Film Locations Glossary
Practical location
What is a practical location?
Also called practical, or real location.
A practical location is a real existing place used for filming, as opposed to a set built on a stage or standing on a backlot.
Practicals bring authenticity, scale, and detail that would be expensive to build, and they bring permits, weather, neighbors, curfews, and limited control in return. The choice between practical and build is a schedule and budget decision as much as a creative one.
Example
A real 1930s bank interior brings marble, scale, and detail that would cost a fortune to build, and brings a curfew, a fire officer, no rigging points, and a 9-foot doorway for the equipment. The build removes all four and adds construction.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Weighed against a stage build at prep, on schedule and budget as much as on look.
Common mistake
Choosing a practical for authenticity and pricing it as a location fee. Permits, curfews, weather risk, limited rigging, and restricted access are all part of the real cost.
Related questions
- What does a practical location cost beyond the fee?
- Permits, monitors and officers, prep and strike days, restoration, traffic control where relevant, and the schedule risk of weather and curfews.
- When is a stage build cheaper than a practical?
- When the practical needs heavy dressing, carries a curfew or fire officer, has poor access, or would cost days in permits and travel.