While it’s great to have the comforts and convenience of a studio or indoor shoot, sometimes a shoot calls for a trip to the great outdoors. Shooting in nature brings unique challenges – some obvious, some not so. Here’s a roundup of Raccoon’s top tips for producing amazing video out in the wild.
Batteries
It sounds obvious, but you really can’t ever have enough batteries. Where batteries running low might be inconvenient and unprofessional in the big city, in the countryside it can be a shoot-ending disaster, with no camera shops or cafes for a production assistant to run-to to grab new batteries or juice up the spares. You also have to consider how you’ll power pieces of kit that usually run off the mains – do those lights you usually plug in also have a battery slot? If not, you’re going to want to consider how you’ll light your scene well in advance!
Access rights
Nature might be all around us, but unfortunately most of it in the UK is owned by someone. That means that if you want to shoot in a lot of the UK’s natural spaces, you’ll need the landowner’s permission. This isn’t usually an issue, but can take time, and it’s a terrible look to have to delay or cancel a shoot because you’ve not heard back yet, and even worse to have the shoot interrupted by a farmer waving a shotgun about. Ensure you’ve got permission to film well before the shoot date to prevent these sorts of situations interrupting your production.
Water! Food!
All the other stuff! You might be on a shoot, but you’re still out and about in nature and that means you’ll need food and drink – for yourself, and your cast and crew. Even one or two people being hungry or thirsty can really derail a shoot and turn a fun, relaxed day into a laborious slog against the hanger of one of your team. I always recommend plenty of water, a decent savoury snack and a few cereal bars at the very least. A well-fed videographer is an effective videographer!
Are you planning a shoot, in nature or otherwise? Do you need an experienced, premium videographer? Get in touch today for a free, no-pressure consultation!
