LOCATION SCOUTING Adventures in "The Stradivari"
An Interview with Karolina Rum
Producer/Director/Editor of a short film “The Stradivari” that won 4 awards and screened at numerous international film festival including LA Shorts Fest, Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival, Jecheon Film & Music Festival in South Korea and many more.
Q: What was the most challenging aspect of finding a filming location for “The Stradivari”?
A: The entire story happens in a violin shop. Just the premise already makes everything more complicated as perhaps you have very few options to begin with. We were filming in Los Angeles, California, which isn’t the most popular place for violin makers. We started with research to find all the options - there were only 5 or 6 violin shops, if I remember correctly. We were really worried that we won’t be able to secure any of them and cost of building a violin shop in a studio was sky-rocketing quickly. So basically, we had to find an actual location!
The first place we went to was absolutely amazing! I couldn’t believe it. It was perfect: looked the way I envisioned it, it had easy access with parking lot behind it, it had a traditional feel. Perfect, done! Little did we know, that the owner was less excited about having a film crew inside his precious violin shop. He agreed to let us film after he closes the shop, but only until early evening hours which gave us little to no time at all. Scheduling would a disaster. Initially we intended to film 3-4 days and with this restrictions we would film perhaps 3 weeks. Impossible!
So the hunt went on.
The second violin shop we visited turned out to be a storage unit. So that was a quick “no”. For the third address we had high hopes based on what we saw on the Internet. I went there, together with my producing partner, Noan Ribeiro, and it turned out the building had burned down not long ago and all the violins with it. That was a nightmare! We couldn’t believe our bad luck!
So we had 2 more spots left on our list.
We weren’t entirely happy with the fourth location because it was too modern. But at this point, we were ready to make compromises and add additional set design to make the palce look good. It is crucial during locations scouting to consider esthetics of your movie. The location becomes a central aspect of your frames, it can either elevate your film or destroy it.
So we went to the last place, pretty much resigned by now. But who knows, right?
And finally we struck luck! It was this absolutely beautiful violin shop with multiple rooms, hundreds of violins and a workshop in the back. The owner was extremely kind. We fell in love with this place. And we ended up filming there. What you see in our film is Robert Cauer Violins - all the interiors were shot there. Absolutely stunning! The only thing we had to bring were electric violins, of course!
Q: And what about exterior shots? Were there also filmed at Robert Cauer Violins?
A: No. Exteriors were filmed at CBS Studios lot. It was a New York street set where we found a sign “Violin Repairs”. It was really convenient.
Q: What were the challenges of filming at a violin shop?
A: Putting a film crew inside a violin shop is like putting an elephant in a china room. All the violins that you see hanging from the ceiling were actual expensive instruments. We are terrified of destroying anything! Our 1stAD, Jane Kapriss, she made an outstanding job reminding everybody all the time about the danger of putting C-stand, dolly tracks and all the heavy equipment close to the instruments. Desirae Hepp, our Production Designer, she worked her magic taking care of moving, aligning, adjusting all the violins. We had a spectacular crew!
Q: Did you have to get a special permit to film there?
A: You always have to get a permission from the owner and additionally we also had to get a city permit, which fell under Film LA jurisdiction. It was a pretty standard procedure.
Q: Well thank you very much, Karolina, for chatting with me. It was inspiring to hear about it all. And good luck on your next project!
A: Thank you for having me!
