to plan in advance to set up camp, getting in at the right time and
position to avoid disturbing others."
It was a similar situation for filming the hotel interior shots at
the National Theatre in Prague, a 1980's building made with marble
stones that has a modernist look to match the exterior. "It was an
ideal location, but we needed to schedule it at least a month and a half
before the shoot," says Adler.
He and his team also headed to the picturesque Austrian village of
Hallstatt in the Alps for an in important action sequence at a rugged,
bunker-like bar/restaurant. Although, surprisingly, there wasn't
enough snow, so they had to bring some down from the slopes to
cover the streets. "You have to be prepared and adapt for all these
kind of logistical challenges on locations, but that's what makes it
exciting."
In Conclusion
After speaking with these location professionals and others,
the hallmark of distinctive and exceptional location work became
apparent to me: When location professionals are invited into the
creative conversation from the outset, they don't just find where a
story happens—they help define how it unfolds.
A found space might suggest a different emotional register, a more
unexpected setting or a richer sense of world-influencing decisions
that ripple through script, design and performance.
Across continents, formats and genres, when location teams
are embedded early and trusted as creative collaborators, their
contribution extends far beyond logistics. In these collaborations,
locations can prompt shifts in character behaviour, inspire new visual
language and redirect narrative pathways entirely. The dialogue
between scouts, writers, directors and designers becomes a shared
process of discovery—one where places are not simply chosen for
meeting the literal words on the page, but actively explored for the
story potential they hold.
The creative solution for the entrance to Ballerina's
"The Continental Hotel Prague." Photo by Jan Adler/LMGI
Austrian village of Hallstatt is a key setting for
Ballerina.
Photo by Jan Adler/LMGI
