Location research- Buildings

Location research

Epsom West Park Hospital

This is Epsom West Park Hospital, which is an abandon hospital which many people in my area know it as ‘Epsom Asylum’, spooky right? Anyway, this is location one of my location research. As the location is in Epsom, it is very easy for us to get to so minimal transport,

however this is the least of our worries as we want a perfect location for a high quality trailer. As you can see, the external environment of the location creates an eerie and unnerving atmosphere which is ideal for a horror trailer as a scary location is part of the conventions of a horror. The unkempt and overgrown plants makes the building seem as being untouched which makes it seem frightening, especially the ivy growing up the side of the house. We could do many camera shots with this unkempt rural environment, such as, a low angled shot therefore having the camera within the long grass, with a black silhouette of a figure holding an axe, walking towards the camera. This shot we could add a blurry effect, which could suggest POV (point of view) shot. The building is also very large, similar to the buildings used in ‘The Woman in Black’ and ‘The Others’ which are all successful films. Within the location there many empty rooms which have decayed and aged, which would create an uncomforting and scary atmosphere; especially when the rooms are badly lit which would build tension. However a limitation to this is as the building is abandoned, there is no electricity, therefore the only light we would have is natural lighting, meaning filming in the daytime. This may take away from the fear factor we wish to create; as stereotypically the horrifying events usually occur at night, however we could subvert from this stereotypical convention. A way we could avoid this is that we bring portable lights which we can equipped ourselves if we pick this location for some of our trailer. There are places within this location which would provide us with frightening shots, such as this long walkway. As the walkway is very long and full of windows, there will be lots of light which we could use, even when it begins to get darker. We again can do many shots here, such as, the antagonist running after the protagonist (maybe using a GoPro camera). We could also have the antagonist walking on the outside of the walkway dragging a knife along the windows, while the protagonist is within the walkway! Due to the walkway being narrow, it would build up tension as it’s such a confine space, and many people fear being in this situation as there is no place to run, except for going straight. This location has many aspects which would suit our theatrical trailer, especially the long walkway…

Ashtead cricket club

This is Ashtead cricket club which is a we can do.

one floor building, which is open to the public. This location could be used for our trailer, as during night time it becomes very spooky, which will bring tension to our trailer. Due to there being four/ five outdoor lights outside, it illuminates the outside deck dimly but enough for us to capture objects in high quality. This dim lighting would create an uncanny atmosphere which is ideal for a horror trailer. However this would not be the main location where the film would be set as the inside is too modern, therefore subvert the stereotypical horror setting. This location could be where a protagonist runs to, to hide from the antagonist. On the other hand, as there is lots of grassland, we could have a tracking shot of a protagonist running away from the antagonist, as this would provide tension but also create an enigma, why is the antagonist doing this? A negative to this location is that we cannot go inside as it is too modern to be in a horror trailer; this therefore means this cannot be the main location for where our film is located. This means we are limited to using the deck and the grassland, which isn’t too bad, but it does limit what

St Peters, Chertsy, Surrey

This is St Peter’s which is a deserted building where it used to be a hospital. Automatically, there is a negative to this as there would be a bit of transport needed to actually get footage. However, from what I have seen the place is very ideal due to the numerous rooms, which create an atmosphere that will scare any audience. As the walls have aged and moss has grown, it causes the rooms to seem creepy and unnerving. The outside appearance makes the building very secluded and hidden which is ideal for a location for section of our trailer as, it would make it more realistic, meaning no one will hear the murderous screams... There are many shots which could be used such as the antagonist

jumping out from behind doors or even having shots which suggest the antagonist is cutting a person; these are all shots which we can achieve from this location. Another positive is that as you can visit this building, it means there is electricity meaning we would have sufficient light in practically all the rooms. However, when there’s good, there is bad; some rooms will be unavailable due to maintenance meaning we would be limited to only a few rooms, which isn’t ideal. However apart from this the place is ideal to use for shots of our theatrical trailer.

MJC Production houses

Finally we could use our houses for filming as they are obviously easy to get to and all our equipment are already at either of our houses. If we use a household location, it would allow our audience to associate with the trailer more as they feel this could happen to them. This therefore would intrigue the horror fan fanatics (target audience) as they will gain an adrenaline rush, meaning they would then go to watch the film. Furthermore, if we use this location we know which places are scary and which places are not, ideal for time keeping. As it our house we can easily change the atmosphere which we create by changing what mise en scene is shown, what objects are used to create enigma and symbolic codes. This means it is easy to convey which we want to compare to using a location which we cannot alter. The only negative is that the different locations within the trailer have to link somehow, which means we have to choose very carefully, on which locations are used. In our last production ‘The Woods’ we used a household which was very effective as it unnerved our target audience, which we know from all the positive feedback we gained. This therefore gives us confidence in using this location as it worked previously; however we need to remember this is a theatrical trailer therefore it may not be as effective as last time.