Pre-Production Unit: Location Scouting

I have recently begun investigating potential filming locations for the final scene of "Inoculum" which will take place in a park. In this scene, Douglas will enter, take a seat on a bench, and suddenly begin to have a nosebleed, which will indicate that perhaps Abigail's character is still alive and is continuing to steal people's cells.

For this scene, one location we have been considering extensively is Mote Park, a location close to the centre of Maidstone. The reason we have chosen this area in particular is that it is closeby to our base of operations (Maidstone television Studios) and since this one location is only going to be used for several seconds of the film, we believe it would be best for us to stay close to home in order to avoid paying for too much travel.

In terms of the aesthetics of the location, I believe it would be more than suitable for this scene. It is quite a large park, with plenty of room to capture fantastic scenery, and make the characters in the scene look incredibly small and insignificant, which is the impression we want to give of Douglas in this scene.
I used Google maps to get a quick impression of the scale and overall look of the location, but I feel it would be best for myself and Charlie to actually visit the area and perform a test shoot in order to check if the location appears on camera in the way we want it to.

The photographs above are available on google maps. I decided to obtain photographs of Mote Park both during regular weather, and winter when there is snow/frost on the ground. The reason for this is that we will be filming around the winter time, which means there will be a possibility of there being snow around.

I have also begun to consider other locations that we will need to obtain in order to complete our film. This includes a laboratory for a brief scene in which scientists will be shown studying cells taken from Abigail (which will reveal that her body is in fact stealing cells from other living things around her.)
A laboratory is something that neither I nor Charlie have open access to, and as such I decided to contact Kent Film Office and request a brochure of any laboratory film locations they had. I was sent a complete .PDF document of the locations they had, and I decided that the MidKent College Medway Campus location was one that would definitely suit our needs.
I feel that aside from the actual look of the location, the centrality of it means it can be accessed easily which creates the possibility of our actors meeting us at the location, rather than us having to bring them there ourselves.
This gives us more time to set up our equipment and work on other aspects of the production at the location while the actors are on their way.
Once I had decided on which location would suit our project, I obtained the contact details for the owners of the location (Once again by emailing Kent Film Office) and sent the following email to MidKent College's marketing department.

I was also provided with a phone number in order to contact the location, but I feel that an email before contacting them by phone is a courtesy that is likely to surprise the building's owners less, and make them more susceptible to allowing us to use their location.

These two locations, although only used briefly in our film, will provide interesting backdrops Charlie to work with as a cinematographer, and I truly believe they could be used to add atmosphere and effect to our film.
I will continue to pursue alternative locations (in case there are any mishaps or problems that mean we cannot use these locations anymore for whatever reason) and make a note of any potential alternatives so that we are never caught off guard.

I will also be seeing about the possibility of us obtaining an office for a small shoot at the maidstone television studios, which we can "dress up" as a doctors consulting room, which will be the very first scene in the film. I am confident we can replicate the feel of a doctors office, but I will not know for sure until we have seen the room. Confirming this location is a priority, and something I will work on very soon.

As you can see from the above photos, the room we have been offered to use at the Maidstone Television Studios is very small., and although this fits the kind of sized setting you would find in a Doctor's consulting room, I feel that it would restrict Charlie cinematography wise, as he would have to find a way to maneuver his camera around in quite a tight space.
However, if we cannot find an alternative location, this would be an ideal substitute, providing we can obtain all the necessary props and decorative items to help the location emulate a doctor's consultancy room.