Location Scouting

I knew I needed multiple locations, so I spoke to my family, friends and anyone I knew that could help. To make a video look certified and official I believe original and a range of professional uncommon locations. When I went through my plan I tallied up what I would need to fill my video and to link the theme together. They all had to be pretty abandoned, 'away from society' and original. This was the list of locations needed.

- Dark room looking like it is away from society.

- Abandoned Building

- Bar/Pub
- Wasteland to drive a car on.

- Derelict Area

- Skatepark

- Beach  

'Dark Room'

After thinking what the best location would be for the actors 'home' I thought the best place would be a caravan. It would go well with the 'druggy' theme to represent a 'hillbilly' 'gypsy' kind of look. Also it wouldn't create too much problems with putting the props up etc. As it would be a simple design, which would mean we could just add props instead of clearing out a room. Also the owner wouldn't be as bothered if we decorated their caravan oppose to a room in their house. My friend has a caravan, I kindly asked for her to send me a photo to see what I was working with. This is what she sent me..

I knew this had potential, as this would be one of the main locations I had to make sure it was perfect. I got a few props ready just for a little preparation in the caravan. I got some ripped cloths and put them up as curtains to see how it would look. This is what I got and was happy with..

'Abandoned Building'

To fit with the theme of my music video I believe abandoned places would correspond with the theme of 'away from society'. As there would be no one else there apart from them, to central to focus on them two and the drugs that drives their relationship. To find abandoned places I began to research on the internet. I found a very helpful site which gave me a few abandoned places I could try. 

I tried a few of these locations which looked like they had the most potential. Most of the ones I tried were fenced off which made it impossible to get in. The best one I found was fenced off but was easy to get over and this is what I found.. 

But unfortunately all the buildings entrances were blocked off. Because it was so heavily fenced off it didn't appeal to me due to safety and legal reasons, so I decided to look elsewhere.

I started to research around Derbyshire and stumbled across an abandoned mental asylum which looked very promising, it was based in 'Aston-on Trent' in Derbyshire. The website gave me background information and a load of pictures..

I decided to visit this for myself to see the potential of this location.

These are the parts of the hospital grounds that have potential to fit my plan..

Outside the Main Grounds..

Outside the Reception..

Outside an Entrance..

 Entrance..

Main Hall..

Cafeteria.. 

Table/Bar..

 Derelict Land..

Disco Hall..

All these spots have massive potential and fit my 'abandoned' theme. This is the location I am going to use for the 'Abandoned Building'.

'Bar/Pub'

To fit my theme of 'hillbilly' social outcasts kind of theme I wanted to find an old antique looking bar or pub where the characters could have a scene of eating, drinking and doing illegal drugs in the toilet to run parallel with their 'adventure' in the music video. I knew a friend that lives in 'Ockbrook, Derby' which is a little village and asked him if he knew anywhere. He recommended the 'Royal Oak' so I went down to have a look. 


 

This location was perfect to fit the theme as it is old fashioned, with all the aspects of an old pub that I imagined.

'Wasteland for Joyride'

For this location I wanted a place where I could film a joyride on a wasteland. So a surface with some sort of dust or gravel would be perfect to capture some nice shots with the dust flying up etc. A location with this and a nice bit of background to give the location some character would be perfect. I spoke to my Dad and he knew someone with a farm, with a barn on. He took me down to the location to see if it was suitable for what I was looking for.

This farm suited my needs perfectly, with a bit of character and a nice area to drive a car on as the dust will create a great cinematic feel. I will use this location as my Dads friend said it would be fine once I let him know the dates of filming etc. 

'Derelict Area' 

This location will be a empty rundown area to give me some basic establishing shots of the couple. Quite simple, but perfectly linking in with the theme. I knew the 'Cattle Market' in Nottingham City Centre had old rundown kind of places so I decided to take a look. This is what I found near that area..

                                                        

  

The first location was very appropriate for my theme and would fit the abandoned location idea. The second place I went was fully fenced off, this was not so good for a location as it could cause security issues, or even health and safety risks. So I am going to use the first option, as I like the graffiti on the wall and the blue colour on the panels, as I think once it is colour graded it will look like it has character.

'Skatepark'

For the skatepark I wanted an old looking skatepark. So I thought the typical white coloured skatepark would look good with graffiti and ramps all around. I knew Long Eaton in Nottinghamshire had a nice one like this called 'West Park'. I went to have a look and was instantly happy.

   

                                        
    

This has a lot of opportunities for nice scenes. As there is a lot of seating space for the couple to be 'chilling' and there are lots of ramps for them to be messing around on. I am going to use this location for my video.

'Beach'

For the beach shots, as the beach is at least 2 hours away I didn't want to go there to location scout, this one would be more of a risk. As I wanted it to be just them on a beach with a fire, I want the beach to be anonymous and out of the way of living people or buildings. As the closest sea side is Skegness I started to look on google maps to see what I could find to help me find a place like this.
 

 
 
Just south of Skegness I noticed a golf club and a big beach area and then the sea. There will be no buildings in sight because of the golf club in between and it is way out the way of Skegness mainland to avoid pedestrians.



I looked on Google Earth to get a better view of this to see what is there..

From Google Earth I can see there is a massive amount of land between society in the mainland to this beach. It looks like there is a sandy wasteland with greenery, going into lighter sands, then into wet sand and then eventually the beach. This will give me multiple opportunities in which type of beach to use. It is away from buildings and people. Which gives me the opportunity to build a fire and film how I planned. This seems the right location to find on the day of shooting. I will get directions to 'Drake Road' which is the nearest road and hopefully this location will deliver.