Jade Blogs: Chess Film: Scouting Locations

First Potential Problem

For our film we need two locations. One location is for the main characters and another location is for the bystanders. We wanted our main location to feel almost hidden and we thought the various plants helped create that effect. Along with the plants, cloudy weather would perfectly set the mood that we are aiming for. Although, we recognized that the sun was making this area very bright and high-key lighting isn't ideal in a thriller film. We decided to keep the location, but if the sun is casting a strong light on filming day, we have another location in mind.

Our main location

Visualizing Scenes

While my group was outside we started visualizing some of the scenes we had previously discussed. Specifically, we looked at different ways we could move around the tripod to capture the chess board. We positioned the tripod on the ground on both sides of the table, and also on top of the table. We decided placing the tripod on the table will be the best choice for our film. Additionally, we looked at how we could capture the bystanders themselves, as well as their point of view. More discussion needs to go into the specifics of how we will capture the bystanders point of view, but we have a starting point. Finally, we looked at our closing scene which includes an over-the-shoulder shot. As the camera was rolling I noticed this would be a great opportunity to use a rack focus. I think this will be the perfect way to end our film and reveal who was playing chess with the main character, since the audience won't know until the end of the film.