Pros and Cons of location: City/Underpasses

 

Pros and Cons of Location: City

When conforming to the conventions of location when filming a psychological horror many things come to mind such as the location having to be desolate, big, dark and rather intimidating. In this circumstance, if we were to be filming in the city of London the use of landmarks can be used so it allows the audience to know where our location is without any of the characters stating it. However, when using landmarks there will be other members of the public in the same area as us and this would bring down the horror element of out film opening.
 I focused on the underpasses throughout London such as the one below just near Waterloo East Station as they are usually extremely quiet and desolate. They also offer a lot of mise en scene as the colours create a sense of corruption due to the significant amount of different colours as well as the art and dim street lighting. It also offers the set a sense of rebellion as graffiti is usually associated with those aged between 14-19 as a way of rebelling. However with a location such as this there are always pros&cons.

Pros

• Cheap alternative to creating a set, especially when on a budget.
• The public will not make the shot look empty if there are a lack in characters.
• Could use famous landmarks (e.g. Big Ben) as a give away to location, instead of a character stating our where abouts.

• Easy to find an empty place such as an underpass as the photos show 
• There's a variety of places to film so it allows flexibility of the storyline. 

Cons

• Public can easily cause a disturbance.
• May be hard to film in areas that are busy (e.g. too noisy, too crowded). 
• May not be allowed to film at all in some places (could be classified as a disturbance). 

• The lighting of the location may be too poor, even with own lighting equipment (could be too dark or too light). 
• Could easily film a copy righted sign/symbol/logo.
• Travel costs could be too expensive.