" Location shooting gives a movie an irrefutable authenticity." ~Louis Giannetti, famed film author and film studies professor at Case Western University

In most situations, on-location shooting is preferable over studio shooting. An actual location lends an authenticity and credibility to your project, which can be very costly to duplicate in studio. By shooting on location, money is saved, setup and breakdown time is reduced, and a natural, convincing look is all but guaranteed. The locations look real because they are!

There are, however, some disadvantages. Background noise at an actual location can make recording sound very challenging or even impossible, and real-life is serendipitous and ever changing. The sun ducks behind a cloud, a loud plane circles overhead, curious bystanders gather to gawk, or someone double parks in front of your absolutely perfect camera angle. No wonder that the majority of Hollywood films are shot in studio, where every nuance can be minutely controlled; and every minute of production time lost, with 50-100 people on set, is quite expensive.

Most clients, however, have a far more modest bottom line than Hollywood studios and a far smaller cast and crew. Within this more modest production structure, shooting on-location usually provides a substantial cost savings, because even if background noise and unforeseeable circumstances slow down production, what's lost in time is more than compensated for by the savings in studio and set construction fees. The exception usually comes in when location shooting simply isn't possible, or when your project specifically requires a studio.

Georgia happens to be a great area of the country for exterior shooting because of its diverse landscapes. Georgia offers:

• The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Trail

• Beaches such as Jekyll Island, Tybee Island, and St. Simons Island

• Undeveloped islands such as Cumberland Island

• Vineyards/wineries such as Chateau Elan

• Historic landmarks such as the Martin Luther King Monument, and Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield

• Geologic marvels like Stone Mountain, the largest outcrop of granite in the world

• Hundred-year-old town squares in cities like Marietta, Roswell, and Macon

• Farms and historic plantations

• Beautiful rivers such as the Occonnee and the Chattahoochee

• 26 pristine lakes

• Spectacular waterfalls such as Anna Ruby Falls

• Over 58 State Parks

• The Okefenokee Swamp

• Providence Canyon State Park, a relatively unknown treasure trove of spectacular canyons

• Beautiful university campuses such as The University of Georgia, Berry College, and Valdosta State University, which has been voted "The Most Beautiful Campus in the Southeast"

• The world-famous city of Atlanta

• The Antebellum port city of Savannah

Of course, once we've found the perfect locations for your production, we'll take care of all the preparations for your on-location shoots including:

• Obtaining written permission to shoot at the location, if necessary

• Researching weather conditions

• Providing additional props that may be required

• Conducting a site visit at the time of day that the shoot is planned for, to gather information about light conditions and background noise. For instance, if there are heavy truck deliveries at a certain time of day, we'll want to know about it. If planes tend to land or take-off at a certain time of day, we'll want to avoid shooting at that time.