Location Planning

In our thriller, we intend to use the resources available to us at school as our primary filming location; we plan to film at some point next week, and if we're lucky, there might be some snow on the ground (which will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the mise-en-scene). Every shot that we wish to include in the final product has a corresponding location on the school grounds that we can use, and this should reduce filming time as well as reduce the risks associated with filming (a subject that will be covered broadly in the upcoming risk assessment).


Hit the "Read More" to see some test images of different scenes from around the school, each corresponding to a different shot in the shot list:

"Long shot of escapee running across a field." - We could have the character run across the frosty dirt track to the left of the hill, occasionally looking over her shoulder to check to see whether or not she is being followed. We could follow her using a hand-cam style over-the-shoulder shot. The shot must contain no buildings, to make it seem as though the government facility is located as far away from centralised city areas as possible - and this should create a feeling of isolation and desolation in the scene.

"She cowers behind a tree to catch her breath" and "turns to run - but comes face to face with a fence" - The fence over in the distance actually looks fairly industrial, and the yellow and black stripes on it connotate a warning of some sort, or some kind of danger. It's at the far side of the grounds, so there will be no other buildings in the shot, suggesting that the escapee is well out of sight of the cameras when the agent decides to release her - and the trees are of ideal size to hide behind. They're also dead, owing to the fact that it's winter, which makes the scene appear hopeless and bleak - and the snow (if it's still there by the time we're ready to film) will accentuate this greatly.

"Foot shots of a group of people running through a corridor, obviously in disarray." - I'm not personally particularly fond of the wooden flooring and the wood paneling; I highly doubt that a secret government facility would go for the warm and welcoming 'organic' look, though the lighting is reasonably cold and the corridor itself is long and imposing. There's nothing that can't be fixed with a zoom effect, blue-ish camera filter and some faded black borders on the edges of the screen (faded tunnel-vision, I suppose you could say).