Sheena Austin A2 Media Blog : Locations Ideas

Locations
For the location of our music video we are aiming to create a retro music video from the 1940s/50s intertwined with a edgy feel which suits both the band and the song. It is important for the location to be familiar with our audience who are individual, edgy and unique characters. In research i found that Shoreditch along with Camden and Nottinghill are all locations in london which identify with our audience due to their unique edge and artistic elements. Outside of London i found that Bristol also shared the same unique, vibrant and individual atmosphere, however it is expensive for travel purposes especially if we wanted to re-film certain frames it would be unrealistic to find the time to travel back and fourth from Reading to Bristol frequently.

Bristol wall mural.

Shoreditch, London.

Properties I found several location websites that features properties in London especially for filming and photography uses, so i emailed these companies in order to find out more information about what they offer and if i would be able to use the premises. Unfortunately, in response to the email the company were not offering their services within our budget.

Here is screenshot of the email i sent to the companies;
http://jjlocations.com/
http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/
http://www.1st-option.com/

Cinemas I researched other locations in london that would suit our 1940's/50's theme and found a 1950's cinema in Shoreditch called Electric Cinema so i emailed them to ask whether they would be able to let us use there premises for a short space of time so that we would be able to film one frame of our music video, showing the couple in our video on a date. This inspiration came from a scene in the film "500 Days of Summer." Cinema dates are associated with romantic films and we want to portray a cinematic feel to our music video as it is following a romantic narrative.

Other cinemas include:

The Phoenix Cinema

The Ritzy

Prince Charles Cinema

Theatre
I also emailed several theatres including, The Hexagon, The National Theatre and The Oxford New Theatre. I thought that a theatre would be effective as a frame in our music video because i took inspiration from this clip of the film "LOL"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy9oufgK2yk The two are stood alone in a stadium in one frame and i feel we could apply this to our music video by using a theatre as that will give off more of a1940's/50's impression.

Oxford New theatre

Dominion Theatre

Hexagon Theatre

Ballroom

In the Music video "The one that got away" By Katy Perry the narrative follows a very similar story line to ours. The couple in Perry's music video go to a dance, which inspired me to look for 1950's ballrooms that still exist in England. I found one called Rivoli Ballroom in London and i therefore emailed to enquire as to whether we could film in their premises for up to twenty minutes.

Films such as The Notebook that were based in a similar time period to our music video have ballroom dances too and it is evident to see that this was the culture of the 1940's/50's therefore it is important for us to stay true to the decades to avoid confusion and for our audience to be submersed in the storyline.

The Mandarin Oriental also has a ballroom, so we may be able to ask for permission to film here.

Shoreditch Town hall - Unfortunatly Shreditch Town Hall charged too much money for us to hire it out therefore we wouldn't be able to use it.

Reading Town Hall- This is local and also a very elegant and callsic hall, perfect for the feel of our video.

Museum

We found that the Natural History Museum in London opened over 100 years ago therefore would a suitable location to film in. We envisioned the couple on a date walking through the corridors that are lined with vintage decor.

Other locations we have found include The Love Shake in London and Notting Hill bookshop which featured in the film Nottinghill.

Osterley Park and House

We could potentially use Osterley Park and House as a location. Filming the exterior of the house could show where the protagonist lives. I used inspiration from the film 'The Notebook' where the protagonists house looks similar to Osterley house both our music video and the film are set in similar time periods and have common themes .

House in 'The notebook.'

Osterley House.

Bandstands

We thought that bandstands would convey a romantic atmosphere, therefore have decided that a proposal could take place under a bandstand for one of our scenes. There is a local bandstand in Reading and a bandstand in Richmond Park and Victoria Park.

War Museums

Imperial War museum- Churchill war rooms

The war rooms suit our music video really well for the male part however the entry into the museum is expensive so we may not be able to film there because our budget would not accommodate that as well as travel to London.

Royal Airforce museum London

This museum is free entry but we are unsure whether the pieces at the museum are necessary to put in our video.

Milestone Museum

The milestone Museum in Basingstoke is made up of various recreated streets found in 1930's Hampshire therefore would have been similar to that of the 1940's.
Some building that have been recreated at the Milestone Museum include:
A victorian Pub
A 1930's town with shops
A victorian railway stationA victorian terrace house

There are also vehicles featured at the museum from the same era as we are basing our music video, for example the bus which we could potentially use for the good-bye scene.The milestone Museum is indoors therefore weather wouldn't affect our filming which is an advantage. The only disadvantage is the public but if we were able to hire space for an hour then there would be no one there which is excellent.

London Museum of Transport

For the London Museum of Transport they have a museum depot with old fashioned trains on platforms. The museum also features vintage cars and other transport modes.

Carters steam fair- Maidenhead

The carters steam fair is a vintage fair and we believe that we will be able to get some really good shots of the couple on a date at the fairground. Referring back to the film 'The notebook' the couple first meet at a fair ground which shows that during the 40's/50's fairgrounds were a common attraction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gDTFygaSws

If weather conditions prevent us from being able to film then we will film the couple doing indoor activities at the fair such as the mirror room and the bumper cars.

An alternative location that is similar to the vintage funfair is Winter Wonderland in London. This would be a more practical place to film as we would be able to get the majority of our filming done as many of the locations we are interested in are in London, this would avoid us having to spend our budget on travel expenses. Winter Wonderland is open from the 18th November onwards therefore is seasonal and we would have to wait a while to film, however in the meantime we can film all our shots that are within close travelling distance before then.

Winter Wonderland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSxwScFfByg

Winter Wonderland is a huge fairground that comes to London every winter for a couple of months attracting many tourists. The advantage of using this location is that there will be so many different shots we will be able to get, however a disadvantage is the amount of people there could get in the way of our filming making it difficult to get good shots. If it is raining it will also be very difficult to film there because it is outdoors.

Gods Own Junkyard

Gods Own Junkyard in London is a museum of lights. Their past clients include Vogue and Dynamo. We believe this would be a perfect location as it will look unique and effective in our video. It is indoor so weather conditions will not effect us. The only disadvantage is perhaps some of the lights would be too modern for our video.

Columbia Road