Reconnaissance for our horror trailer.

1. Reconnaissance

2. Reconnaissance means to conduct preliminary surveying or
research, and thus in Media when doing research and
planning for our trailer, we had to carry out
reconnaissance before we shot the scenes. This was so
that we could scout out the location, making sure it was
suitable for filming and suitable for our particular film.
The location we chose is the Pynchester Moated site, a
wooded area in Ickenham, as shown in the image 4 of
Google Maps. All three of these photographs show the
area of the moat, although due to weather conditions we
had to wait until the snow and rain passed to film, because
of the buildup of water in the moat’s basin, shown in
image 3.
The top two images show the moat when it is dry, and this
is where we filmed, setting up the “campsite” for the
victims. We chose this area due to the fact that it was
secluded and some distance from any houses and busy
roads, so that we would not hear any noises in the
background of our shots, making them appear
unprofessional. Also, we chose this site because of its
wooded location with many trees, greenery and cover, as
well as its clearing that allowed us to set up the filming
equipment easily and all the props like the tent, disposable
bbq, camping chairs, etc.
Image 1 Image 2
Image 3 Image 4

3. Below are two shots from when we actually filmed the scenes for the trailer, showing our overall setup. As we were
filming in the dark, it was not necessary to have a particularly ‘wooded’ setting, just with enough trees to make it into
shot and show the clear conventional location. Even though it is dark the ground, bearing leaves and twigs, reflect to
the audience that the characters are in the woods. We chose to use this site at night so that the woods appeared
ominous and daunting. This also made it clear to the audience that the antagonist could watching the unaware
characters, waiting to attack.