R & P Post 15: Our planned filming location, set design and props

This post was updated having made major changes regarding our decisions on location, set design and storyline after the test shoot.

Location/set design:

When planning the location of our opening sequence, we admittedly ran into major difficulties, which resulted in emergency group discussions to resolve them. Initially, we chose Ella’s house as our filming location, as it was in an easily-accessible location for the group members, and offered a room which had aesthetics which would clearly connote a teenage or young adult female to the audience. Nonetheless, we soon noticed that the space was far too tight to practically fit a film crew and actress, and also didn’t offer adequate light, leading to noticeable continuity errors when the group attempted to rectify this. As a result, we held group meetings and eventually decided on my house, as the loft offered a large enough space to shoot in, a simple mise-en-scene which required minimal adjustment besides adding props and plenty of natural light through two large windows, which we could also use within the sequence to cut to outside shots.

(please click to enlarge for analysis)
Our new location provided far better options
when shooting to adjust the set (for instance
with lighting and décor), as well as far more
space to work in.

Our original planned location was far too
small to shoot our main opening sequence in,
As a result, we felt we needed to change our setting.

Props:
When preparing for the test shoot, our initial ideas were to have our actress assume the role of an obsessive stalker whose main desire, as in Single White Female, was to mirror the life of her victim – in which case our original props were mainly to do with her appearance, including such props as makeup, coloured contact lenses and identical clothes. Having received feedback that our story didn’t convey the stalking element enough, and lacked a cutting edge, we altered the storyline and thus changed the props – reverting to far more sinister implements such as a knife, an extensive moodboard and (whilst not necessarily being a prop) updated social media accounts for the victim, as we felt this was a great means to add plausibility to the storyline.

We originally produced a costume ans prop list (right), however this
was replaced by two separate documents: a set & prop list (left), and
a new, more detailed costume, hair & make-up list - please see shot 17

Having eventually settled on a new setting, an adjusted storyline and updated props, we certainly now realise the importance of planning such decisions in advance so there is less to tweak, and the importance of group meetings in enabling us to come to group decisions to resolve the issues. We also learnt not to rush when choosing locations and how to dress the set, as each prop and the space they will be in ultimately influences the audience’s perception of the film. If we were to redo the project, more thorough organisation would definitely be a priority, as we wasted valuable time toying over choices for a possible replacement location.