I'm writing a murder mystery that works best if it's set in a middle sized university city. For the sake of continuity I'm writing it taking place in Iowa City and the University of Iowa even though I know it could never actually be filmed there. Would it be best, before I start pitching it, to fictionalize everything and create a new location or can it still work this way? Anyone have any good or bad experiences writing stories set in true to life locations?
Screenwriting : Writing in real locations by Bill Albert
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Hey, @Bill Albert. What I like to do when I'm outlining a story that's set in a true to life location is find photos and videos (such as campus tour videos) online of the location. Then I write the scenes around the photos and videos. And sometimes I'll make up a location for my story by combining different true to life locations.
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Bill, as long as that murder mystery works best in Iowa City, go for it!
Okay...I'm biased...I enjoy setting stories in actual locations...
Whatever decision you make, here's wishing you all the VERY BEST!
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As a fellow Iowan, I say go for the specific location. As a Producer, I would know that the location could be changed in rewrites if the specific location cannot be secured. BTW if you write your pitch to UofI well, they do consider allowing use of their campus but it depends on the project whether they'd grant permission or not.
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Between 2010 and 2020 Iowa City had 9 murders total. I figured a serial killer in a city that size would get a different reaction from police, government and civilians than bigger cities so it fits the story better.
Also the idea of what would happen if it was a university homecoming weekend, football game, parade, thousands of alumni, various celebrations, and 1 killer looking for their next victim gives lots of chances for suspense.
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Write it in Iowa ... you can find other locations that look like Iowa City, throw in some establishing shots and no one will know the difference.