How to shoot in crowded places

It is a given that in some point of our calling, all of us would have wanted to shoot at a

crowded place. Some of us might have gone ahead and some of us would have chickened out,

fearing the red tape on acquiring permissions, the budget constraints of hiring extras for the

crowd, and the struggles of managing so many people.

We talked to Nishanthi Evani, the director of Fearless, which was short predominantly in the

slums of Powai, Mumbai, and were amazed to hear that they wound up the entire shoot in

less than 3 days. Amazed because, if you look at the frames of Fearless, they are well spaced

and clutter free, which is quite an achievement considering Powai is quite heavily populated.

If it was possible in Mumbai, it can possible be anywhere. The rules aren’t

that hard to play by.

BEFRIENDING LOCALS

Nishanti and team were lucky because their friends from IIT were involved with the residents

of the Powai Slums, as part of a slum development programme over the course of a few

months. So, getting the locals on board was among the easier tasks.

If you look closely, most colleges are tied up with the local neighbourhood as part of the

mandatory National Social Service(NSS) programme. Approaching the locals through these

students who interact regularly with them for the shoot, would be your best bet at convincing

them to let you shoot. If you’ve got their consent, cops won’t be a problem.

PUBLIC SPACES AND PERMISSION

However, if you are planning to shoot at a more public outdoor setting, such a road, or a busy

street, permission becomes mandatory. Contrary to the popular misconception, it is not that

hard to convince the cops. All you have to do is:

 Go to the police station of the area that you plan to shoot in and let them know when,

for how long and where exactly you will be shooting.

 They usually ask for the purpose behind the shoot. Like we’ve mentioned before, if

you can produce a letter from your college and a couple of ID cards, they will give

you a nod without much ado.

 You will also have to specify the equipment that you will be carrying and the number

of crew members. Try keeping it a bare minimum. Once they are convinced, the

Inspector will grant you an oral permission.

 If you are lucky, you may not even have to pay anything.

 In any case, if you’ve informed the cops in advance, rest assured that at least a part of

the sailing will be smooth.

PICKING THE RIGHT HOURS

Deciding to shoot in the summer vacations turned out to be taxing for the Fearless team

because a horde of about 60-70 kids would follow them around wherever they went. Not

surprisingly, they had to wake up as early as 4 a.m. and get shooting before the kids woke up.

Lesson learnt- do not pick public holidays or peak hours for your shoot.

WHAT ABOUT BUILDING CROWDS OUT OF NOTHING?

While you may get these right, the truth is it’s hard to find a crowd and even more so to

orchestrate it. If you’re looking to shoot a crowd, the most pragmatic thing to do on a

shoestring budget would to shoot an empty space with just some people.

This world of film is an illusion in its self. With After Effects, two’s a party and three’s a

crowd. The popular copy, paste technique has discreetly come to the rescue of many

commercial films, no reason why it can’t for you too!

If you’ve got just enough people, but not quite enough, you could use multiple cut ins of

characters, and the backs of their heads over and over to create the crowded illusion.

Happy filming!