Locations
In preparation for this series I have been looking in to both schools, the classes they hold, the surrounding areas of the schools, and the contributors housing. As such I have been able to deduce the most relevant and ideal filming locations for this series, which I detail bellow.
UK
Larkfield Leisure Centre
Larkfield leisure center is located in Maidstone, Kent in the United Kingdom. It provides a number of services related to sport, exercise, and other leisure services. However its main significance in relation to the documentary is its studio space. The center has 3 different studio spaces that are hired out by Prima on weekdays. Each of these studios hosts a different class run by Prima. Studio one is the largest space and is used exclusively by the dance classes. Monday evenings run Jazz and contemporary dance, and Thursday evenings are used for street dance lessons. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays the studio space is divided in half with the smaller half being used for junior ballet on Tuesdays and junior tap on Wednesdays. Whilst advanced tap is taught in the larger half on Tuesday and tap on the Wednesday. As a result of this and the studios large size in general, we will need more cameras in here than in any other room. From looking at the location one thing to be careful off is the large wall of mirrors on the right hand side of the studio, which may be an issue when selecting locations/positions to mount cameras.
Drama is taught in studio 2 is used to teach drama. Junior classes run on Tuesdays while advanced drama is taught on Thursdays. Although the space is slightly smaller than studio 1 it has a much higher sealing which can lead to echo’s. This is something that will effect the placement of microphones and types of mics used in this room.
Studio 3 is the other studio space at Larkfield which is rented by Prima. This studio is used on Wednesdays for singing lessons. It is the smallest studio so won’t need as many cameras but due to the nature of the classes it will likely require more microphones (and ones of higher quality) than the other studio spaces.
This location makes the most sense to use, it is a relatively standard size for a rural stage school, its location in Kent will amplify that rural feel. The fact that it has different studio spaces allows for clear separation of the classes and contributors helping the audience distinguish the individual narratives better than if it all took place in the same space.
Laybourne Lakes
This public park is located very close to the Leisure Centre, so in addition to the studio space, this location would be very cinematic for B-Roll, transition, and interview purposes. With large open spaces there is a good view of the sunset/sunrise which could be useful to help show the passing of time. Thanks to its many seating areas this is also a location that would be used in addition to the leisure center for filming interviews with teachers and other contributors. The animals, nature and design of the location also help act as iconography helping viewers associate these images with the UK and ensuring they are guided gently with B-Roll from this location over to our UK stage school. Thanks to its vast open spaces and mix of concreted and grassy areas, cameras can safely be mounted on tripods with no issue, helping maintain the fixed camera feel of the documentary. This location should also receive plenty of natural light, eliminating the need for additional lighting.
Contributors Houses (UK)
For additional interviews and sequences that would add to the story of this documentary, we would need to visit at least a few of our contributors houses, helping their individual arcs feel more personal.
We would want to re-visit at least 2 of our contributors from each school after the initial filming was completed. Those chosen would be the the contributors that stood out the most to the director during the filming and editing process. Due to their compelling and emotional stories we would want to speak to them again to gain closure for the audience, and the most authentic place to do so would be their own homes.
Students at the UK school mostly live in the Maidstone area and although Kent is seen as a rural county it is still built up around its larger towns. As a result our first house (5 Ritch Road) is a semi detached property. Permission would likely need to be obtained from the neighboring residents to film the external of the property to use for establishing shots. Inside there is not a huge amount of room to work with, to get the best lighting and to avoid picking up any noise leak from outside, we would film in the contributors dining room. The shot would be framed on a tripod in keeping with the style and the contributor would sit at one end of a table. Window light would provide some coverage but additional sources may be needed.
Our second UK contributors house (60 Reed Close) is a larger dethatched property. It is a bungalow with bedrooms at the rear of the house that get a lot of light most of the day since the sun faces east. As a result the crew would film additional interviews in the contributors bedroom. This room would have great set design since it will feature any, costumes, trophies, awards etc. that belong to the student.
Our third UK contributor lives in a medium size 2 story house with a joint living room and dining room. Since the Living room has access to two windows and provides a large space for the camera and crew, this is the room that would be used for the interview.
Australia
Tanks Art Centre
The Tanks Art Centre is a small purpose built building in the rural town of Cairns, Queensland Australia. It was constructed a few years ago to be a hub for creative activity in the town and a home for the Jute academy, with studio space, a small stage, and even gallery rooms. The Jute Theatre Company who use its space to host their classes. The drama classes are held in the main hall. It is a large open plan room with a stage at the back and high sealings. However unlike other buildings it has lighting rigs suspended from the sealing that can be used to place cameras on for closer and more unique angles. Its stage also has pre-positioned microphones (usually used during performances) that our gallery teak would be able to take audio from, saving the amount of extra mics that would have to be rigged. Unlike Prima classes at Jute run throughout the week and on Saturdays, meaning there would be more footage to record and go through. Like Prima, Jute runs both drama and dance classes. Drama classes run on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The school takes students from ages 11 and up, with junior classes being held on Wednesdays, and Senior classes running twice a week on Thursdays and Saturday. The Tanks Art Centre is overall a smaller location than Prima, as a result the dance classes are held in the small studio space on Wednesdays (when the main hall is in use) and then it moves to the main hall on Fridays, both of these classes teach modern contemporary dance. The school also uses the small studio space on Mondays, where it hosts a theatre script writing class/support workshop. So the Tanks Art Centre overall is host to slightly fewer classes and its smaller space requires a less expansive camera set up. Due to the lack of a dedicated singing class and placement of pre-installed mics there is less work that needs to go in to the sound set-up. However since classes run more often, crew and cameras will need to be active more than they will on the other sight. Never the less this location is still the best, since the fact it was built/set up by the local community will help drive home some of the documentary's central themes, as well as its location within Queensland botanical gardens denoting its size and rural location similar to Prima in the UK. From looking on the website for the center, they have previously rented out the space for use by film and TV crews.
Cairns Botanical Gardens
The Tanks Art Centre is located within the Cairns Botanical Gardens. This location will be used for establishing shots, since it surrounds the school. The plants and animals that inhabit the gardens not only make for very cinematic shots, but they also offer iconography of the location. The unique colors and size of the trees in contrast to the relatively barren and flat land that can be seen behind them will help the viewer to associate the otherwise regular looking building that the school is held in, with Australia. Since this location is right outside of our primary shooting location it will be easy for crews to access and set up equipment, making interviews with key contributors here, a strong viability. In keeping with the natural unobtrusive nature of this documentary all shots in this location will be tripod locked. However some additional lighting may be needed as the large trees create shadows most of the day that would likely cast over any contributor being filmed.
Contributors Houses (Australia)
The town of Cairns in Australia is also a considerably rural area. However because of the large amount of space and resources available Australian houses are considerably larger than those in the UK, and actually share similarities in structure to the USA (but with different internal arrangements).
Most of the students at Jute live in Cairns (since there its a considerable distance to the next town). Our first contributor that we will be revisiting in Australia lives at 106 HoadStreet. Like many Australian houses this one features a second living area which although used less often, is usually neater and more decorated used to entertain guests. It would make most sense for our crew to film in this room since it is visually more appealing. However due to being located in the centreof the house it doesn’t have much natural light and would need to be lit artificially.
Our second contributor from Jude lives at 15 Redden Street, this house is on the edge of town and as a result has a large back garden with a patio. The interview would be best filmed here since being close to a lot of greenery and looking on to the Australian landscape, it would be in keeping with some of the motifs created by earlier shots. It would also allow for plenty of light and being located on the edge of town in a quiet neighborhood there would be little risk of background noise.
The final interview from Jute would take place at 58 Crystal Close. This house is closer to the center of town and quite near the school. To match up with the third UK interview this scene would also be filmed in the contributors bedroom, but being a larger property we can fit more than one camera in the room.
Bellow I have also provided some diagrams that I drew up to show exactly how the fixed rig cameras would be set up in each of my key location. This helps me look at the show from a producers perspective and get greater understanding of how the visuals would play out.
