Whether you’re an experienced location scout, or you’re just starting out, you know how essential this role is for a successful production. The right filming location sets the mood, supports the story, and makes the audience feel like they’ve stepped into another world.
But how scouting is done? That’s changed a lot over the years. What used to take paper maps, film rolls, and weeks on the road can now happen (at least partially) from your laptop—or even a VR headset.
In this post, we’ll take a look at how location scouting has evolved. From the analog hustle to today’s tech-driven tools, and what that means for your work now and in the future.
Before scouting apps and cloud folders, location scouting was an all-in, boots-on-the-ground kind of job. Scouts spent their days behind the wheel, driving through neighbourhoods and remote country roads alike, always scanning for that perfect shot. They relied on instinct, memory, and a mental catalog built over years of exploration. Every once in a while, someone at the local pub might tip them off on a hidden gem.
Photos were taken with film cameras and there was no instant review. A scout had to trust their framing and exposure, hoping the images would turn out as they imagined. When the prints finally came back, they were sorted into manila folders, labelled by hand, and stored in filing cabinets or the boot of the car. Notes were scribbled on notepads or index cards, whatever was nearby.
Communication was slow and mostly face-to-face. If the production team wanted to see the scouting results, they often had to wait until people were back in the office. Sometimes, if you were lucky, you could fax over a grainy black-and-white photo, but it usually looked like a ghost of the real place.
Back then, success in scouting was about having the best eye, the most contacts, and building trust over time. Many production teams kept going back to the same scouts who consistently delivered.
The late 90s and early 2000s brought a wave of digital innovation that made the logistics of scouting faster and more manageable. Digital cameras changed the game overnight. Suddenly, scouts could shoot hundreds of high-quality images, review them instantly, and send them off to the team the same day. No more waiting for film development or hoping a roll hadn’t been exposed to light.
Online location databases started to appear, offering searchable galleries and reference photos. They weren’t perfect, but they let scouts do early research without setting foot outside. Email replaced physical mail for reports and decks, and cloud storage tools like Dropbox and Google Drive became essential for organising and sharing files across departments.
Even something as simple as Google Maps became a valuable scouting tool. You could explore an area digitally before ever setting foot there, helping you narrow your options and avoid wasted trips. It wasn’t flawless, but it provided a stronger starting point.
Despite all this new tech, the heart of the job stayed the same. A scout still needed to be creative, detail-oriented, and connected to the film community. These new tools made you faster and more flexible, but they didn’t replace the human judgement at the core of the job.
Now we’re in a whole new era. If you’ve tried out the latest tools (or even if you’ve just heard about them) you know how much the game is changing.
In some ways, yes. These tools save time, expand your options, and give your team a more complete picture early on. But they also shift the nature of your work. You're no longer just finding film locations—you’re evaluating digital options, narrowing choices, and acting as a creative guide in a sea of data.
The tech is smart. But it doesn’t know how a location feels at golden hour. It doesn’t know what makes a place sing on screen. You do.
SuperScout is your own private location library – upload locations in minutes, tag them with ai in seconds, then search and share with your team
So what does the future hold for scouts like you? With so much tech entering the picture, your job will keep evolving, but not disappearing. In fact, your role might become even more critical.
With all this tech, you might be wondering: Will AI takeover film and eventually do it all?
Not likely. But the role is definitely evolving.
No matter how much the tech changes, the core of your job stays the same: finding real places that bring scripts to life. Whether you’re driving dusty roads with a camera or uploading drone shots to the cloud, you’re still doing what scouts have always done—helping stories feel real.
Looking for a new gig? Check out our guide to finding location scouting work.
SuperScout is your own private location library – upload locations in minutes, tag them with ai in seconds, then search and share with your team
