Recce Scouting Report

So far I have checked out three possible locations for my film, all around the college sight. I took my script with me to see what shots would be happening in each location and I have photographed each location and also made a checklist and made notes about each location to help me compare them with others, here is a link to the blogpost showing my physical findings.

I am happy with the staff kitchen in the media department. It will be used for the first scene of Sister 1 (Emily) alone in her kitchen therefore I don't need lots of space or an attractive backdrop, just the basic aspects of a kitchen, and luckily this location fits that brief.

The college car park is also an ideal location for the scene where Sister 2 (Jess) and her parents get out of their car and head towards to election hall. It's good because all of the crew will be able to access it and we won't have to worry about interfering with members of the public as the only people that should be around the area will be people linked to the college.

I don't think that Hive C is going to be the ideal location for my election hall. But I would like to use and area in the college for this as it is the best location for the whole cast and crew to arrive at. I will look at the studio in the media department as it is designed for filming purposes. I don't currently see any problems with it.

To continue my recce's I would like to look at an undercover car park, another kitchen and possibly to more locations that can be used as an election hall. I will be able to plan the second kitchen recce when I have discussed with my group who is happy for me to film in their kitchen and also who's kitchen is the easiest for the whole crew to access.

Political Film Recce's

Location 1- Hive D.

Location 2- Media Kitchen.

Location 3- College car park.

Why do we do a recce?

Here is a visual representation of why we do a recce, above are all of the things you have to look for and think about when you go to a location that may possibly be the location for your filming.

Comparing locations
We looked at two different locations with the intention of finding a setting for a romantic sci-fi film. 

The first location was a play park. It was a slightly larger location that covered a wider area of varied land, by this I mean that there were different slopes, hills and craters with trees mainly around the outside. As it's a play park, it comes filled with different play equipment that may or may not be suitable for you film, with the play equipment there you would have to fit it into your film somehow. This location was very close to a busy road, meaning that there was a lot of noise from traffic which would interfere with the filming unless you wanted a busy traffic filled scene. 

In my opinion I think that the second location we looked at would be more suitable. The space was more empty an open, there were a few slopes that would look good as craters in a sic-fi film but they wouldn't be a hindrance if you just wanted a large, flat, open space. As this is an open area of grass, there is no play park equipment meaning that it's down to the director and gives the director more freedom when it comes to bringing in props and building up the scene, as the only existing features that would have to be included are the trees and surrounding houses. The sound at this location would also be better because it's not next to a busy road, however wen we went to look at the location there were dustbin trucks that were an eyesore and main an unpleasant sound.

Whenever you do a recce at a location for your film, you will almost definitely find cons about the area but if you're willing to improvise you can overcome these issues. You have to weigh up the pros and cons of each location and chose the one that suits your film the best and is the most practical when it comes to transporting a cast and crew, accessing power and sanitation and lighting and weather issues. I feel that there should always be some flexibility in the script that gives you room the alter some aspects of the film to fit with a location if the perfect location isn't available to you at the right time.