Scouting for locations

Over the last couple of days I have been thinking and locating possible locations for the filming of the content of my teaser trailer.  It has been a pretty long process in scouting locations as I have been thinking about locations ever since casting. Picking a suitable location is probably one of the hardest parts of filming a film as there are a couple of things you have to find out before you can use it:

-Before a location can be used, permission needs to be acquired, meaning that the person in charge has to know. Not having permission for a location could mean filming time could be cut short because of an event. Also not having permission, could mean that filming in certain locations could be illegal and consequences may follow.


- In addition to permission, the availability of the room needs to be known. For example, at college, if a certain classroom is in use when you were planning to film, it will cause a set back and shooting will have to rescheduled. Knowing the availability of a location is very important for sticking to time scales and schedules.


- The safety of a location.  The safety of a location is key as a thorough safety check needs to be put into place so that whilst filming it isn't dangerous to film. This is important as you do not want to breach the safety of thew actors and helpers around you aswell as the safety of yourself.


-Finally, the suitability of the location so that it fits the purpose of the project and ticks all the boxes. This is important as the location you choose for the Mise-en-scene you want to portray in a teaser trailer. A bright colourful place wouldn't be suitable for a horror film. Whereas, a dimly lit location would be suitable for something of the horror genre.

After thinking about a few locations I decided I only needed a few for the 3 days of filming I had in mind. I chose the locations needed based on the four principles above: Permission, availability, safety and most importantly suitability. I also chose suitable backups that can substitute for 2 of my 3 initial locations. Almost like for likes, although they are my last resorts.

Spare room on music corridor- Whilst scouting for location i managed to stumble across an empty room on the music corridor in my college. I acquired permission to use that room during one of my free lessons and made sure that the actors and equipment I needed were available at the same time that I was planning to use the room. The safety of the room was secure as all there was, was a drum set, piano, a chair and a table. When I film I am planning to move the musical instruments and keep the table and chair for the character of Dr Jones. the suitability factor of this location is perfect as I believe it gives the perfect sense of an office. The lighting is also good as it isn't dark and has a window on the roof letting in the natural light from outside. For this location I didn't need a backup as it is hardly used so there wouldn't be a problem with the availability of the room. This is important incase I ever have to reschedule the shoot, as I am guaranteed I can still use the same room.

Princess park manor- Whilst scouting for locations I also looked in my local area and I found a estate called princess park manor. These are very stylish modern flats and is where a few celebrities live. I also found out hat it used to be a mental institution and thought it would be an ideal location for the establishing shots of my film. I got permission to film the estate from the outside but I had to ask on the day of filming whether it was ok to film inside. I was told that I was allowed to film the front whenever I wanted which gives me a lot of availability to get everything ready. It is perfectly suitable and is  completely safe. However, I cannot take any risks and have decided to use my college building as backup location as I know I can film it whenever I want as I do not need permission.

Classroom at school- My college has some very suitable locations, in particular an English classroom that I am looking to use for some filming. I acquired permission form the teacher that teaches in that classroom and he has given me permission to use it whenever it is free. This means that there is limited availability of this room and might need to revise and reconsider shooting in this location. The safety and suitability is fine. Just in case I found a backup through my friend kindly letting me use his house to film.