Finding film sites

He is a location scout for media projects. He manages sites for movies, commercials, music videos and fashion shoots. He worked as a technician (or a ‘grip’) for 25 years and that led to this specialized career.

          Becky started by asking what he would need from a client. He explained that he needs a story board to start with (where artists draw a  story line in pictures).  The storyboard also helps prepare the cameraman for his ‘shot list’.  Peter keeps a data base of locations but part of his responsibility is to represent a location that exists in reality so he also takes pictures at the time.

          Once he was permitted to close down the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. That car commercial took three hours to shoot.  He has also done Range Rover and Lincoln car commercials. In response to a question from the audience, he said the digital age has definitely impacted production, but you still need a plate shot, but then you can take it to computer graphics.

Becky asked about his most spectacular location and he said it was the Point Sur lighthouse.  He was so impressed now works there on Thursdays helping with restoration work. (He mentioned that Aug 1^st will be an open house there).  He does lot of his work in the Big Sur area on the big ranches there that were homesteaded by the first white folks in the region, as well as properties that are now managed by the Big Sur Land Trust. Bixby Bridg is among the more common backdrops he has used.

When asked about his favorite project, Peter said it was to ride 5 horses between the California missions. In 2013, starting in Sonoma they rode to San Miguel mission. The next year they went from San Miguel to San Diego. The purpose was to tell the story of the missions from the  Indigenous people’s point of view.

Becky closed the interview by asking about current projects. He is currently working on a project for the Hollister brand of clothing. And after all of his discussion of the Big Sur are he said if there was a movie of his life he would like it to be filmed in Southeast Alaska!

. He was  interviewed by Becky Peters (see photo).  He is a location scout for media projects. He manages sites for movies, commercials, music videos and fashion shoots. He worked as a technician (or a ‘grip’) for 25 years and that led to this specialized career.

          Becky started by asking what he would need from a client. He explained that he needs a story board to start with (where artists draw a  story line in pictures).  The storyboard also helps prepare the cameraman for his ‘shot list’.  Peter keeps a data base of locations but part of his responsibility is to represent a location that exists in reality so he also takes pictures at the time.

          Once he was permitted to close down the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. That car commercial took three hours to shoot.  He has also done Range Rover and Lincoln car commercials. In response to a question from the audience, he said the digital age has definitely impacted production, but you still need a plate shot, but then you can take it to computer graphics.

Becky asked about his most spectacular location and he said it was the Point Sur lighthouse.  He was so impressed now works there on Thursdays helping with restoration work. (He mentioned that Aug 1^st will be an open house there).  He does lot of his work in the Big Sur area on the big ranches there that were homesteaded by the first white folks in the region, as well as properties that are now managed by the Big Sur Land Trust. Bixby Bridg is among the more common backdrops he has used.

When asked about his favorite project, Peter said it was to ride 5 horses between the California missions. In 2013, starting in Sonoma they rode to San Miguel mission. The next year they went from San Miguel to San Diego. The purpose was to tell the story of the missions from the  Indigenous people’s point of view.

Becky closed the interview by asking about current projects. He is currently working on a project for the Hollister brand of clothing. And after all of his discussion of the Big Sur are he said if there was a movie of his life he would like it to be filmed in Southeast Alaska!