15.11.2014 PLANNING: LOCATION RECCE

I took a number of photos when I went out with my film opening group on a location recce. We went to a variety of different places all of which were on the school grounds. I will use these photos as inspiration for my film opening or suitable locations to use as shots for my film opening. 

I came across a gate in an area of woodland. I felt that the green moss growing on the broken, unused gate suited our thriller, mystery, detective genre. I thought that if we chose to do a tracking shot of this broken gate, we should film in semi-dark natural lighting adding to the enigma of our story of the search of a a lost, kidnapped, vulnerable young girl. I liked that the tall, rain sodden trees acted as a canopy over the path where I came across the gate, this made me feel closed in on and bewildered; the could only see very little natural day light. I felt as though I had positioned myself as the main girl  of our film opening; making me feel surrounded and confined. 

Like the broken gate above, I decided that the broken fence I came across would be useful as a shot where I could place actors names/titles. I could pan the camera from right to left leaving enough space for titles/actors names on the left hand side. Behind the names/titles would be undergrowth, leaves and bushes; in this shot would be strong use of natural, earthy colours such as dark browns/blacks, dark greens, moss greens and burnt oranges. This would increase the sense of being lost, placing the location as continual and vast. 

I have decided that having the snap of a twig would add to the sense of vulnerability, lonliness that the young girl is experiencing running away from danger. She is alone in a huge, vast, ever-expanding wood looking for a way to get out and find help. Hearing the snapping of a twig, makes the audience feel as though she is being followed or she is not alone and her 'hunter' is coming to find her. Throughout my groups investigation to find different aspects of mis-en-scene and different locations for our film opening, I snapped different lengths and thicknesses of twigs. I want to create a high pitched, short snap sound in the background whilst the girl is running away ahead of the camera. When I start to film my film opening, I need to take into consideration the background noise around whilst filming as this can interfere with the sound effects being made effecting the pitch and volume of the snap. 

I also realised that having a shot of the girls leg, like the picture on the right, could be a possibility during the opening of the actors names/titles as space can be left on the bottom right hand side. The names can flash off the screen as she walks onto the twig. This adds to the suspense and enigma of my film opening. 

I also thought that we can use different shots of the sky and the canopy of trees above the girls head. Panning over the canopy of different green coloured trees can add to the sense of anxiety, terror and horror the young girl is experiencing as she is progressively running away from her hunter. I can pan through the trees in different lights, speeds and angles; this influences the sense of confusion and anxiety the girl is experiencing. The bright colours of the leaves and bark of the trees as well as the natural light in visually rewarding. 

I felt that I could make use of objects being symmetrical. For example, I came across a long avenue of trees; they appeared to be symmetrical and matching. Having the girl placed in the middle of the avenue of trees, like the group of girls in the middle of the photo, would add to the sense of loneliness and being lost. Having all of the trees and girl in the frame makes the locate appear vast and lonely for such a vulnerable girl to be lost in alone panicking. 

I also felt that I could have a quick tilt panning from upwards above the canopy of the top of the trees, panning downwards showing the girl running, to the dirty, muddy, damp ground. Throughout this shot would be loud sound effects of the young girls heavy breathing, making it appear that she has been running for a long amount of time and she is exhausted.