How to shoot you're independent film in the New York City Subway when you can't afford permits

This is a simple guide for aspiring independent filmmakers out there who have dreams of shooting that magical scene within New York City's beautiful subway system but who cannot afford the thousands of dollars required to get a permit to shoot legally within NYC's Subway system.

Step 1 Writing you're subway scenes

When you are considering writing a scene that takes place in the subway remember to consider the logistics of the scene. Be as creative as possible, but consider the amount of dialogue you have in a scene and the amount of actors you may want in you're given scene and what kind of action they will be doing. I mention sound and actors because when shooting with no permits you will have limited time to shoot the scene. So consider the amount of dialogue you want because it may be difficult to capture due to the constant sound of trains passing through and passengers coming and going. Also consider what kind of actions the actors will be doing before hand because you may not have the time to get the chase scene you need.

Comments

[erik.teichmann]

Great instructable, but there's one thing that's bothering me:
You are using the wrong "you're". In pretty much every case, you mean "your".
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-You%27re-and-Your

[guitarman63mm]

I agree. I find it difficult to take people seriously when they disregard basic grammar...

[guitarfaces]

I would have liked to read through more of this - but the "you're" thing is very distracting. Other than that, nice work.

[nocker]

Um. Film permits in NYC are free. You are required to have liability insurance, but this can be waived if purchasing the insurance would cost too much (ie you're a student or it's an indie film or you're just flat broke). To film on the subway, you need to get a special permit from the MTA's Special Events group, but as far as I know, this too is free.

[nickbarbera731]

As far as getting a MTA special event permit, it is not free. I have tried to get permits such as these. And the require a lot of money. They are not free. In regards to NYC permits, I know those are free, but to shoot in the subway it requires a bigger expense.

[killerjackalope]

Nice job, the you're/your thing is the only problem I can see with the whole thing... It's a good 'ible and helpful for some. Playing up the ignorance card can work well though it's looking professional vs. innocence, the more professional the outfit looks the less bother you're likely to get though if you get some it's much, much harder to play dumb. I suppose you can apply this to any place with similar issues, in fact it might be worth doing a little re-writing to allow others to find it, up to yourself on that one. Whenever I'm in a public place and anyone comes up being bothered by us it's almost always about them not wanting to be seen on something, oblige them and make a fuss of re-taking and they're generally happy. Police are weird about it, they have to come up and ask about it but are obviously needing to avoid being filmed, from experience shutting off the camera if you're told to is best done, otherwise they get mad...