What a Location Recce Checks

A location recce is a visit to a place before filming to check whether it will actually work. You take the script with you and look at the site through the eyes of the camera operator, the sound recordist and the rest of the crew.

Fitting the script and looking after people

A recce checks whether the location suits the script or story. A scene set in a busy café needs a room that can pass as a café, with enough space to stand a camera and a few crew without everyone being squashed together.

You also check access — can the equipment van get close, or is the track too narrow? Is there parking for the crew, and are there toilets on site or nearby for the crew and actors? On a long shoot day these matter, and discovering a problem after everyone has arrived wastes time and money.

Light, sound and awkward objects

Lighting checks include which way the windows face, how the sun crosses the site during the day, where shadows will fall, and how many daylight hours you have. A room with windows along one wall may be bright in the morning but gloomy after lunch, so the recce notes the best hours for filming.

Background noise is checked too: a playground, a skate park or church bells could ruin the sound, so note the times when the noise is minimal and plan to record then.

Look out for anything that would look out of place in the shot — a bright plastic playhouse in the corner of a garden, or a low ceiling that blocks high camera angles. The recce may also note the typical weather for that time of year, so wet weeks can be planned for.

Hazards and power

The recce is when hazards are spotted — a steep step, a pond, loose floorboards — so that controls or precautions can be put in place before anyone arrives. Every hazard found is written into the risk assessment: the recce is the visit, the risk assessment is the document.

Finally, check whether power sources are available. No sockets in a field means hiring a generator.