location scouting
Location Scouting the Dukes
I am jumping ahead here by checking possible locations for the documentary film. There is a methodology for a films pre-production and this would normally be a consideration for the later stages of the project. What prompted this was an interesting online article I came across during my research that could prove to be vitally important in the production of my documentary film. My research identified that a local venue has been running Cinema and Entertainment events specifically for Dementia sufferers and their carers, which is key to the subject of my research and narrative of my documentary.
To research this article further I decided to conduct a recce of the venue and surrounding locations before contacting the venue. The reason for this may seem obvious, but my aim was to scout the venue to see if it met with my requirements as a filmmaker, which I have listed a few requirements below. It is also a good idea to try and get a feel for a location and see how it fits into your films visualisation. One of the key things I like to achieve whenever possible is to raise my films production value. What do I mean by this? for example, if you need to film in a church and the local church and the Cathedral are potential options, always go for the Cathedral. This is to immediately step up the production value of your film. Of course this isn’t a hard rule and sometimes the local church is the better option and for a variety of reasons for example aesthetics, practical considerations (lighting a large space is expensive).
Location Scouting – My location requirements
- Venue open to filming.
- Natural light or practical lighting.
- What access will they allow.
- Dates available.
- Cost considerations – if any.
- Additional permissions required – if any.
- Is the location noisy so poor sound.
- Restricted Public access.
Location Scouting – Additional requirements
- Easy to get to
- Parking
- Services near to hand (food, drink, toilets, medical for the crew)
The B-Roll
What is the B-roll? whenever you are filming a documentary or indeed any filming you will always need to make cuts in your footage. an examples of this would be a long interview, which after a short while becomes boring visually, there’s only so much time that you can watch what I call a bobbing head, you can acceptably watch for 15 seconds but any longer and you need to break away to a different visual just to keep your audience engaged. When you cut you need to cut away to a different visual usually related to the what the subject is discussing, but may just relate to the location, but whatever it is make it interesting.