Location Recce

A location recce is where you scout and gather information about the location you would like to film in. Recce stands for reconnaissance, but as that's a bit of a mouthful it's shortened to recce. A successful location recce will do a number of things.
First of all it makes sure all heads of departments know where they will be shooting. This is so they can plan accordingly. The Director of Photography needs to see where the light will be at certain times of the day and if they have room to get a dolly and tracks in and where they will place their lights. The producer needs to sort out logistics to and from the location as well as permissions. The Director can start to visualise the shots and how they might use the location to tell the story.

For every location you plan to film in you should take lots of photographs and even video if possible. Take measurements so you can create a floor plan later. Draw out a rough floor plan while on the recce and mark things like power sockets, light fittings, windows, doors and anything that cannot be moved that you might need to work around.

For sound it is important to check there is nothing that is going to ruin the soundtrack. If it is right under a flight path, or near a train line this might be a deciding factor in choosing the location.

If you have recce'd a location and know where everything is and any problems you may face in advance then when it comes to filming, things will run (hopefully) a lot smoother and problems can be sorted out before they ever arise.

How to find locations?

Many locations can be found just by looking around you. But if you want something more specific then many Councils and local governments office have a film service where they list locations that can be used for filming. Such as the Kent Film Office in the UK. http://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/locations/

Whenever approaching owners about hiring locations always be polite and clearly state what you are going to be filming. If they say no then just move on.