TRANSITION: Updated Location

Unfortunately, we were unable to use the events venue because we later found out that we aren't allowed to bring a dog into the building. This was very inconvenient because our mockumentary is based on an animal, but obviously it couldn't be helped. This meant that we needed to find another location fast as we were shooting the following weekend. We thought about going back to the lecture rooms but we were also unable to use these at the weekend. 

Katie got into contact with the people at her local village hall and they allowed us to film in one of their buildings with a dog, which was perfect. We had to pay for the room at £16 for the afternoon, which was cheaper than the previous location, but between three of us that isn't much at all. There is a kitchen in the Village Hall allowing us to give Coco regular drink breaks.

There were two rooms available for us to use, the foyer into the hall and the meeting room connected to it. The meeting room was one big room, filled with tables and chairs. We were allowed to change anything we wanted as long as we put it back after. We can push one of these tables up against the wall with the notice boards so we can pin our own posters up for the background of the shot in the consultation scene. We can also use one of the tables as a operation table into the opposite corner with plain walls to help keep all the focus on the doctor. 

Possible consultation room / surgery room

Possible consultation room / surgery room

There was a big window across one of the walls in the meeting room, letting in a good amount of natural light. There were also blinds and light switches so we will be able to make the room dark for the surgery scene. We will accompany the natural light with soft box lights to brighten darker parts of the shot. A brightly lit scene will make editing a lot easier as well as I will be able to do more with colour correction with a clearer shot. 

The foyer to the hall was a smaller room with brick walls. I really liked the style of this room and was eager to use it as a waiting room instead of using the meeting room for all three different rooms. The door at the back left hand side was the door to the meeting room, it was good that they were connected as we could get a shot of the doctor calling the owner in to use a good amount of space in the waiting room and show off the good location. This room also had three big windows which were able to let a lot of natural lighting in. This is essential for our mockumentary because we want it to look real and not staged with a lot of portable lighting. If we need to use artificial lighting we will be using soft boxes to help disperse the light to create an evenly lit set.

Possible waiting room

There was already a table at the back which could be used as a receptionist table. Even though we don't have a receptionist anymore, the table will still be useful for the corners of shots to let the viewer think that there is a receptionist there - giving off a better idea of a waiting room. Behind the table there is a notice board filled with the Village Hall's leaflets, Katie checked and we are allowed to remove this and replace them with our own as long as we put it all back when we're finished.


Outside the Village Hall there is a large field, ideal for our covering shots of Sheila and Coco. This is free for anyone to walk on, so we will have to film around the public. This may be a problem if it's a really sunny day, but the field is big enough for us to find a space with no one around. Weather is an issue on it's own, if it's raining we'll have to wait for the rain to stop or reschedule as we will not be able to go outside with the equipment.

For the homely location for Sheila's interview, we've chosen to use Katie's house. In her dining room there is a large patio door which can let in a lot of light, giving us the natural lighting suitable for a home shoot. This will also be much different to the lighting in the surgery scene which is what we aim for. Again, we aim to just use the natural light, however, if we need to use artificial lighting, we can use the soft boxes to disperse the light evenly over the shot. 

Now, I have all the final location details I can work on the risk assessments so we know in advance any risks we need to control on the filming day.