Location Research

Finding the right location is very important to the pre-production of film. Not only are the location department relied on to match an ideal location to the visual image that the director and other creative managers share, but it must also tick the box for practical feasibility. The process of finding the right location involves a location department that will communicate with the production department, to find the perfect places to shoot particular scenes. Finding a location is done through photography, research and visiting the actual chosen areas to make sure that they are perfect and match the filming criteria. The department that creates the short list if locations, and allow other members of the film crew to decide on the best place.

A little more about finding the right location can be found here...
http://locationmanagers.org/lmga/2011/11/who-we-are-and-what-we-do-a-4-minute-video-about-location-managing/

When we were first looking at the possibilities of shooting for our opening, some of the first ideas we had were shooting of the Underground, because it is such an iconic typical London figure. We thought of this idea because we visually drafted what would become our full narrative. What came into our heads was a girl sitting in the corner of the station waiting for something that she wasn't really sure about herselfout of breath from running or being pursued. From that first idea we had, looked further into shooting on the Underground and applied for the permit that gave us the permission to film there. It has been a long process to get the required permissions but hopefully one that will be worth the effort when it comes to the mise en scene of our film.
In the application for the permit, we summed up why we wanted to use the London Underground as our setting...
"Within this opening, we hope to capture to urban environment of the bustling London city and we believe that the London Underground is perfect for presenting this theme. The tube will appear in an audio-visual way on camera, appearing as our main setting for the opening of our narrative. The passing trains should add a sense of depth and urgency to the filming as well as providing atmospheric lighting. All of this is essential to our opening to present as much meaning as possible through visuals, given the fact that our main character does not speak. Our production group believed Paddington to be a good station to choose as it is a mainstream station, meaning crowds will be abundant and it is also easy to commute to being an central location. Further to this, the circle line platforms offer as a good mix of natural and darkened light, reflecting many aspects of our films plot and main characters struggles. The footage we can acquire from this shoot will depict our characters actions as her main thought process is shown through voice over. Therefore, the shots will match the monologue that is spoken by our character  The setting of the underground also works well with emphasizing how lost this character is compared to the moving world surrounding her. The great thing about filming in a station such as Paddington is the feeling that everyone seems to have a destination, contrasting to our lost protagonist, Ariadne, who is trying to discover hers."

After research, we thought of three possible platforms to use on our shoot: Angel, Baker Street and Paddington. From previous experience we all decided that these were the underground stations that gave the right vibe and was the appropriate mood we needed for our footage due to the many  the flexible lighting choices, crowds and layout of the stations. Firstly, we thought that Baker Street would be most ideal because ofthe low lighting that gave off a very tense isolated feeling and also had more of a cinematic feel, but after more consideration we were reminded that Ariadne is meant to be presented as a very quiet character, shown through her complete difference to the London crowds. We thought that of all three stations Paddington would have the most crowds, not to mention well-known, therefore the audience would identify the location more than the others. We ruled out Angel because although it had the right atmosphere, but didnt have the  opposite each other needed for a crucial set of over the shoulder shots between our main characters. Our final decision was to film on platforms one and two of the London Underground at Paddington, as they retained some of the architectural features of Baker Street with opposing platforms and also should provide us with more crowds and cinematic presence..

Angel:

Baker street: 

London Paddington: