By the very fact that farms vary so widely, so do the shoots we arrange.
For the smaller plots, it’s likely that your farm will be more interesting for photoshoots. There are plenty of fashion and magazine shoots seeking a wild look or a more classic farm or rustic vibe. These crews tend to be 10-25 in number and would more than likely need the farm to provide the crew base (warm space, loos, kitchen facility) and for the backdrops to be within very easy walking reach of their base. There are a few who might pay extra to bring in a winnebago and four-wheel drive vehicles to get around.
For the fashion and magazine shoots, as well as the classic, wild and farm aesthetic, we also get plenty of demand for house interiors, gardens, greenhouses, crops and horses. Other more unusual requests ask for the “industrial”, apocalyptic, barren, modern.
We also host many music videos across our farms, and here is where the creative brief can really get out there! We’ve had musicians pushed through fields in a supermarket trolley (See Jack Savoretti at Cherry Farm) and Will Young rolling in mud and feathers at Valley farm, Bucks.
Music videos can be quite small crews if the camera and lighting kit is simple, spanning up to 40 crew where there are more hands needed on deck.
TV commercials are another type of shoot, often involving more preparation and larger crews on set. We’ve had a donkey in a barn at Cherry farm for Gala Bingo, a laboratory set up in a modern farm kitchen for Standard Life, and a classic farmer story at South Farm for telecoms brand 3.
TV filming also includes TV dramas (The Larkins, The Liar, Unforgotten, Downton Abbey to name but a few), TV entertainment shows (Celebrity Juice, The Grand Tour and Britain’s Got Talent included), and TV documentaries too.
The Feature films and dramas are commissioned by numerous channels, the classics of ITV and BBC, the major streamers such as Netflix and Amazon, through to emerging new channels too, including Apple. Content competition is heightening, meaning there is plenty of filming in action. When hosting a feature film or drama on your farm location, be prepared for the circus to arrive and an incredible spectacle of a film set to unfold.
We are also the locations for short films which often are led by emerging talent with smaller budgets. We have also arranged shoots for corporate promotional videos, Indian pre-wedding albums and student projects.
Never knowing what might be in the next shoot brief to come through, makes our job at farm Locations exciting (and for the owners too).