AS Media
Progress tracker of AS Media project by Matthew Facer
Candidate Number: 7547
Locations:
Initially, our group had the idea of filming in Nuffield Estate as it has the slightly eerie feeling that perhaps a lot of crime would go down there. It also has a lot of warehouses that fitted the look of where a dealer would buy arms from perfectly. Unfortunately, there weren't particularly any points in the area that we could get Luke to take off on his bike (we wanted a clip of Luke pulling out on his way to the next scene which required us having him pull out onto a road) and so we decided it would probably be unpractical to film here even despite the image and connotations the location would give our film. We also found it difficult to gain permission to film on the grounds as there didn't seem to be one person in charge but rather a group of people - none of whom were too keen on a bunch of teens snooping around.
Nuffield Estate
Poole Grammar School - Steps
In terms of plot, we wanted to open our film with Luke on the phone receiving a location for the arms deal to go down and for him to then leave a building in order to get to the deal destination. In order to do this, we wanted a building with a considerable (but not too many!) amount of stairs in which Luke could walk down on his way out. Originally, we had planned to have him walk down the steps slowly and the credits come up on each step as he passes them but we found this to be quite difficult in the editing process as well as finding it quite hard to find a way to track the camera down the stairs without the footage being incredible shakey. In the end we settled for the doing credits a more conventional way and to keep the stair scenes with Luke just walking at a decent pace to ensure the opening didn't become boring.
Another reason our school was a good place to film was because the staircase is in open air with a shuttered wall which adds a mysterious effect. The connotations of the wall would give a feeling of the unknown because daylight filters through but you as the audience are actually unable to see through it. The stairs are of a steel tread and are grated which gives off the idea of an industrial place which further backs up the concept of a location where firearms are made.
Creekmoor Youth Club
Seeing as we were unable to film at Nuffield, we had to set out to find a location of either similar proportion or a place that could at least seem viable for Luke to have exited from. The stairs then became a problem as we couldn't find any buildings that would allow us to film in that were of considerable height and so we decided that we would try to not show the whole building he was leaving from. Jordan and I have been going to Creekmoor Youth for a few years to play football and so we knew the people there and they were happy for us to film there. This made it easy for us to go anytime we wanted (especially considering Jordan and I live so close). The surrounding area also looks quite discreet which added to the shadey criminal effect we were going for.
NOTE: We took these pictures on a Thursday (when the Youth Club is open to everyone) which is why it is populated with various vehicles, we made sure to film in the evenings of other days as to ensure nobody interrupted!
Not only this but there's also a cage for football at the back of the Youth Club and we decided that we could go for a camera shot from behind the bars which would give a great effect of someone watching Luke as he gets on his bike. It also has connotations with prison which obviously relates ot our theme of crime in general.Relating to this, the Youth Club had a decent parking area for Luke to be able to park his bike, get on it and pull out without too much time being taken up. It also led onto a busy road which gave us our clips of him heading towards the next location; an option not available to us had we decided to try and stick to Nuffield. It was also useful that it is fairly secluded because it meant that we were unlikely to get anyone phoning the police on us for being armed with a BB gun!
The Premier Inn
We decided on filming at a hotel because it's somewhat stereotypical of a thriller in which criminal activity goes down in a temporary place so that they can't be tracked. We felt the Premiere Inn gave us that opportunity because it looks quite isolated from the outside which gave us a good establishing shot and further exaggerated the point that the location is cut off from most of the public. The inside of the rooms at the Premiere Inn are also quite small and we felt that having Luke patrolling the room like a caged animal would give a degree of tension. There was also a window looking out to the car park in most of the bottom floor rooms so we felt it could add a sense of danger to the protaganist. An idea of him shutting the curtains as police show up quickly became our way of ending the opening.
A big reason for using this hotel in particular is because we all lived within walking distance and the owners were very reasonable with times for us to film. James Elmes emailed the company requesting permission to record on the grounds and he was replied to with a phone number. He simply gave them a ring and they gave us permission to record any day providing we gave a day or so's notice (and at no cost!). This was hugely helpful considering we wanted to be able to film any day we were free but, had we not been able to record here, we did have a backup inn that a relative of mine owns (it didn't quite have the same effect though so we were relieved to have gotten the Premiere Inn).
The email sent by James and the reply he received which led to a phonecall that James took where he then gained our group permission to film for free at the Premier Inn