Locations

Below are some pictures of the location we have chosen to film our opening sequence. The opening sequence is set in the woods therefore I have chosen several parts of the woods in which I think is most suitable for filming and we can test these when we begin our filming.

 

These photos illustrate a selection of areas in which we will potentially be shooting our opening sequence. Some photos (such as the second one down) shows the one of the shots we wish to include in our opening sequence, our main character Sarah will be jogging into the entrance. 

We chose to use this location because it's conventional to the horror genre; it's cold, isolated and eerie therefore it gives the audience this idea that something bad is going to happen in the woods or something bad has already happened in there. We'll be using Belmont Downs as our main location because the majority of events that create narrative enigma happen there, the only other location we'll be using is my front porch and my road and this is only for the first 30 seconds of the opening sequence. In terms of accessing this location there are no restrictions.

The entrance is just down my road and once you're in the woods, it's a very open space that is easy to find your way out- plus the fact that I know where I'm going due to walking my dog over there for many years. You don't need permission to film at the downs and there are no restrictions as to what can be filmed as far as I know. Lack of power points i.e. signal on our phones is likely to be seen as a problem (we might not get any) however whenever I've been there, I've always had signal and all 5 of us will have a phone with us so one of them is bound to have enough battery and signal in case we experience any problems or we need emergency help.

Furthermore, our location is not very busy at all; it's a vast place therefore we are unlikely to come across many members of the public other than the occasional dog walker or runner but taking into consideration the season and the time of day we will be filming as well as the areas we will be filming in the woods, there won't be much people around. On the other hand, we're likely to come across more members of the public whilst shooting on my road- people might be sitting at the bus stop, walking past or going into their house and there will be cars driving up and down the road which can either make the opening sequence more effective by reinforcing this idea that it's just another normal day until she reaches the woods or it could affect our opening sequence negatively by disrupting the filming and ruining the shots. 

Obviously we will be filming outside in a wooded area so it's going to be muddy and there is likely to be litter so we have to make sure we avoid areas that may cause harm to us e.g. contaminated areas or areas with broken glass. Additionally, we'll have to ensure we wrap up warm because filming could take half hour or 2 hours so we don't know how long we're going to be outside for. 

The other possible locations we were thinking about using were an abandoned hospital in Belmont, a barn in Burgh Heath, Epsom Downs (woods) Box Hill and alleyways (Stanley Park and Crossways) however we decided not to use these locations because they were inconvenient in terms of timing- it would be harder to travel to these places with our equipment and get the filming done at the right time, particularly because it's winter now so it gets darker quicker, therefore Belmont Downs made more sense in terms of convenience because it's local to the majority of my group and I live so close to it so if we need to discuss ideas or set up equipment we can do this at my house before going to film. Moreover, we were unsure on the restrictions of these locations, especially the abandoned hospital and the barn. The abandoned hospital is bordered up with a fence around it so the accessibility isn't appropriate and if we're not allowed in their, it would mean matters with the police, this applies to the barn too; we think it's owned by someone therefore it would be intruding on property that isn't ours. 

By Chelsie, bethanie, Alix and rebecca