L CATIONS
Recently, there’s been buzz the Charlotte
house that is “home” to “Homeland”
character Nicholas Brody is for sale.
People have asked Fishman, “Why sell a
house that’s on a hit show?”
Fishman explains, “We film the exterior
there but that’s it. The entire house, from
roof shingles, the grass,
telephone pole in the
yard, and food in
the refrigerator
is all built on
stage.”
All the World’s a Stage, Unless They Film on Location.
T
he first books parents read to their children are often
picture books. The brightly colored illustrations
help convey a story, catch a child’s eye and perhaps
spark imagination.
For example, script slug lines look like these:
EXT. DOCTOR’S OFFICE - DAY
EXT. PARK - NIGHT
INT. JANE’S APARTMENT - DAY
Wendy Fishman never lost sight of how pictures tell a story.
In fact, she’s made a career out of it. Fishman is a location
scout. That means she finds locations to be the background
for film and television shows shot here in Charlotte.
Fishman says, “I read the script and write down all the
locations needed.” Then, she taps into her vast knowledge
of Charlotte and the surrounding cities to see if she knows
what will work, because, as Fishman explains, “It’s my job to
implement the vision of the script into an actual setting that is
authentic to the story.”
“I’ve always loved going to new places and exploring,”
Fishman says. “I’ve lived in Charlotte my whole life and still
don’t know it all.”
This sense of adventure and wonder fits exactly into what it
takes to be a location scout. It is
Fishman’s job to find places
such as hospitals, offices,
homes, parking lots,
forests and foreign
settings – all locally
and all suited to a
particular project.
“It starts with a
script,” Fishman
explains.
Th
eH
om
ela
nd
Ho
u se
The process of
breaking down a
script for a location
scout means reading the
script and taking note of the
slug lines. Slug lines always denote
interior or exterior, location and time
of day.
14 – My School Rocks! | January 2014
W
en
dy
Fis
he
r
This is
part of the
beautiful
deception
locations
play. A show
may edit from
an exterior to an
interior and the viewer
won’t be able to tell the
difference. But the crew
sure can!
By building a set of the Brody home,
for instance, the crew can move around
without interrupting a homeowner’s life
or belongings. The crew can also literally
move walls to make space for lighting
and camera equipment.
Still, nothing adds dimension to a
television show or movie like real-life
locations. So, take a c