LOCATION SCOUTING

My initial plan is to check and ask if I can use the Long Road Sixth Form College Drama Stage and any appropriate classroom for the scenes required in my film. I hope to get photos of the location and draft risk assessments and health and safety files once I am allowed to film there. I hope to film at these locations after the Christmas break. If I do not get access to any of these locations, I will immediately have to come up with a contingency plan.

LOCATION SCOUT - PIERSON'S ROOM (10/12/16)

I will be filming Pierson's Room in my house, mainly because of the budget restrictions I have. The advantage of filming at my house is that I can have full control over designing the set and also lighting the room. It will be easier as well as I won't need to fill out as much paperwork regarding to the permissions to use the location.

The door next to the set can provide natural light for the camera to pick up on which may be useful because of the camera's technical limitations.

The room is quite small which is good as it is the right sized room that I wanted but will be difficult to include and set up some lighting equipment. I will be able to move some materials however to free up some space. There is also an extended plug for any lighting equipment to be attached when needed. Raising the blinds can be good to let some natural light in as well. However, it may not be necessary as I plan to film at night to reinforce the low light scenario.

This is where Pierson will be lying down. The windowsill can be used to place the picture frames of Pierson's relatives which would be good as it will help fill the room and add more characteristic and insight to Pierson's life. 

This shot can be used as another cinematic shot that might be used for any other recreations of the same scene.

These items can be moved out of the room to free up some space. This would be a great area to place any further lighting equipment or sound equipment. Getting closer shots of the Killer and Pierson would also be easier by freeing up this space.

This is a storage room where I can move the camera back to if needed to get the right angle and framing of shots. This will also give the actor more space when entering the room as there won't be much disruption in the corridor.

LOCATION SCOUT - CLASSROOM (19/01/17)

The classroom is necessary for the short film as it is the scene that kicks off the story. It also establishes the characters for the audience and lets them get an impression into the story. The classroom is part of the college and comes with a projector, tables and chairs. The room also has posters and pictures which is helpful as it already paints the picture of a classroom for the scene.

The windows provide natural lighting which is good as I would need it to create a naturalistic look of the classroom where it is almost creating a mellow mood to portray a lazy or saturated afternoon. I plan to add some sort of harsh light that shouldn't look too obvious to still fit with the conventions of a crime thriller.

LOCATION SCOUT - ISAAC'S MIND (23/02/17)

I managed to book the stage at college, which is a large performance room that's part of the drama studio. It comes with large black curtains and spotlights which is exactly what I am looking for to replicate a scene where the character Isaac, solves a crime scene in his mind.

The stage is a perfect location for shooting wide shots and establishing shots because of its large space, so it is good for creating shots with a large amount of negative space which is what I am aiming for in a particular scene in the script.

The stage comes equipped with spotlights that can be controlled through a panel at the side of the room. I will most likely end up using LED lights instead as they can be easily moved around and can increase the brightness at a strong setting.

There are also electrical outlets behind the curtains of the stage so I can plug in the LED lights when they run out of batteries.