Film Locations Glossary
Base camp
What is base camp?
Also called basecamp.
Base camp is the off-set area where cast trailers, crew parking, catering, and production support vehicles are staged for a shooting day.
It is chosen for size, surface, access, and neighbors rather than for how it looks, since the camera never sees it. The distance between base camp and set drives shuttle timing, and on a tight urban schedule that walk is the difference between making the day and losing an hour.
Example
Base camp for a 90-person crew needs room for a honeywagon, two three-bangers, a star wagon, catering and dining, a generator, and 60 crew cars. That is a supermarket lot or a school playground, not a residential street, and it is often the constraint that decides the location.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Scouted and secured with its own agreement and permit, separately from the shooting location.
Common mistake
Choosing base camp for its proximity to set and discovering it cannot physically take a honeywagon. Access, turning space, surface, and leveling decide the site before distance does.
Related questions
- What goes at base camp on a film shoot?
- Cast trailers, the honeywagon, catering and dining, the production and department trucks, a generator, and crew parking. Everything the camera never sees.
- How far can base camp be from set?
- Close enough that a shuttle or walk does not eat the day. Every minute each way is multiplied by the whole unit, twice a day, plus at every meal break.