Locations

Location Scouting

We require several different locations for our music video. One type of location we are looking for in particular are streets, alleys and courtyards. These should be narrow and cobbled, creating themes of claustrophobia and angst. Since the themes we are exploring include lost love, paranoia and nightmare, it seems appropriate to include signifiers of film noir, with 'nightmarish reality' being one of the elemental themes of film noirs.

An example: claustrophobic alley in The Third Man (1949)

We went location scouting as a group in order to look for these types of locations, below are pictures that we took of potential locations:

Princes Street - This is a very picturesque street with old-fashioned buildings which are very close together, giving it the image we are looking for. Streets like these are perfect for the use of tilted shots, commonly used in the noir genre, connoting confusion and paranoia.

Elm Hill - This street has a distinct cobbled path providing a traditional image and the opportunity to create effective low-angled shots. The slight slope of the street further strengthens the effect of the low-angled and tilted shot.

Elm Hill - Again, we see the cobbled pavement and narrow, almost cramped together buildings; perfect for effective tilted shots.

Elm Hill

Bedford Street - This street is also slightly sloped and curved, providing good opportunities for low-angled shots up against the slope.

Old Post Office Court - This is perhaps not quite a narrow and scenic street which we originally set out to find, but the alley under the scaffolding provides an interesting location, giving good opportunities for interesting lighting effects as well as symbolic imagery such as entrapment.

This is a nice shot of the alley, promising to be a potentially very effective location.

This is another nice shot. Although the man is there by chance in this particular picture, it suggests a good option for an effective long-range shot of a silhouetted protagonist.

Quay Side - We spotted this charming row of Willows and realised it as a potentially very effective location. Willows are often used as signifiers of sadness and misery, emotions felt by the male protagonist, therefore this location can provide us with powerful symbolic imagery.

Fishergate - We really like the idea of having shots of the protagonist from inside and underneath the trees, suggesting that he is encircled by sadness, almost walking through a 'tunnel of misery'.

St. Georges Street - this bridge can provide a nice location, as the railing can suggest an 'entrapment' motif, whilst the reflections on the water and overhanging tree make it into a picturesque scene.

Norwich University College Of The Arts - We walked past this large arched entrance and noticed that, interestingly, there's a window of a similar shape visible straight through the centre of the entrance. This feature can provide an interesting backdrop as we will use the concept of reality merging with fantasy/ nightmare, with this location possibly acting as a symbolic piece of mise-en-scene.

Old Post Office Court -This is a building made interesting by the railings and spiral stairs. Furthermore, not only can these features provide interesting visual opportunities, but the stairs allow us to use high angled shots of the street, making it a useful location.

Old Post Office Court - Spiral stair-cases are often used in noirs, with high-angled shots peering over the railing to connote confusion and a general sense of unease.

Old Post Office Court -Motifs of railings and bars are also generic signifiers of noir, connoting themes of entrapment.

Old Post Office Court -The courtyard itself is an effective, unglamorous location which could prove to be a very successful location, especially through the use of tilted and low angled shots, making the buildings rise from the ground in an expressive manner.