Location Shooting

Location shooting is the practice of filming in an actual setting rather than on a sound stage or back lot.

In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew will be filming actors and recording their dialog. A location where dialog is not recorded may be considered as a second unit photography site. Filmmakers often choose to shoot on location because they believe that greater realism can be achieved in a "real" place, however location shooting is also often motivated by the film's budget. For instance, the independent horror film Marianne was shot entirely on location in Sweden. However, many films shoot interior scenes on a sound stage and exterior scenes on location.

It is often mistakenly believed that filming "on location" takes place in the actual location in which its story is set, but this is not necessarily the case.

Most films do a bit of both location shooting and studio shoots, although low budget films usually do more location shooting than bigger budget films because the cost of shooting at someplace that already exists is much cheaper than creating that place from scratch. In certain situations it my be cheaper to shoot in a studio. In these situations lower budget films often shoot more in a studio.

Before filming on location its generally wise to conduct a recce.