1. Location Recce
Prior to filming we visited a road side location to view the area and to analyse the suitability for our
filming. We visited Dark Lane at around 4pm on a Monday afternoon and we concluded that filming at
this location and the specific time was unsuitable. This is because it was an unreliable time of day, as
frequently there would be groups of children walking past after school hours. This would disrupt our
filming and we wouldn’t be able to film smoothly and time efficiently. Also our location was close to a bus
stop therefore every so often a bus would drive past and disrupt the area we would film in. This created
high noise levels which would disrupt the sound quality of our recordings and was likely to drown out
dialogue. Likewise, there were cars approaching this road at a high speed therefore the area seemed
dangerous to set up for filming.
This area was a neighbourhood thus there was lots of housing and people entering and leaving their
houses. This disturbed the setting of our film as it made the scene feel less suspicious and ‘horror like’.
Although, there was no wind noise it was an extremely sunny day therefore the sunlight dazzled our shots
and made them unclear and our actors were unable to see clearly which affected our overall recording.
One way up the road the lighting was quite dark from shadows of buildings and vehicles and at the other
end of the road the lighting was high key. Thus, if we filmed here the scenes would have looked uneven
and the lighting would not have matched. The genre of our film is horror therefore we wanted the
lighting to be quite dim and mysterious to create a dramatic effect; however at the time of the day the
sun was just setting therefore it was very bright and sharp. This conflicted with the mood we was aiming
to get from our scene as the bright scene conveyed a positive atmosphere. There were also shadows from
pedestrians walking past which would interrupt our filming and cause the scene to feel unrealistic,
making the scene lack verisimilitude.
2. In comparison we visited Sulham Woods on a Monday afternoon at 4pm. However on this day the
weather was quite poor, therefore the lighting was dull and low key which added a sense of suspicion to
our horror genre. At this time of the day the sun was just setting and the sky was cloudy therefore we had
no problems with shadows. The landscape of the sun setting caused the sky to seem edgy and
appropriate for our horror genre. The woods location was in a wide open space therefore we had no
issues with shadows from buildings or noise from vehicles passing by. Therefore our scene was not
disrupted as frequently as it would have been on the road side. The weather was cold and dim and
therefore added to the atmosphere of our sinister plot. The sun was setting behind us therefore it created
a fiery, intense backdrop for the setting of our production. Therefore emphasizing the dramatic situation
the characters were in. Moreover, this location was extremely quiet and the only noise was from wind.
However this was positive for us as we had planned to have a wind noise to contribute to our eerie scene.
As the area was quiet, our recordings were made to sound more suspicious and therefore benefitted our
villain in carrying out his evil acts.
Altogether Sulham Woods was a positive location for the genre of our film as the lighting, weather and
sound created a sense of verisimilitude. The scene was realistic as we chose to film in the open space
surrounded by trees and woodland. Therefore the location paralleled our plot as our sinister villain could
carry out his revengeful acts in the suspicious locations surrounding us. Furthermore, our protagonist was
Katie who was jogging through the woods which creates further verisimilitude in the diegesis. The area
was muddy; dull and worn which contributes to the recklessness of our scene and the wrath of our villain.
In
conclusion, we decided to film for our production in the Sulham Woods location instead of Dark Lane road. This
was because overall our filming could be carried out more efficiently in this area without any disruptions. The whole
landscape of the area in the woods also benefitted our production because of the sound and lighting elements
which created a successful horror genre scene. Overall, Sulham Woods was quieter and we could complete our
filming in sufficient time without being disrupted by cars and pedestrians. This location was more reliable as we
knew there would be less of a negative impact from noise than if we filmed near the road.
