As Media studies blog- Jess Travers
Location, location, location
The Cafe Scene
My partner and I decided to not use a generic coffee brand such as Costa or Starbucks. Not only would they be hard to film in (due to the general coffee chaos) but it would make our film appear less professional and personal. As seen in the picture Costa is structured and a well-known brand. Our ideal setting for the 'Cafe scene' would be a dainty, reasonably quiet, small coffee shop. Costa is big and very noisy.
Spies would not use a famous coffee shop as a base for a package swap; they would want a discrete, unfamiliar shop that doesn't draw much attention. Costa contradicts all of these points as it is one of the most visited places in Poole- suitable for everyone. Not the typical spy location- which is why it is not suitable for our 2 minute opening.
The Courtyard coffee shop is a prime example of difficult access. The area has to open and easily accessible for lots of people. The action of switching packages has to be slick and easy. Having a small coffee shop in a narrow empty alley is not a likely place for spies to undertake this kind of procedure. It will also cause less tension with the audience, by adding the extra people and busier environment- tension is increased. The public can see the spies! What if the ‘supposedly secret’ swap is seen?
The Courtyard is an example of a place that is too quiet to film and therefore an unlikely location. Agents would want to be in a public place so they look less suspicious and their actions can be shielded from certain angles. The Courtyard would not be suitable for our film opening.
Druckers is situated in the middle of Poole Dolphin Shopping Centre. Unfortunately while the type of restaurant would have been perfect for our 2 minute opening, its location is what makes it unsuitable. Being in the middle of one of the main walkways through the shopping centre, Druckers does not have a lot of outside appeal. Our location for the swap package needs to look as inconspicuous as possible; a busy restaurant, smack bang in the middle of a shopping centre is very eye-catching. It again, seems like an unlikely place to choose for such an important scene.
From a director’s point of view, filming at Druckers would also cause many problems. It would draw a lot attention from members of the public and change the behaviour of people in the background. We may have to delay our filming due to problems involved with such a busy location. Overall, Druckers would be a good atmosphere to set our Café Scene in, but realistically it would appear an odd location for the type of film my partner and I are making.
Mixed Fillings can also be found in Poole shopping centre, but off to the side from the main walkway. As you can see in the picture, the eating area is closed off from members of public walking by. This is not appropriate for the type of scene we would like to film. The camera angles and shots would be limited due to how compact the restaurant area is. Alongside this, Mixed Filling itself isn’t the most attractive place to set our 2 minute opening. We would like a café or eating area that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but fits in with our spy thriller genre. Unfortunately Mixed Fillings doesn’t fill these check boxes.
Cafe on the Square is found in Wimborne Square. Having decided that Wimborne was the perfect place for little cafѐs, my partner and I went on a scouting trip. ‘Café on the Square’ is in the perfect location; public with exists everywhere- a classic spy meeting place. Filming would also be made a lot easier by the vast amount of space; equipment could be easily accessible (no alternative storage needed) and our cast will have enough space to move around. My partner and I went into the café, asking about whether it would be available for use, and they agreed to let us use it (If we wrote a letter with our agenda planned). ‘Café on the square’ isn’t an international shop (such as Starbucks), it has a local and simplistic feel with a wide space fitting perfectly into our spy location. This will be the location for the café scene within our 2 minute opening.
See further down the page for development
‘Coffee Club’ is much like ‘Café on the square’ when comparing aesthetics and feel. ‘Coffee club’ has a much smaller space for the filming to take place, which could cause some complications. A main road also runs on either side of the shop, possibly leading to some bigger risks. However the shop is dainty and nicely placed. Originally my partner and I thought this would be our café of choice (before we did our visit to Wimborne). There is a popular walk way going around the shop itself, creating a ‘busier’ look to the film opening. Because of the location and look of this small café shop, my partner and I have decided to use ‘Coffee Club’ as our back-up location for the café scene. This is in case anything happens which could stop us from filming at the ‘Café on the Square’. Therefore we are planning ahead just in case we are put in that position.
Our cafe scene predicament
Having been placed in a tough situation concerning communication with ‘Café on the Square’ my partner and I contacted Mark Bennett’s patisserie in Penn Hill (see Film Diary notes). We were then placed with two responses of yes and a choice had to be made.
Positives of Wimborne Café:
Lots of space to film.
All our camera shots, script and story board were based around this location.
We know the area.
The camera angles could be altered easily due to the space available.
The public are constantly walking around, meaning the shots will look more generic.
Negatives of Wimborne Café:
The public become an extraneous variable.
We rely on everything running smoothly with the public (No complaints).
The Mise-En-Scene would convey a town atmosphere which is not the usual location for spies.
The manager took two weeks to reply to us and therefore appears unreliable.
Positives for Penn Hill Patisserie:
It is extremely attractive and professional looking.
The owner is a lot more efficient and reliable.
The café is located in a quieter part of town which would make filming easier, this will limit the variables that we are unable to control.
The roads around the location are not busy, and less dangerous than Wimborne.
Negatives for Penn Hill Patisserie:
The pavement is narrow which may prove problematic for filming.
The outside space, room for filming and camera angles are limited due to the smaller space available.
Tuesday 15th December: You can see from the birds-eye view shot, shown on one of the slides, that the patisserie is located on a side road, branching from a main road. This will work in our favour; not only will it be safer, but it will also be easier to film (less people and traffic). The positives and negatives are listed above and upon drawing all of these together, my partner and I decided that this location will be most appropriate for our production. As we have already contacted them- with a response of yes- it will be much easier to progress with filming.
See Filming Diary to see how we arranged to use the Mark Bennett's bakery on Penn Hill
The beginning and end Alley Scenes
The alley along from the 'Wimborne Scout Hut' was our first investigation into the ‘alley scene’ from our 2 minute opening. The narrow road in question was very long with open fields on either side. The enclosed shot Katie and I were looking for would not have been appropriate in this area. Also, Katerina (our main character) has a bag yanked over her head at the end of the clip which involves someone hiding behind a wall- because there are fields on either side of this pathway there are no opportunities for someone to hide. From these points we decided to not use this location for our film.
We looked at numerous alleys around the café based next to the Wimborne River. Unfortunately they were all very short and offered no room for a variation of camera angles. The barriers following the path of the river limited the space we had available and would have meant the pathway would have had to have been blocked. The lighting was also limited due to trees and the café blocking out certain angles of the sun. For these reasons my partner and I decided that we will not be using this area of Wimborne for our filming.
‘Alleyway by the co-operative #1’ and ‘Alleyway by the co-operative #2’ are both located on the outskirts of Wimborne. #1 had a plant and greenery look matched with red bricks. On the other hand, #2 was less undercover and was located next to the river. Both of these alleys were appropriate for the scenes we wanted to shoot, but Katie and I decided to pick #2. The main reason for this decision was the aesthetic differences.
We have set the beginning of our 2 minute opening in Southampton, Southern England; #2 looked cleaner and more urban than #1. The floor was tiled and the outside dynamic would have worked well for the shots we were planning on taking. To make the film look realistic to its supposed location we chose ‘Alleyway by the co-operative #2’ to successfully display an urban look to our audience.
Phone smashing scene
We decided to have some diversity in our filming locations so introducing the river location would add opportunity to display some more camera angles and increase the techniques used in our films. Katie and I also came to the conclusion that realistically a spy would change locations to dispose of a phone: to hide the evidence and keep hidden. Because of these factors we decided this small bank onto the river would be a perfect place to film the ‘phone smashing scene’; adding location diversity and a change in scenery.