Location Choice and Alteration

I revisited an area that was a potential location for a night scene. In this scene one of the characters wanders the streets reading old newspapers and visiting a dirty burger bar. Shadwell provides a lot in terms of a slice of London with its cosmopolitan shops, railway, views of surrounding buildings, brickwork etc. It’s a fairly self-contained area that could be shut off for filming as it’s not a main thoroughfare. There are plenty of side streets for parking and access for electric. I will have to look into the times of the trains that run into the night as this might cause problems in terms of noise, however a few trains might add to the dirty urban feel of the scene. Below are a few photos of potential areas of alteration, including CGI. I also gathered useful measurements and guidelines for heights.

 

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Starting research

While I’m finalising the project/learning agreement for my Masters degree I’m starting to look at the role of the production designer and how it relates to the rest of the art department, location scouts, director etc. and looking at the pre-production phase of film making. Later on I will compare this to the post-production phase, in particular– what in terms of design is likely to be altered set/lighting wise?

Of course many design decisions will depend on the novel/screenplay that I choose to develop, but at this stage of research, it is important to establish information on existing films and practise in order to inform my own practical research and design decisions for the future. I have found plenty of books to get me started including Production Design: Architects of the screen by Jane Barnwell, The Filmmakers Guide To Production Design by Vincent LoBrutto  plus various books that look at art direction.

Also, I’ve just found a handful of on-line articles/blog posts that document aspects of the changing role of the production designer in today’s film industry which should be useful. Any that I find relevant will be posted on a page specifically for links, references and the bibliography over the next week or two.