Saw a fake ghost in a graveyard while filming... ruined my whole shoot

I was filming in an old cemetery in Salem last October for a short film. Thought I caught a figure moving behind a headstone in the shot. Got home, zoomed in, and it was just a trash bag caught on a branch. Made me realize I need to check my location way more carefully before rolling. You guys ever have a false scare that messed up your footage?

2 comments

2 Comments

anna_hill1mo ago

Yeah that's a classic mistake for sure. I always walk the whole area before I start filming, especially places like old cemeteries where random junk can blend right into the shot. Trash bags, fallen branches, even weird animal shapes hiding in shadows will mess with your footage every time if you don't check first. Another thing I do is bring a small flashlight and scan behind every big stone or tree before I hit record. Have you tried doing a full location scout the day before to catch stuff like that?

brooke4841mo ago

@anna_hill you're absolutely right about the flashlight trick. I learned that the hard way last October when I was filming a sunrise at an old pioneer cemetery and a faded plastic Easter basket was sitting behind a headstone. Completely ruined what would have been a killer shot of the fog rolling in. Now I always bring a headlamp too so my hands are free to move stuff out of the way. And yeah scouting a day early is huge especially when the lighting is different. I've seen people miss whole fallen tree limbs that looked fine in morning light but cast awful shadows by afternoon.