Monday 16 November 2015

practical task - Location scouting

So I chose to look at outside locations during my scout and came across a few excellent locations for use in a potential chase scene or to be used in establishing shots followed by a cut to the protagonist(s) in their current location(s).

My favourite, and first, of the locations, was in part of a woodland near to where I live in Yalding.






I really like this as a woodland location as you can see in the distance that it has plenty of ground space, but the trees still obscure direct view in most directions and so can be used as an effective chase location.

I can explain the use of the smoke. It was purely as a way of seeing the potential usage of smoke to create "fog" when it becomes dark enough to appear as night. The fact it was red is just as a way of seeing the effect as a more exaggeration since at night, we'd have lighting set up to shine through the white smoke which would be time consuming to replicate, however if this location is chosen alongside the mise-en-scene of the artificial smoke, we may revisit smoke grenades and their use.




With the help of some wind, I was able to get the effect I was after. As you see towards the left, the smoke is still thick, however, if a figure were to be stood within the smoke cloud with lighting behind them at night, we would be able to have an amazing effect of this ominous figure appearing from the mist which will be effective at building tension and gaining audience anticipation. Again, the smoke will be white if it were to be used in the actual sequence. However to make it easier to detect the effect created by the smoke, I have used red smoke during the daytime.



In my opinion, this is another great location for both an establishing shot of the area, and as a location where the killer can make a creepy first appearance where the protagonist walks across the entire frame and as they walk past, the killer is then perhaps stood beside one of the trees or a body is suddenly hanging from a tree, foreshadowing the protagonists inevitable outcome.



I really like this location for the sheer purpose that it is exceedingly creepy in the correct lighting. You're unable to see far in the distance and the space is claustrophobic as the trees line the path on both sides and also arch overhead to give the feeling that you're almost trapped which is a genuine feeling I get every time I walk along this path.


I don't know what it is about this part of the woodland location that I find eery, but I get the feeling that it's due to the hard foreground lighting and soft background lighting that make the space feel enclosed when actually it is the same clearing that the person is stood in holding the smoke grenades (photo 2). Again, to have a sudden jump cut to this exact location with the same lighting with a figure either stood here or dead here would increase the intensity of the sequence, especially if the protagonist(s) passes this location before they come across the killer.

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