Locations of Shooting

As highlighted in my post "Planning - Location, Shooting Schedule and Casting", I had 8 primary filming locations, and they were as follows:

Thorpe Marriott Green and Marriott's Way

This location is used for the introduction to the video as it allows for some aesthetic shots that introduce the ideas in the video and is briefly seen at the end of the video. This shot is from the time-lapse I use at the start, where the clouds move quickly across the sky. This links to the digipak, as it is  in very close proximity to the place where I took the pictures for the digipak, and allows for links between the video and ancillary texts, creating synergy.

Bawdeswell Heath

This location is used for all of Tom's section, as it represents the place he goes to be alone with himself. He gets lost in the forest, representing him actually feeling lost and without direction, and alone, as he feels this way without his friends. This is highlighted particualry in the shot where Tom whips his head around as the camera pans around him in the opposite direction, creating a sense of a loss of direction (see above). Also, the location is interesting as it references the religious idea of Dante's Divine Comedy, in the line "midway upon the journey of our life I found  myself within a forest dark for the straightforeward pathway had been lost" which is shown in Tom not knowing where to go, until he stumbles out of the forest and onto a beach- which could also be interpreted as him coming out of "Hell", in the context of the Divine Comedy. 

Cromer/Overstrand Beach and Cromer Forest

This location allows for the transition in Tom's section from forest to beach. The forest comes out onto an isolated segment of Cromer's beach, further towards Overstrand, where Tom's character is again completely alone on the bleak landscape. This represents how Tom's character has come to the end of what he can physically take and needs to make a change, leading into the last bridge before the final chorus and the conclusion of the narrative - marking the end of the "disruption" phase of Todorov's Narrative Theory.

Taverham Streets

I used the streets of Taverham to film certain sections pertinent to Tom's section of the narrative. In one section, Ben and Lee, shown above , Tom's friends, are out looking for him, and they then proceed to get into the car. At another section, they are shown to be waiting outside an area of woodland (the forest) for when Tom's character finally emerges. These locations are more practical as they are nearby to where all characters lived.

Norwich City Centre

For the final section of the video for Tom's section, the three men are shown having a good time together. For this I decided the busy city centre of Norwich would be most appropriate. This also links to the time-lapse of the different locations at the start of the video. 

Room 1 - Elliott's Room

For Elliott's characters section of the narrative, where the video begins, Elliott's character is shown in his room. His room is fitted with many intertextual items such as posters, CDs, drinks etc. to make his character more relatable to the audience. Intertextual choices can be found in a later post regarding intertextuality throughout the video. The room is quite messy and unorderly, stereotypical of young males rooms, again making the character more accessible from the offset. 

Room 2 - Ria's Room

again for Elliott's section of the narrative, he is in a turbulent period in his relationship with his girlfriend in the video. For this, I used my girlfriend Ria's room, again fitted with intertextual references in the form of posters of bands and other artworks, including a Lord of the Rings map. Intertextual choices can be found in a later post regarding intertextuality throughout the video. The room also has a lot of sixth form work and the shots also make reference to the stress that the education system places on young people, a very relatable idea to my target audience. The room also allows for a link for the story later where Elliott's character meets up with Ria's character in the finale of the video.

Taverham Church

In the middle section, Elliott's character goes to the local Church where he is shown to be questioning his faith, pertinent to the lyrics of the song and the religious themes of the artist and video. For this section, I obtained permission from the Reverend, and filmed on a weekday when the Church was empty, again to emphasise the emotion of feeling alone, shown in the above screenshot. This location also strongly links to the lyrics "Promise me you'll keep believing", and the religious ideals of the band. Regarding Britishness, Britain is a predominantly Christian country, hence the link here suggests inherent "Britishness" (The Church of England) and outside the church, I include a shot with a wreath of poppies, a symbolic memorial of the First World War, a significant part of Britain's history and hence the Poppy, semiotically, holds a strong sense of British Identity. 

Below are some maps showing where my locations are compared to one another and hence why they were chosen. 

Full Map of Taverham and Thorpe Marriott

This map gives an overview of 5 of the 8 locations I used in my video, and all locations are within a 15 minute walk of one another. This, logistically, is a huge benefit, although a lot of filming occurred on different days, but allows for actors, Elliott, Ria and Ben, to all be close together for filming- for example, for the last section I needed to film, Elliott simply walked down to meet myself and Ria at the location to film.

Zoomed map of Taverham and Thorpe Marriott

This enhanced map gives a better idea of the locations. From bottom left to top right, they are:

Taverham Church, Room 2 - Ria's Room, Taverham Streets, Room 1 - Elliott's Room, Thorpe Marriott Green

Full Map including all locations

The full map shows that the last 3 locations are much further apart - this shows a large section of Norfolk where the video has various sections scattered around. The far left is Bawdeswell, the top marker is Cromer Beach/Forest, and the bottom right is Norwich City Centre. Logistically, filming at each of these locations required it's own day, hence this was taken into account on the shooting schedule, to make sure the required actors were available, we could get to the locations and the weather was suitable. The Bawdeswell shoot occurred in the October Half Term, where my Mum drove Tom and I to the Heath whilst they walked the dog, allowing us to film. In Cromer, Tom got a train from North Walsham which wasn't too far away, whilst I got transport from my Dad, who works in Cromer, and then met Tom to walk to the location. In Norwich, Lee drove all 4 of us into the centre, and we filmed prior to a concert we were all attending later that evening in the city, so it was practical.