Scouting the perfect location
Location manager Tom Howard has been working in the industry for nearly 15 years. He’s worked with Michael Winterbottom and Sir David Hare, and has sourced locations ranging from bustling parts of 1950s Soho for The Look of Love, to parts of the Yorkshire Dales used in Wuthering Heights.ÂÂ
Speaking to The Knowledge, Tom tells us how he got into the business of scouting and shares some of his advice but warns that before becoming a location manager, you should consider being a sound recordist…
How did you become a location manager?
I went to film school and after graduation I was looking for ways into the production side of the industry other than directing. After a year of posting CV’s to production companies, I eventually got a job as assistant to director Charles Sturridge on the Channel 4 production Longitude (1999) where I had the chance to see all the departments at work.
After this contract finished I was looking for a new role and found a position at a locations agency. Here I learnt about scouting, contracts and dealing with property owners. In 2001, after 18 months on the job, I went freelance as a location manager.
What are the main challenges of your role?
Budget – productions want it all but are not willing to pay for it.
What’s the most challenging job you’ve ever worked on?
Filming The Look of Love (2013) in London’s Soho. Michael Winterbottom likes to work in a particular way with minimal crew and no unit base. Also we were shooting four different periods from the 1950s to 2000s which resulted in a large street dressing of Walkers Court [in Soho] and the building of a Raymond Revuebar mock-up in a disused music hall.
With only an assistant location manager and a locations runner it resulted in a seven-day working week; late nights putting up half a dozen make-up mirrors and building changing rooms for over 100 extras. Also, during the shooting day we were still negotiating locations and drafting movement orders. That was hard work.
What’s the most enjoyable job you’ve ever worked on?
Scouting the Yorkshire Dales for Wuthering Heights (2011) and filming Page Eight (2011) under the direction of Sir David Hare and working with Bill Nighy and Rachel Weisz.
How is your job changing?
Digital photography and cloud computing have made it quicker to process and present locations to the whole production team. The growth of location libraries and their online resources mean there is now more of an immediate choice. Budgets have always been tough and will remain so.
What key skills do you need to become a location manager?
Listening to what the director wants. There’s nothing worse than a director being shown locations which don’t fit the brief. Being able to deal with the public is also a skill you need as the location manager is the public face of the production, so presentation and people skills are important. Finally, knowing your locations – learn to scout and find interesting places to film. After all, this is the reason why you have been hired.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to become a location manager?
Start with location running and learn how the floor works. This will teach you about the demands of each department. Then try to location scout as much as possible and try not to get sidelined into unit managing. Location managers know where the best places are to film, so if you scout this will give you the foundations of a library, and the necessary skills for finding locations and dealing with the public.
If you could meet a version of yourself right at the start for your career, what’s the one piece of advice you would give yourself?
Don’t be a location manager - be a sound recordist! They can sit down for the whole of the day and be off home right after wrap.
We would like to thank Tom for his insight and industry expertise. To find out more about his work, please visit his profile on The Knowledge.
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