Scope Media StudiosBook

Scope Media Studios · Block A, Chartwell Business Park, 61-65 Paulet Rd, London SE5 9HW · hello@scopemediastudios.co.uk · scopemediastudios.co.uk

Hire · SE5 9HW, South London · from £80 · open 24/7 · ★ 5.0 on Google · 17 reviews

A small stage, honestly sized.

This is not a sound stage with a grid over it, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. It is a 1,200 sq ft room with a drive-in white cove, a sound-treated room, a music studio and a workshop that doubles as a production office — a whole small unit in SE5 that one production can take over for the day.

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Wide view of Studio A showing the full length of the white cove, the grey floor and the curtain track

What a small film stage is good for

Scope suits the film jobs that fit inside one well-equipped unit: commercials and brand films, interviews and pieces to camera, music videos, fashion film, and the interiors of a short that were never going to exist on location. Studio A gives those jobs 1,200 sq ft, a white drive-in infinity cove and full blackout curtains; Studio B gives them a sound-treated room built as a room within a room.

It does not suit a production that needs a lighting grid, a large-format stage or more than one big room shooting at once. Say what the script needs in the first email and you will hear back straight if the answer is a bigger stage than ours.

Splitting a film day between rooms

The building works best when each part of the day goes to the room built for it. Picture that needs scale, a vehicle or a build goes to Studio A. Scenes with dialogue go to Studio B, because Studio A is not sound treated. Voiceover and wild lines can go to the music studio's treated vocal booth. The workshop's twenty seats and ten iMacs hold the production office, and later the edit.

Rooms can be booked back to back on the same day, or the whole building taken as a buyout from £1,500 a day so the set is closed to everyone but your unit. The DJ room is the one room outside a buyout and is booked on its own.

What to send before you book

The script or treatment, the number of set-ups, the crew count, the camera and lighting package you are bringing and the largest object coming through the door. Ceiling heights, cove dimensions and power are on request rather than published, and that email is how you get the exact figures.

Two things to have in place before the day: appropriate insurance cover for the production, and the cancellation terms in mind — bookings can be cancelled or rescheduled with at least 48 hours' notice, cancellations inside 48 hours incur a fee confirmed at booking, and same-day cancellations and no-shows are non-refundable.

The rooms for it

Studio A during a live shoot, seen wide across the white infinity cove with softboxes either side
Studio A1,200 sq ft with a white drive-in infinity cove and full blackout curtains. The vehicle, the set build or the crew comes in at ground level from the yard, through the roller door.From £160Check Studio A availability
Studio B dressed with a pink sofa on the white cyclorama under a fresnel light
Studio BBuilt as a room within a room and sound treated, so dialogue comes back usable as recorded. Blackout capable, with a colour-washable cove and a dedicated edit and playback area.From £120Check Studio B availability
The music studio lit by violet LED strips, with the desk, monitors and vocal booth.
Music StudioA treated vocal booth with a large-diaphragm condenser for voiceover, ADR or a score session — dry from £80 for a half day, or £140 a half day with an engineer on the desk.From £80Check Music Studio availability
The workshop: a long bench of iMac workstations under the original circular ceiling light well.
WorkshopTwenty seats and ten iMac workstations: a production office for the shoot days and an edit room after them.From £120Check Workshop availability

How it works

  1. 01Send the script or the treatmentIt tells us whether one room does it, whether you want two, or whether you should take the building. If we are the wrong size for it we will say so.
  2. 02Book the rooms you needStudio A and Studio B run in 2 hour, half day and full day blocks, with set-up and pack-down inside the booked time. A whole-building buyout is from £1,500 a day, and the DJ room sits outside it.
  3. 03Load in from the yardParking is on site, in the yard in front of the unit, and load-in to Studio A is at ground level through the roller door from the yard.
  4. 04Ask about the numbers we have not publishedCeiling heights, cove dimensions and power are on request rather than guessed at. Tell us the rig and the largest thing coming through the door and you will get exact answers before you book.

Straight answers

What does film studio hire london cost at Scope?
Studio A starts at £160. Studio B starts at £120. Music Studio starts at £80. Workshop starts at £120. Set-up and pack-down are inside your booked time.
Is Scope a big film stage?
No, and it would be a waste of your time to imply it. Studio A is 1,200 sq ft with a white drive-in cove and full blackout curtains; Studio B is a smaller sound-treated room within a room. It is a small south London stage that suits commercials, brand films, interviews, music videos and short-film interiors. If your build needs a proper grid and a large-format stage, we are not it.
How does a crew load in for a film shoot?
Parking is on site, in the yard in front of the unit, and you come in through the roller door. Load-in is at ground level.
Can we record voiceover, ADR or a score on the same day?
Yes. The music studio has a treated vocal booth with a large-diaphragm condenser, bookable dry from £80 for a half day or with an engineer from £140 a half day, and Studio B is built as a room within a room for dialogue recorded in the open room.
Is there a production office or an edit room?
The workshop room takes up to twenty people with ten iMac workstations — £120 for a half day, £240 for a full day — and runs as a production office, a casting room or an edit suite. Studio B also has a dedicated edit and playback area for reviewing on set.
Can a production take the whole building?
Yes. A whole-building buyout is from £1,500 a day and gives you Studio A, Studio B, the podcast room, the music studio, the workshop, the kitchen, the dressing room and the parking, with nobody else on site. The DJ room is the one room outside a buyout and is booked separately.
What is the cheapest way to shoot a film day here?
Studio B. A half day is £220 and a full day is £420, against £320 and £620 for Studio A — and two Studio B half days would cost £440, so if the shoot needs all eight hours the full day saves £20. Studio A is the one to pay more for when you need the drive-in cove, the 1,200 sq ft or seamless white. Lights are quoted on top in both rooms.
Which room can we record sound in?
Studio B. It is the sound-treated room, built as a room within a room, so dialogue comes back usable as recorded. Studio A is not sound treated: it is the room for scale, blackout and the drive-in cove, and if a scene has dialogue in it we would plan it for Studio B or record it wild in the music studio's vocal booth.
Are lights included in a film booking?
No. In every room but the DJ room, lights are charged separately from the room rate — please enquire about our lights and we will quote for what your shoot needs. We have not published an in-house kit list either, so tell us what you are bringing and what you want supplied and we will confirm it in writing.
What should a producer include in a first enquiry for a film day?
The script or treatment, how many set-ups, the crew size, what kit is coming and the biggest piece of set or vehicle. With that, the team can say which rooms the day needs, whether a buyout is the better buy, and give you the measurements we do not publish — ceiling height, cove dimensions and power.
Is there a separate night or weekend rate for film shoots at Scope?
No. The building is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the rate card has one set of blocks for every day. A night interior can also be shot in daylight hours, because Studio A and Studio B both black out.

More in the full FAQ.

In the building with every booking

  • Kitchen
  • Dressing and prep room
  • Client lounge
  • High-speed Wi-Fi
  • Parking

In every room but one, lights are charged separately from the room rate, so please enquire about our lights and we will quote for what your shoot needs. The exception is the DJ room, where the professional film lighting is rigged in the room and included in the rate.

Anything not listed — ceiling heights, cove dimensions, power, capacities — is on request rather than guessed at. Ask us and you will get an exact answer.

Worth reading first

Videography Studio Checklist: What to Check Before You BookA videographer's checklist for hiring a studio: background, light control, sound, floor for movement, power, load-in, review space and the small print.Soundproof or Sound-treated Studio? What You Are Actually HiringSoundproofing keeps noise out; acoustic treatment stops a room sounding like a room. What each means for dialogue, podcasts and music, and what to ask.Shooting a Short Film or Commercial in a StudioShooting a short film or commercial in a studio: what blackout, a sound-treated room and set-build floor fix that location cannot, and how to schedule the day.How to Film an Interview in a Studio: Sound First, Then Everything ElseHow to film an interview in a studio: sound first, then soft light that holds all day, a second camera on the right side of the line and a schedule that fits.Building a Set for a Photo or Film ShootHow to build a set for a photo or film shoot in a hire studio: build only what the lens sees, brace every flat, and plan the strike before the build.Delivering a Short Film to Festivals: A Technical ChecklistWhat a festival's programmers and projectionists need once your short film is selected: masters, frame rate, audio, subtitles, textless, slate and DCP.How to Light a Green Screen in a Studio: Getting a Clean KeyHow to light a green screen in a studio for a clean key: one even value on the screen, distance to kill spill, a room that blacks out and a key checked on set.How to Shoot a Music Video in a StudioPlan a studio music video that runs to schedule and cuts: pick the room by the treatment, light the artist out of black, run playback and book the right hours.When to Book the Whole Building: A Buyout GuideBook the five buyout rooms separately for the day and it totals £1,540. A buyout starts at £1,500 — and buys the thing no room-by-room booking can: privacy.Studio Hire for a TV Commercial: A Producer's ChecklistA producer's checklist for booking a studio for a TV advert: set-ups versus block length, the pack shot, dialogue, the client, VO, load-in and lights.What Is a Sound Stage, and When Don't You Need One?What a sound stage is, what it costs a production in scale, the short list of jobs that need one and the long list that do not, and what a small stage offers.Sound for Video in a Studio: Sync, Wild Tracks and ADRSound for video in a studio: sync sound in a treated room, planning dialogue around an untreated one, wild tracks, room tone, ADR and voiceover in the booth.Film Production Glossary: Studio Hire Terms ExplainedNinety-five film production terms — cove, blackout, key light, log, sync sound, ADR, buyout — defined plainly, with what each means for a shoot at Scope.

All the studio guides, by topic: the journal.

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