Making films - Legal issues

Just spend a small fortune on some software to help me setup my media company I am planning when I graduate.

I am planning to produce a DVD/VHS of the history of local areas and sell them in local shops. It will be very much a local affair involving local shops and people etc.

What permsion do I need to produce this? I know if I am using any unoriginal material I need to get copyright permision but is there anything else? All the software used will be legal, depending on far I tend to take this it will also be a limited company.

I know there is a market for this kind of thing its just legal issues I am worried about.

Thanks for any help.

PS This better work otherwise I might end up bankrupt

 

Shouldn't you have researched all this first then?

 

I think if you are interviewing or are filming people you need to have their written concent, that's about I know, our department wanted to take photos for their magazine our company where doing and I remember we had to obtain concent for their photos to be used.

Wish you the best of luck AT - its a legal minefield.

 

I guess as its a small scale project it should be ok, if any legal issues come up I can probably get round in court. The people issue is a bit dodgy though how do they get round it on the news when they are filming live and there are people in the background?

I am not planning of interviewing anybody so that is one problem solved.

I am making this DVD anyway its somthing I wanted to do but it has occured to me that I could actually sell it.

 

I would have thought you'd be ok as like you say its a local thing and your not exactly Hollywood, so people wouldn't be able to sue for millions, but I would concider having a word with a friendly solicitor (?) just to be on the safe side. (or even the CAB might be able to help).

 

Having a work with the CAB may be an idea, I also need to get permision from the central library to use some pictures out of their achieve of around 80,000.

They could sue for millions but the most they will get is my HIFI and PC as thats all I really own

 

If you are doing this anyway then it doesn't really matter, but are you sure there is a market for this sort of thing? Also check if anyone else done something similar that is already commercially available. The library and tourist information offices would be a good place to start.

Regards

Hex

 

Well my dad used to be a senior libararian and ordered a lot of local history books, that section of the library was always very popular. There have been things done of Manchester, but not the areas I am doing (basicaly one of Chorlton and one of Didsbury) to be getting on with as I know a lot about the history of these places.

I am not expecting to make much money on it, just enough to cover my costs its more somthing to add to my CV and say I have done, it may open doors to other stuff.

I am thinking of perhaps charging £4.99 for the VHS and £6.99 for the DVD or somthing. It will cost me £2 to package the stuff, then at least another £1 to the shop so I realise I am not going to make a furtune on it.

 

Well, it sounds like you have quite a head start. That's good.

All the best with the project.

 

Thanks, I am not planning of really starting it till June/July, then any tiny amounts of money I make will be put towards traveling.

Actually to pay for my travels it should be adult movies I am making not DVDs that will probably end up being sold in Age Concern

 

There used to a Film & Television Producers Association who produced very useful guidelines for producers (along with modles of release forms etc). A quick google didn't throw anything up, but have a look around the online Kemps (gosh how times have changed...).
My knowledge is more than 10 years out of date. I'm not going to proffer any advice as the audiovisual landscape has changed quite radically since the late 80s early 90s.
One thing you probably will have to face is the ire of the old bill when you set up your tripod on public highways & byways.
You will be using a tripod, won't you

Awww. There's even a guild now for the job I used to do. I'm sure someone from this group will help you if you ask nicely.
http://www.golm.org.uk/

 

Thanks, yep I have bought a fairly decent £50 tripod, not top of the range but it keeps the camera stable and you can adjust the height simply by turning the wheel. I am still in the process of making a similar DVD for university, this was of Manchester, it was actually quite straightforward we only got stopped by two people.

1) The BBC, they were asking as us what we were filming and it turned out they were making somthing similar, they were just asking us for ideas which I thought was quite nice, they also said the same about police perstering you etc, they must get it all the time.

2) A security guard from GMEX came out and basicaly told us to sod off, the funny thing is when we were doing the filming we used a profossional braodcast camera, however my mate also had his consumer DV camera so we got it on film when we was telling us off, he didn't realise that!

I will have a look at that link and try and found out more about that assioation.

Thanks.

 

If you are not filming on the private land they are supposedly guarding, you have every right to film the property. In this situation you can tell rentacops where to go with absolute impunity and if they so much as raise a finger you can sue them and their arses to kingdom come (a similar tactic also works exceedingly well with HM customs when they get a little over zealous).

Back in the good old days, I knew one or two (or maybe more) sneaky technicians who had specially made and totally fake "HM Film Crew" type badges for their vans. Used to work a treat for parking on double yellows, palming off the bill, Johnny Foreigner etc. Clearly the BBC is not the Force it once was
TBH filming in London used to be a nightmare as far permission/policing were concerned, which is why we did most of our euro work in Paris, Nice and Monte Carlo
I suspect the Association of Location Managers will give you a rather different perspective on things.

If you are shooting DV, try finding a consumer fluid head for your tripod. Pans should be used sparingly (especially if you don't have much experience shooting and editing), but must be done properly when needed. Another really nice thing you can do with DV cameras is use monopods. One of those will really open up the possibilities for you and can be used almost whenever you may be thinking of going handheld (dutch angles etc are an exception, obviously). Keep any camera movements short and fluid, and never try to do more than one thing in a single movement (ie zoom and dutch at the same time) until you are really good at camera work.
Good camera work, whether still or movie is about detail. Look for interesting details and think about how to shoot them in an interesting & informative way.
When you are shooting, always be thinking about how you will edit what you are shooting and the overall rhythm of the piece. Timing is everything.
There you are, a bunch of advice you didn't ask for and probably don't need. Ignore at your leisure

 

We print quite a few local history books for the authors around here and they're steady sellers so most make money on them... eventually. Your biggest problem is going to be distribution as that can eat into your margins. First any shop will want more than a £1 margin and then you have to get the DVD/VHS to them, a lot of time spent running around if you want to cover a good sized area.
We have also done some VHS/DVD covers for a local lad who did skate boarding videos and he made a few hundred profit on them in the end. Most people underprice IMHO and he didn't, charged £10 IIRC per video as he realised that not all of them would sell. Also with the DVD's make sure they work in all or as many players as you can, I bought a Metaxas DVD sampler that won't play on anything I own.

 

Thanks, Joel it was kind of on private land, although it was public, GMEX owned the land where we were filming, even though we told them they were students and the camera had Property of University of Salford written all over it they still told us to go.

I suppose the problem with local history stuff is they are slow to sell but sell well, one of the local history books about my area was first published in the early 80's and is still in print now although probably updated a bit.

I am not sure if people would be willing to spend £10 an ameteur production though, i.e filmed using a £300 DV camera (good light perfomance is as good any more expensive model though) , narroated by the world famous new reader, me

I know I would buy it if I saw it in the shops, and I know about 5 people who would probably want it for christmas too, but then maybe I am biased some what

 

The first thing to learn is that the local papers and radio stations are desperate for anything to fill up space. You will have no problem getting free publicity on them if you have an angle.

History isn't always a slow seller. One book the history society did was of local walks, it sold out instantly and went to a reprint. They of course priced it too cheap and could have sold for 30% more at least.

Also following on from the technical comments by Joel I think it's important that the video has a story or journey style to it. Many histories seem to be dates and lists so don't appeal that far outside the history buffs. Where as something like the walks book I mention had a point to it and the audience was much bigger.

 

Combine history with Avanzato's journey idea and throw in a few pubs on the way - now you've got a winner!!

 

Dutch angles?

Also, to add to Joels advice take your time over planning every shot. Think of angles. If you're going to pan, think the movement through start to finish.

Be aware of light and how effects the scene. Visit the places at various times of day to get an idea when best to shoot. Don't just make a list of places to visit and film then at whatever time you happen to get there.

Good luck