Location Recce

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A recce is a pre-filming visit to a location to figure out it's suitability for shooting, including evaluation of any potential lighting or sound issues. Before I proceed with filming, I had to investigate and source possible locations for filming, compiling recce reports for the settings. 

PROBLEMS AND CHANGES
Initially, I thought of filming my opening sequence in my older brother's room, because he is currently away for uni, so no one is using it, and it is a good size. I thought that filming my opening sequence at home would be easier and cause less hassle, because I can film at any time and the furniture I need for my film, the desk and bed, were already there. However, the room also has a shelf and big wardrobe, which I did not need for my film, and it would be difficult to move them out of the room because I did not have anywhere else to put them for the period of time that I am filming. As well as this, I need lots of space for my female character to move/crawl around the room, and also for Will (the male character) to lay down on the floor.

© 2015 RICAANGELICAADARLO

Therefore, I decided to scavenge for a different location where there was enough room to film and for the female character to move around in. I discovered that one of the houses, opposite of Gabrielle's, is currently empty, and the family that previously lived there gave the key to her dad. I thought that this was the perfect location and size for the room, because the small area conveys the idea that she is isolated and adds to the claustrophobic feeling. Moreover, I weighed out the possible disadvantages and advantages of using the location:

PROS
CONS
• Since my all of my shots are indoors, the weather will not be a problem.
• There is no one living in the house at moment, therefore I have plenty of space because most of the rooms are empty.
• As the film is set in a house, it will not break the realism compared to shooting in a classroom or outdoors.
• As it is a secure location, props are able to be left in the house, which means that I am able to leave any props or set there so I do not forget to bring them next time.
• Not many props are needed which means less hassle.
• Because the rooms are empty, there is an echo effect, which adds onto the eeriness of the film.
• I only have access to the house for a short period of time because we do not have permission to film there. However, I have access to the key because the family who lived there before, gave the key to my friend's family, who lives next door.
• Props and equipment are not on location, which means that carrying them to and from the location causes a risk of any damages. Also, most of the props I am using are borrowed from Gabrielle, and I have to be extra careful because they are not mine.
• Because most of the shots will be filmed at night, this causes a problem because it may be too dark.


Gabrielle and I brought her desk to the room and put it in front of the window. However, I realised that I have a shot that shows the curtains, so I will have to rearrange the props and set, so we do not waste time preparing the mise-en-scene, and just go straight to filming.


On the wall, I am planning to cover a small section of the wall in black wallpaper and tear off if in random places. This is because I will be filming in low-key lighting and the white background may not show, so the black paper will contrast it and therefore, will be easier to see the rips. I do not intend on cover all of the walls in wallpaper, then tearing it off (as this is what the female character does as she has lost her sanity), because this will be too time consuming and I only have a limited amount of wallpaper. As well as this, in most of the scenes, the female character is crawling on the ground, so the upper half of the walls won't be seen.

I was planning to put a mattress here to act as the female character's bed, because there was no actual bed in the room. However, I realised that it would cause too much hassle trying to move one to the room, and shot including the bed would only be filmed for a couple of seconds. To tackle this problem, I will have to look for a place where there is a single bed, and a partially empty room, so I can film the shot that I need.
© 2015 RICAANGELICAADARLO


About The Author

An ENFP who happens to be an aspiring globe-trotter with a love for art, music and iced coffee. Trying to be pretty alright at everything.

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