Locations:
For the first scene of my sequence, as it is set outside of a cafe with a view of a forest, I first picked the location of Bedgebury Pinetum in Goudhurst, Kent, as I knew there was a cafe there that overlooked a lake in a forest.
These were the benches directly in front of the cafe, next to the lake. Although I liked this location, the benches were very close together and close to the footpath next to the cafe so if I were to put equipment there it would become cramped quickly. There was also a lot of wildlife around, such as ducks, which could be disrupted by the equipment.
Therefore, I decided to look over the other side of the lake as the cafe could still be visible in shots from here. However, this bench was also too close to the footpath, and was near a steep slope, so the equipment would also be cramped, and I would not be able to get enough coverage if I tried to avoid the slope.
There were benches off of the footpath, although these were up another slope. However, the cafe could still be seen, and there was also a nice view of the lake and surrounding forest. Since the hill to get to the bench was so steep, I think it would be hard to get the equipment up there, but it could be done as it is only a camera and tripod.
I would like to film here, although I found there are no direct buses to Bedgebury, so it would take over 3 hours to travel there from Maidstone. Therefore, I would need to hire actors who could drive, or get them taxis to come here.
I also decided to look at locations closer to the other places I planned to film at. As we had already filmed at Vinters Park in Maidstone, I decided to look there, as the pathway I had previously filmed had a bench at the end where my characters could sit, and I thought I could use the trees lining it to frame my characters walking. I think that I could show the waitress character entering and exiting implying there was a cafe somewhere nearby that my characters were sitting outside of, as there is no cafe actually in the park. However, this would make the world of my sequence too fake, and therefore unbelievable for the audience.
Whilst looking at cafes in Maidstone, I discovered the Little Old Toll House, which I thought would be good to film outside of because of its view overlooking a canal and the tree which natural sunlight could stream through. However, I found on their website that the cafe is only open from March to October, and that this is because it is situated on a flood risk during the winter from the email I received from the owner.
Therefore, I looked up cafes in Kent and found this waterside cafe at Hawkhurst fish farm. I thought this was a better match to the original location in the show than the previous places I had looked at, as there is a terrace with a natural view of the lake. After emailing the owner I managed to obtain permission to film here, and found out from them that there are parts of the terrace that are both covered and uncovered, meaning that the equipment will still be protected even if it rains.
As I knew I wanted to rely on natural light when filming here, I used a compass when I visited to ensure I knew roughly the path of the sun over the terrace so I could plan my camera angles around it to get the best possible light.
As the second scene in my sequence is set in a hotel room, I looked up hotels in and around Maidstone. However, I decided to pick the Hilton as I found I could hire one of the rooms for use in the day, meaning I wouldn't have to hire it overnight, so it was cheaper and more accessible.
The third scene is set in a clothing store, and as I found I couldn't find one to film in, I decided to use the lecture room at the studios. Then, I can design the space as I want to in order to accommodate the action of the script, and make it fit the look I want to aim for by using props such as clothing rails.
Casting:
To find actors, I placed a listing on the website StarNow.co.uk:
Recasting:
After having to reschedule my shoot, I then had to recast my actors after the original ones I cast were unable to attend the filming days. However, I only had to recast the two main actors, not any of the more minor parts, as one actor was still available to film on the scheduled or rescheduled days, and an extra was being played by my sister.
In order to recast, I posted another advert on StarNow, and also one on MandyActors, however, because of the short time span I was unable to gain any actors from these sources. I also rung up and emailed several performing arts schools in the area, but because production week was half term, they were unable to supply any actors on such short notice also.
Therefore after rescheduling by a week, I messaged an actor who was previously interested in my very first StarNow casting call, as she had previously dropped out only because she would have needed to reschedule by a week to make the original days, and she was originally my first choice. However, I had difficulty finding someone to play my main character, because the actress who had been previously cast had been ill, so could definitely not reschedule, and I hadn't had anybody else be interested in playing the part. After talking to a friend, she suggested to me that one of her friends who acts could play the part, and I cast her because of how reliable she was due to being a friend of a friend, and all over enthusiastic about creating her own interpretation of the character.
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