Recce – Third location – Mackie Park

This location isn’t one that would have our character Tom in, but would be used for sort of flash backs. We were going to show a swing swinging, to show Tom has lost a child. We were also going to film a short scene of the slide, with no one on it. The park is suitable scene because you associate it with a place you take your child for sun, not a place that brings back bad memories for a person. As our character has lost a child, this scene becomes part of a typical thriller setting, with a normal place that gives the audience a bad feeling.

This setting is a conventional thriller location, because it is a part of an urban area, a place often used in thriller films that show extraordinary events occurring in a normal place. We have no new ideas from looking at the location, but we may decide to film other aspects of the park to show the loss of a child. The location is a public area so we’d have to ask anyone using the park if they were okay with us filming, as their children might be nearby, however as it is a public place we shouldn’t need permission.

We will be filming after we’ve shot our other scenes, by which time it will be quite dark. We have chosen this sort of time because we think it would more sinister and make the audience feel on edge, rather than it being in the day with lots of light, a time the audience is more likely to have been at a park. Other people might be at the park at this time, as it is always open to the public, however it will be dark so it is unlikely parents will be out with their children at this time. In the case that there are members of the public at the park, we will ask if we can use the swings and slide for a short period of time to film, and try to negotiate with them if they don’t want to move/allow us to film.

Potential sound problems at this location are that it is near a road, so cars going past could affect our shot, however we aren’t planning on using sound at this location, rather adding in sound in the editing process.

All health and safety concerns and how these will be rectified can be found on our Mackie Park risk assessment.