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International work – Scotland
Hi all…
I’ve been in film biz for several decades now (gosh I’m old), but this is one thing that I’m a TOTAL and complete newbie at… international work. I’ve never done one lick of work outside the US, nor ever traveled internationally for anything but pleasure.
Well, we have a client wanting us to shoot for three days in Scotland next month.
So… what are the things that I haven’t thought to consider? I’m sure there’s a pile of them.
We are planning NOT to travel with any substantial gear. We have found an Edinburgh camera rental source where it looks like we can get everything we need (pretty much exactly replicating the package we normally travel with) for equal-to-or-less-than it would cost us to ship our own… and without any customs worries.
I do have one piece of specialty equipment I do need to take though, our curved slider (it’s a very unique piece of gear unavailable for rental). Any special considerations for getting it in and out of the country??
And how about just plain doing the work there? Do we need any special kind of work permits or anything (forgive this extremely newbie question)? Our client is an international company and we are going to an event there with them and all shooting will be done at their venue. This is all part of a bigger project that is being produced and billed here at home.
I’m sure there are tons of things we haven’t thought about… but that’s why we have good friends like our COW buddies to fill in the holes in our brains 🙂
Any thoughts?
T2
P.S. Anyone in here in Edinburgh?
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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15 Replies
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When you arrive there will often be two lines or at least they want to find out: Business or Tourist? If you don’t bring the slider you can breeze through as a tourist. Once you say “business” then there may be a can of worms regarding work visas, permits, etc. For me the slider wouldn’t be worth it if I could glide in as a tourist.
Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com -
[Ned Miller] “For me the slider wouldn’t be worth it if I could glide in as a tourist.”
I hear ya… but actually this client LOVES our slider (and it’s a special curved slider that we designed)… it’s pretty much why they keep hiring us, and was specifically mentioned by them for this shoot. And it is, sadly, not something that we can rent on location.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Hi Todd,
Im 2hrs south of Edinburgh in York. If you get stuck for any equipment or need anything then just give me a shout and I can help you out. As has been suggested, tell your airline and you will need to declare the item for use with filming. Use hard cases for it as airline staff won’t understand its fragile nature!
Most hire companies should deliver to location, but check prices for this, and also check if any of the speciality equipment you are hiring is available from someone else nearby if you have any failures. Presuming you are near(ish) to Edinburgh its worth checking as replacements might not be as instantaneous as around London, Leeds or Manchester.
Enjoy the whiskey, steer clear of haggis and try and see some of the countryside. If you want to get in touch privately I can recommend some restaurants/pubs around Edinburgh for you.
Cheers!
Tom
Co-owner at Pollen Studio
http://www.pollenstudio.co.uk -
Hey thanks Tom!…
If/when this comes through (still waiting to hear the final “go” from the client), I’ll be sure to give you a private shout.
The warning about haggis was not necessary. At all.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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You can get hold of a deep fried, battered Mars bar in Scotland.
Right/Wrong….
Co-owner at Pollen Studio
http://www.pollenstudio.co.uk -
Todd,
What about shipping the slider separately, perhaps even have the company you are working for ship direct to the location. Its there when you arrive and you can be the tourist…
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Thanks Jim… yeah we’ve considered shipping it. I wasn’t sure if that would run into more customs issues etc or less than traveling with it… I need to investigate that more.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Hi Todd,
Can you provide a link to a piece of video illustrating what this curved slider offers in jazzing up a shot? Isn’t it what we used to call curved track in the old days? If so, that’d be easy to rent, as in a light weight door way dolly.
Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com -
There’s nothing magic to it, and it’s not at all earth shaking… its just like a regular slider except it curves, at exactly the same radius as Matthews curved track. It lets you make short arcing dolly moves, but without a dolly. It’s great for interviews and talking heads but when you don’t have room for a real dolly or room to lay track (or want to make a big production out of things).
And yep, you can get the exact same results with a dolly. But that takes a dolly, track, dolly wheels, a dolly grip, time to set it up, and most importantly room to do it.
You can literally set up a arcing dolly shot in 30 seconds with one person and one little 10lb piece of equipment in even cramped quarters.
I started to say I haven’t laid dolly track in a long time… but that’s not true, I actually did last week. But that was straight track. I haven’t laid curved track in forever. Most of the dolly arcs that I ever want to do are three feet or less, so it’s a million times easier to do with the slider.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Well, if you decide it is too much of a pain in the arse to ship/bring with you, I have a nice tripod mountable slider that can take heavyweight cameras that you can hire – you could just bring a nice box of lenses and I’ll supply the rest!
Co-owner at Pollen Studio
http://www.pollenstudio.co.uk
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