Location Recce and Risk Assessment

Location Recce

Description of the chosen location

The “Playstation” drama classroom. Large classroom – no chairs and tables – has plenty of room for large groups of people. It has curtains all the way around three sides which would allow us to block out natural light. There are stage lights we can use to control the lighting instead of sunlight. There is a projector we can use to create disco lights in the background from a YouTube video. There are also speakers so we can play our song so the actors and dancers can hear it to lip-sync to.

Issue	What to look for	Notes
Access	Bus stops and train stations	School bus drop off points – late buses available.
	Parking facilities	School car park.
	Lifts/stairs	N/A as on the ground floor.
	Doorways (Width – consider equipment as well as people)	Automatic doors at entrance to building, classroom is first room on the right – not far to carry equipment. Double doors to allow equipment through.
Space	Enough room (for cast/contributors, crew and necessary equipment)	Spacious room with no desks or chairs.
	Immovable objects (Are there any that will get in the frame?)	Unlikely
	Set dressing requirements (esp. for dramatic production)	Black curtains for background, no other set dressing required.
Lighting	Windows (Are there blinds/curtains to minimise changes in daylight during the shoot?)	Floor length curtains will black out any changes in sunlight.
	Lighting appliances (Fluorescent/tungsten? Can they be switched on and off?)	Stage lights available.
	Plug points (If lighting kit is to be used)	Accessible.
Issue	What to look for	Notes
Sound	Traffic noise	N/A
	Air conditioning (If yes, can it be switched off?)	N/A
	Computers (These have a low level of hum that, if in use, will affect nearby audio recording)	One – but necessary to be on to link to the projector.
	Other people on location (Might people who live/work on location be disrupting the shoot?)	Possible noise from people outside – but after school hours less likely.

Reason for the decision to use the chosen location:

Not our original choice. Original choice was the school hall as it was a large area with a stage and lights and would have been already set up for us on the days we would film. However, it was only available during school hours so we would have had to take our actors out of lessons which was not a possibility. It made more sense to use this room as it was free, could be used whenever we wanted and still had all the facilities we would need.

Risk Assessment

Time and date of shoot: Tuesday 8th December, 3:10-4:00

Shots with the main singer and background dancers.

Hazard	Person/s at risk	Likelihood of hazard (1-5)	Severity of outcome	Risk level	Measure to reduce risk	Final risk acceptable?
Flashing lights	Anyone with photosensitive epilepsy	1	Possibly 5 depending on severity of condition	3	Warning when we are going to use the flashing lights	Yes
Wires, chairs, trip hazards	Dancers	1	3	2	Remove any unnecessary furniture from dance area	Yes

Location Recce - Second location

Description of the chosen location

“The Market Inn”, Tavistock. Local pub/ restaurant with a bar. Divided into two areas, one smaller, more confined where we can film and have less unwanted things in the background. Homey, traditional feel with a fireplace.

Issue	What to look for	Notes
Access	Bus stops and train stations	None nearby
	Parking facilities	The Market Inn has a private car park, and there is also a public one just down the road.
	Lifts/stairs	Main entrance has no steps, side entrance does.
	Doorways (Width – consider equipment as well as people)	No double door entrances - should be ok for moving equipment.
Space	Enough room (for cast/contributors, crew and necessary equipment)	Not huge amounts of empty space – have to take into account chairs and tables.
	Immovable objects (Are there any that will get in the frame?)	Bookshelf, TV, will not be able to move all tables and chairs.
	Set dressing requirements (esp. for dramatic production)	N/A
Lighting	Windows (Are there blinds/curtains to minimise changes in daylight during the shoot?)	Curtains can minimise changes in daylight.
	Lighting appliances (Fluorescent/tungsten? Can they be switched on and off?)	Normal room lights.
	Plug points (If lighting kit is to be used)	N/A
Issue	What to look for	Notes
Sound	Traffic noise	Possibly, but this won’t matter as we won’t be using sound.
	Air conditioning (If yes, can it be switched off?)	N/A
	Computers (These have a low level of hum that, if in use, will affect nearby audio recording)	N/A
	Other people on location (Might people who live/work on location be disrupting the shoot?)	Strong possibility of other people around, will try to arrange a day and time to minimise this.

Reason for the decision to use the chosen location:

We wanted somewhere with a bar where we could film our two main characters meeting. The relatively small space available will hopefully minimise anything we don’t want in the background, and it won’t matter if there are loads of people around. It was located locally and is easy to get to by car or by foot. My project partner Chloe has a connection there so was able to get us permission to film there.

Risk Assessment - Second location

Time and date of shoot: Tuesday 10th November, 10:00-11:00

Shots of two main characters meeting and talking in a bar. The girl tries to flirt with the guy, but he says “Nah, honey, I’m good.”

Hazard	Person/s at risk	Likelihood of hazard (1-5)	Severity of outcome	Risk level	Measure to reduce risk	Final risk acceptable?
Open fireplace	All, but particularly those using equipment	1	Possibly 3	2	Do not use equipment near fire, or stand well clear	Yes
Trip hazards	All	1	2	1.5	Move unwanted furniture out of the way, ensure there is plenty of room for tripod so camera-person isn’t cramped into a small space	Yes
Drink spillages around electrical equipment	All, but particularly actors	1	1	1	Take care not to knock drinks over, do not put camera on surface next to liquid just in case	Yes

Location Recce - Third location

Description of the chosen location

The Fireworks display on 5th of November on Plymouth Hoe. Large annual event with huge turnout. Amazing firework display, massive bonfire, fairground rides, food vans – general fairground atmosphere. It will be dark as the firework display has to be at night, but we will use the lights from the fairground rides to help create the atmosphere we want. Some grassy areas – might be muddy. Lots of people, very crowded, will need to ensure equipment is safe.

Issue	What to look for	Notes
Access	Bus stops and train stations	Park and ride drops off a short walk from the event.
	Parking facilities	Nearby multi-story car park by the Theatre Royal, but probably very full, so better to use park and ride.
	Lifts/stairs	Steps up to Plymouth Hoe, but sloped paths as well.
	Doorways (Width – consider equipment as well as people)	Outdoors so no doorways.
Space	Enough room (for cast/contributors, crew and necessary equipment)	Loads of places to film, but huge crowds of people to manoeuvre. More likely to be less crowded if we go earlier.
	Immovable objects (Are there any that will get in the frame?)	No immovable objects that we wouldn’t want in the frame.
	Set dressing requirements (esp. for dramatic production)	None, all the lights and crowds of people will be there anyway.
Lighting	Windows (Are there blinds/curtains to minimise changes in daylight during the shoot?)	No windows, but will need to take into account changes in daylight.
	Lighting appliances (Fluorescent/tungsten? Can they be switched on and off?)	Evening sunlight, fairground lights, lights from fireworks and bonfire.
	Plug points (If lighting kit is to be used)	N/A
Issue	What to look for	Notes
Sound	Traffic noise	Crowd noise, but this won’t matter as we won’t be using the sound from the shots.
	Air conditioning (If yes, can it be switched off?)	N/A
	Computers (These have a low level of hum that, if in use, will affect nearby audio recording)	N/A
	Other people on location (Might people who live/work on location be disrupting the shoot?)	There will be loads of people around, so it may be hard to find a large enough empty area to film in, but we want it to look crowded.

Reason for the decision to use the chosen location:

Our original choice was to film at the local Goose Fair as it was closer and easier to get to. It would have had a similar crowded setting with fairground lights, though not as big. However, our main actor was not available that day. We then thought of filming at Plymouth fireworks as not only does it have the fair, it has the firework display and bonfire which might look good on camera.

Risk Assessment - Third location

Time and date of shoot: Thursday 5^th of November, 4:00-6:00

Shots of main singer lip-syncing, with bright fairground as the background. The female character is dragging him around, he is less enthusiastic.

Hazard	Person/s at risk	Likelihood of hazard (1-5)	Severity of outcome	Risk level	Measure to reduce risk	Final risk acceptable?
Large crowds intruding on shoot, knocking equipment	All	4	1	2.5	Try to arrive early to avoid massive crowds, find as secluded spot as possible	Yes
Bonfire goes out of control	All	1	5	3	Do not go beyond fenced area, if anything happens, follow instructions of firemen on duty	Yes

Location Recce - Fourth location

Description of the chosen location

Chloe’s house.

Issue	What to look for	Notes
Access	Bus stops and train stations	N/A
	Parking facilities	Car parking outside
	Lifts/stairs	Steps up to the front of the house.
	Doorways (Width – consider equipment as well as people)	Front doorway normal size, but not an issue for moving equipment.
Space	Enough room (for cast/contributors, crew and necessary equipment)	Enough space for camera and tripod to be set up.
	Immovable objects (Are there any that will get in the frame?)	No immovable objects that we wouldn’t want in the frame.
	Set dressing requirements (esp. for dramatic production)	None, we want the look of a normal household.
Lighting	Windows (Are there blinds/curtains to minimise changes in daylight during the shoot?)	Windows will let in sunlight, may have to block these out if we want to create an evening/night time look.
	Lighting appliances (Fluorescent/tungsten? Can they be switched on and off?)	Daylight, ceiling lights.
	Plug points (If lighting kit is to be used)	N/A
Issue	What to look for	Notes
Sound	Traffic noise	Possibly some traffic noise as it is near a main road, but this won’t matter as we will be muting the shots we use.
	Air conditioning (If yes, can it be switched off?)	N/A
	Computers (These have a low level of hum that, if in use, will affect nearby audio recording)	Yes, but we will not be using the sound from the shots.
	Other people on location (Might people who live/work on location be disrupting the shoot?)	Possible other residents around, we can tell them what we’re doing so they won’t be in the shot.

Risk Assessment - Fourth location

Time and date of shoot: Thursday 10^th December

Shots of character at home waiting for Harry to come back.

Hazard	Person/s at risk	Likelihood of hazard (1-5)	Severity of outcome	Risk level	Measure to reduce risk	Final risk acceptable?
Cat allergy	Emily	4	3	3.5	Keep the cat out of the house!	Yes

By completing this task I have considered more why I chose the locations I did, and why they are suitable for me to film at. I also had to consider the risks involved with filming at these places, which I hadn't thought about before. For example, I was aware that filming at Plymouth fireworks would mean there would be a lot of people, but I hadn't considered how this would affect our ability to film. By taking the appropriate precautions, we should be able to film successfully.