PRE-PRODUCTION: Kent Owl Academy Location Recce

As producer of the project, I am in charge of the 'world' of VET-MAN and making sure the show is a success. We need the best location possible to help bring our film to life. We've contacted the Kent Owl Academy and we're visiting them for a test shoot, to see what the animals are like in front of the camera. As the Owl Academy isn't far from the studios, I went there and had a look around to see what the area is like, how big it is and what the trip hazards are like. We're shooting the first test shoot here but theres a possibility we'll want to film some of the sitcom here, to prevent having to take the animals elsewhere, it'll be easier to film on site. 

The place itself isn't very big surrounding the animals, they have owls, replies, meerkats, insects, a skunk and small animals. There are big areas just outside but there's only a small path in-between each enclosure. The animals are all locked away, there's no animals roaming the academy which would help with transporting the equipment. We know that the camera equipment would be safe while we're moving it from the car to the grounds of the academy. 

Behind the owl enclosures there was a bigger wooded area, this may be a good place to film the owls. It's an area that the public wouldn't walk through because it's not on the path through the enclosures. On the first test shoot we know we want to see how easy it is to film the animals, we may be able to get the owls out if the staff are free and try filming them fly (we won't be able to find this out until we get there on the 11th) - this wooded area will be good for this. It would also be a nice backdrop for the film while the vet examines the owl. 

However, the ground in this wooded area wasn't flat, there were a few uneven patches which would lead to trip hazards. 

The Kent Owl Academy

The Kent Owl Academy 

In between the trees is a relatively big area, and would be appropriate to film in. If we were careful where we were standing and stood in a flat area in amongst the trees then there would be no problems with the uneven ground. Katie won't be moving around with the equipment, ideally we will have the owls flying through the trees and Katie, at a distance, will be filming them in flight. 

If we film in this area, it's away from the public path, therefore, we will not be around other people. We will only be working around the public if we film the animals while they're in their enclosures, which is how we will be filming the majority of the animals if we use them, such as the meerkats. We will not be going into any of the enclosures with the equipment in test shoot 1, so I won't need to concern myself with the risks associated with entering the enclosures until we do this in test shoot 2. 

The majority of the academy is outside. There is a foyer type area when you first enter the academy where the public buy their tickets, but apart from this the enclosures are all outside. This may prove difficult if the weather is bad on the shooting days. This is quite a high possibility as we will be carrying out the test shoots between October and November and the real shoot will be sometime between January and March, this is when the weather will be at it's worst throughout the year. We will simply keep an eye on the weather and postpone filming if it's bad weather. 

Before test shooting we will take a walk around the academy again to make sure there are no new hazards since my recce. By reviewing the different hazards at the Owl Academy, I think this is a low risk area to shoot in and following this, I will write up the risk assessment for the first test shoot.