself!

No impediment whatsoever.

On the page and on the stage you can build Switzerland inside a snow globe, the rooftops of NYC from folded painted cardboard, dusty dunes of the Sahara in a sandbox.

Your imagination is your private jet, passport, billion-dollar budget and conveyance to stories unbounded by yet grounded in whatever locations you create!

Jeffrey Knepper, this is why it behooves any screenwriter to understand more about how films are made from soup to nuts. The more we can do to appreciate how a producer sees things, the better we can skew the odds in our favour.

Just because George Lucas can do something doesn't mean the average Joe can, and that deserves some consideration from an aspiring writer looking to start at the bottom.

You can always fake a location in film enough said. :-)

Jeffrey Knepper have you seen the interview of the DP on The Killer? it shows how they built what they couldn’t find, made it much easier to shoot and then used real locations too. I’ve been around the world shooting but always come back to stages where they build and dress sets that you’d never know. Even George’s Jungle!

Xochi will check it out

Xochi do you have the link?

Here you go, Jeffrey Knepper.

https://www.stage32.com/blog/coffee-content-the-killer-cinematographer-b...

Thanks Ty

None. You are building your own world.

All good points going on this thread. One thing to consider when writing your script is how many locations will there be? As James Bond was mentioned, we'll go with that as an example. Those writers knew the money for location shooting was in a very, very large bucket. Set production for location-faking was also a huge bucket. They did not have to worry so much about that expense when crafting the story. Now, the rest of us, we need to understand the cost of EXT. MT FUJI showing up on the page. That's a lot of money to get to Japan, as CJ has pointed out, with a whole film crew for a 2-10 minute shot. The more of those that show up on a script, the harder it is to sell that script if you are swimming in the pool of unknowns. Point in fact, we have 2 scripts that were discussed in a few meetings, only to get passed on because they are expensive shoots. If you have a script like that, still try to sell it, but be comfortable knowing it may go back in the box for a while and when you've put some road under your tires you can whip them out again for another round. Write the story that needs to be written, just hold back on exotic locations if they are not truly necessary. Also, be aware of what can be faked for a fraction of the price, and make sure to speak of that when you enter into a discussion. If you go into talks armed with knowledge of costs, compromises, and the process itself, you will get a more favorable listen from the person. With all that, Jeffrey Knepper , write like there's no tomorrow and keep pushing!

Thanks Ty Strange - I not as quick on link finding! haha.

James, totally great point! Why make up locations for when the conversation could be had with no harm on a set/location you already have. Helps a lot for scheduling AND saves for perhaps a even better location to spend money on. Almost like "does the car have to drive?" Could they stand next to the car in a nice spot? Saves equipment and lots of time on rigging and all that goes with process car work.

I do like a short question. In world creation a real place is just a great reference point. May take a bit of research. Like CJ said there will be logistic considerations. But I rewrote a screenplay from mid west USA to Eastern Europe for a producer.

Location can hold you back, but it is also a great short hand. If I say “she runs across Tower Bridge” anyone in the UK (and most of the world) knows what that bridge looks like.

For me it is easy Jeffrey Knepper