Location Scouting

'Songbird Productions' - Photograph by Emma Taylor

On Friday 8th March the 'Songbird Productions' crew went location scouting around various sites in the Rossendale and Rochdale area. We needed three locations for our thriller opening (a happy romantic setting, a suicide spot, and Kym's bedroom).

The two shots below are for the opening 'romance' scene between Kym and Joe at Cloughbridge Reservoir, Rossendale. We chose this location due to the fact that it is mostly always quiet and desolate so there would be little problems with crowds of people when shooting. A reservoir is also considered romantic connoting the close and intimate relationship that Kym and Joe have. As there are many reservoirs which look similar to the one chosen, the teen target audience can relate and understand the surroundings which the characters are in. When shooting I plan to under expose the footage to create a dark underlying feel, and this is represented within the post production editing of these images. I thought the reservoir looked very cinematic and some interesting, innovative shots could be created, with enough room to use equipment such as a dolly to create tracking shots. In the second image, there are two birds not only emulating our production company's name (Songbird Productions) but also creating a happy atmosphere within the opening scene. As wild life is usually surrounding this location, we hope to capture some birds when shooting and add a non diegetic soundtrack of birds singing, perhaps entering as a sound bridge from our previous production logo. The distinct appearance of water in this scene will be a hint as to what is to come next in the film (hints are common within thriller feature films) as Joe will attempt to take his own life, jump off a bridge and drown during the next scene.

Figure 1 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 2 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

We arrived at our second location (Healey Dell, Rochdale) where we planned to shoot our suicide scene on the viaduct (previously used for trains but now a walkway). The four photographs below show the scenery of the viaduct. In figure 3 it shows Lucy Pilling being a model for one of the shots being proposed to be used. This mid-shot shows us adequate scenery and the angle is level with the viewer to display the relationship between the character and the teenage audience. We took this photograph when on location shooting to see in detail what type of angles to expect so we could plan shot lists accurately and efficiently. This is also true for figure 6 where Tom Bailey is modelling in a slight over the shoulder shot looking reflectively, showing what we can expect to see from our finished product. In figure 4 there is a low angle image of the viaduct. As the cinematographer and director, I plan to use a crane shot to display the sheer height of the viaduct to create rising tension and fear within the audience as to what action Joe is about to perform. This scary and over whelming setting seemed perfect for the placement of a suicide attempt. There are also barriers up on the viaduct so both the actors and the crew are safe when filming. Figure 5 was used to see how we were going to mimic Joe jumping off the viaduct and killing himself - one of my thoughts was to use a series of close up shots of his feet to connote his death and not actually show it. Another idea was to use a green screen and chroma key, connote Joe's death in post production. This is one aspect of the film which will be a challenge and as a team, we are determined to make his suicide as realistic as possible.

Figure 3 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 4 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 5 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

Figure 6 - Photograph by Emma Taylor

For our last location (Kym's bedroom) we wanted a confined space with bare walls to represent Kym's simplistic character. Abi Ford kindly proposed to use her bedroom as a location as it was the ideal mise-en-scene with black curtains and white walls - binary oppositions as seen in thrillers such as 'Face/Off' and 'Seven'. This teenage bedroom is easily relatable to the viewer which makes the thriller appear more realistic.

Figure 7 - Photograph by Abigail Ford