Filming in Public Spaces

GeoTechRyan

GeoTechRyan

Member
Not sure if this thread has been created before but when filming in public spaces (e.g. shopping centres, shops etc...) do you ask for permission or do you just film and if they ask you to stop you stop.

Any help would be grateful as i am trying to start a vlog and i am a little nervous filming in public.
 
I just go for it. The most that has ever happened was we got asked what we were doing in a restaurant with our camera. As long as your respectful to the others around you and aren't obnoxiously filming everything then it shouldn't be an issue!
 
I've done research on this. I even called Boston that gives out permits for filming. It depends on the situation and what city you are in and state. Generally if you are using one camera and filming without any obstruction to the general public you don't need a permit. You just can't have cables, lights or big equipment blocking the sidewalks or streets. I would get permission to film minors though. If anyone tells you not to film them please be respectful and don't. If you are doing a video and have time beforehand you can always tell people what you are doing and see if it's okay. I usually don't film in malls or public buildings without asking because I feel like I might be disrupting the store or people buying things.
 
It all depends. I personally don't care about random people walking around in the background on the other side of the street and stuff like that. But usually anyone in direct vicinity of the filming automatically react like 'Oh, there's someone filming himself/filming someone else on camera, I better get out of the way so I don't appear on it, or so I don't ruin whatever they're trying to do.' Yeah, we get some starers, but they stay behind the camera.

I'd ask the restaurant before filming just in case, and do do when it's empty-ish so it doesn't bother people trying to eat. Also keep in mind most places have music playing so be sure to add your own music or avoid long silences so you don't get copyright claimed just because they happen to be playing some copyrighted song you didn't know about.
 
I didn't ask for permission, but I also didn't film any other people and I left out the signs and labels from the store. I'm pretty small as a YouTuber though, so the odds the company will see my video or even care about it are pretty slim.
 
One thing I forgot to add, which should be obvious, is just don't film anyone that doesn't want to be filmed or asks not to be filmed. And don't be a creeper either filming people in awkward positions that have no idea they're being filmed. As long as you don't do that, you shouldn't have any problems with the public.
 
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