Production Diary: Location Scout

My short film will take place in an office environment. I was planning on using light, subdued colours that were bland, emulating the sadness and boredom the protagonist feels in there. I was also going to do this for the kitchen at the start and end, as this will get across how quiet and simple this person’s life is, and why their decision to apply for the office job is so important and, therefore, how powerful their bond was with their future co-worker.

I was even planning on the outside of the office to be bland and likely hard-lit to create an empty, liminal, dead atmosphere, while the inside of the office will be soft-lit with dark shadows and an overall empty space to get across how miserable working there is. I also want my film to be peaceful, so an isolated, homogenous in design office building is what I had in mind.

I will be shooting in the Riseholme College Agri – Tech Centre, Health & nutrition building. This location contains areas that I will include in my film, such as an outside break area, desk spaces, an elevator and stairs. It’s paint scheme is also made up of soft, bland hues, with a modern and simple architectural design. It suits the atmosphere and mood of the film perfectly, allowing for me to reflect the characters emotions and the importance of the bond in the film forming here, of all places.

This hallway could be anywhere, which is exactly what I want to portray with this location. The homogeneity and unoriginal it’s of it.

I may use a hidden cut as the protagonist walks up these stairs by placing the camera behind one of the bars to allow for an edited in transition to the top of the stairs.

A wide shot of someone sat at this circular bench will likely be included in the film to create a more peaceful, though provoking moment. I can also let the wind rise in the mix as the protagonist falls asleep, allowing for a sudden cut back to the kitchen.

I think that the amount of paper stacked here gets across in the mise-en-scene the workload that the protagonist faces in taking this job.