Film Locations Glossary
Scout photos
What are scout photos?
Also called location stills, or scout stills.
Scout photos are the stills and panoramas a locations team shoots at a candidate place, taken to answer questions rather than to look attractive.
Useful sets include wide coverage from every approach, the sun's position with times noted, access and turning space, power and water, and every problem the location has. Photographs that flatter a location and omit its access are how a shoot day gets lost.
Example
A useful set is wides from all four approaches, the sun's position with times noted, the gate and turning space, the electrical panel, the parking, and photographs of every problem. A set of flattering stills with no access shots is how a day gets lost.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Shot by the locations team on the scout and assembled into the location package.
Common mistake
Shooting the location as it should look rather than as it is. Photographs that flatter a site and omit the gate, the parking, and the noise source cost a shoot day later.
Related questions
- What should scout photos include?
- Wides from every approach, the sun's position with times, access and turning space, power, parking, and a photograph of every problem the location has.
- Who uses scout photos?
- The director and designer for the look, and the line producer, first AD, and department heads for feasibility, all from the same set of images.