R&P Post 35: Recapping Our Location Choices

Hiya! Welcome to another location planning post!

Now our plans and ideas for our music video are really starting to come together we are looking at what locations we could use in more depth.

For the first 'level' of our music video we have decided that we are definitely going to use The Wine Leaf off-license because they have told us that we would be able to film there and it has the aesthetic of a local newsagents/off-license that we want for this particular scene. This part of our music video will show the couple robbing a local shop and stealing money, then running out and escaping, and for this we want the shop to look like a conventional 'corner shop', making this particular location rather ideal for us. Below you can see a photo of The Wine Leaf as reminder of what it looks like:

For the second 'level' we have also made a decision on which locations we are going to use. This scene shows the couple breaking into a house and then running off when they hear someone in the house. We have decided that for the outside of the house we are going to use a bigger house to show the couple entering from the outside. Then for the inside of the house we are going to film at Destinie's house. For the outside of the house we were thinking of using 3 West Drive:

However, we have now decided to use a different house next door which is also big. We are going to use a different house because with the house in the picture above, we would not be able to film the couple pretending to go inside the house because there is a gate blocking the main entrance to the house (you can see this gate in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture above). So instead of this we are going to 2 West Drive:

This house is also big and with this house we are actually able to film the couple pretending to break into it and go into the front door. So for the first two levels of our music video we have confirmed locations to film at.

Also for this level we will be using Destinie's house, mainly her living room, pictures of which you can see below:

We have decided to use Destinie's house because it has a relatively simple but stylish aesthetic that would be very suitable for our music video as we do not want this house to look too boring or too posh.

We are also going to use my house for shots of the boy in his bedroom and also the scene after the 'Mafia' scene where the couple go to a 'hotel' room to celebrate their victory of managing to steal the money. You can see photos of the room that we are going to use for this just below:

I also took a video of this room for my group and sent it on our WhatsApp group chat (this is how we communicate as a group about our media work when we are not altogether):

And this is the sofa bed in my bedroom that we are planning to use for the boy's bed as part of his bedroom(it will be decorated differently when we come to film):

For the third level we have decided that we are going to use the alleyway nearby to Destinie's house:

We were thinking about using the underpass in South Kensington or the underpass next to Waterloo Station but we have decided against this because as these other locations are in central London, and we will be filming in a public space during the school half term holiday, they will be very busy and there will be lots of people which will get in the way of filming. The reason why we have decided to use this particular location is because, in similarity to The Wine Leaf, it has the aesthetic that we want- this being a slightly dingy-looking and dark alleyway that would really suit this scene. Because it is nearby to Destinie's house, it also means that we have the option of filming both the second and third level on the same day, which would make us more time-efficient on set.

For the fourth level we were strongly considering the Golden Lane Estate car park as a possible location:

However, yesterday Lesley went to visit this location to see if it would actually be suitable for our music video and although it did look very suitable for this scene, she found that if we wanted to have a car in this scene (which we were planning to do) we would have to pay for a permit for the car to be allowed into the car park:

This scene is the 'Mafia' scene in which the couple hand over a bag to a lady, who will be represented as the head of a secret criminal organisation (in similarity to the Mafia), which seems as though it is full of money. However, it turns out that this is not actually the case and the couple run off with the bag that actually has the money in it. So a car is pretty vital for this scene and if we have to pay for a permit to be able to use a car in this scene, we will not actually be able to because we are very limited in terms of money. So we have been looking in to different locations for this scene instead.

Our favourite location so far is the car park belonging to Sainsbury's and M&S in Colliers Wood as it is a very spacious car park but also has a strong dingy element to it, making it seem eerie which is the look that we want for this particular scene in order to represent how the couple in this music video are involved in underground criminal acts. However, whilst some of us already know what it looks like other members of my group do not so I am going to visit it later this week to take some photos for my group (as there are none online) to see as well as to see if it would definitely be suitable for this scene.

In terms of performance shots we are going to shoot these in entirely different location which will make our music video more interesting and exciting for our audience. One place we are going to use for performance shots is the National Theatre rooftop at the Southbank:

We want to use this location because we would be able to film on a rooftop which is a very exciting location to film and would engage our audience more within our music video. It will also enable us to shoot interesting and unique shots, further enhancing our audience's interest not just within our music video, but also interesting them more in our artist.

As well as filming at the National Theatre, we are also planning to film along other parts of the Southbank:

We are going to use different parts of the Southbank for performance shots as well as the rooftop of the National Theatre to vary our performance shots more and to make them more exciting for our audience. Also, the Southbank is a very lively place with lots to do, meaning that it will be an exciting place for us to film.

So there we have another location planning post! We have now confirmed our locations for our three 'levels' or scenes of our music video which is very positive but we are still deciding on which location to use for the fourth level. We also know where we are going to shoot our performance shots, however, so overall we have the vast majority of our locations planned and confirmed.