Castle Market In Photographs

I went to the market after hours to take pictures and test the levels of light when filming at night. Not only are these pictures valuable in terms of story boarding the film, they also allowed me to experiment with the ISO and F.stop settings.

During the visit we discovered that finding power in all areas of the market might not be as simple as first thought. There are power supplies, however it may be the case that we'd have to run a very long extension lead from the guards office to where ever we intend to light. While this is frustrating, it doesn't spell disaster as most of the market can be light by the flick of a switch. By increasing the F.stop on my DSLR I'll be able to fake low levels of light.

Most of the low key lighting in the photos were achieved by using an ISO of 100 - 200 with a range of F.stops. It's important to keep the ISO down to avoid high levels of gain, a problem when shooting in low light.

This, and the two pictures below were shot seconds apart, illustrating the flexibility of light levels.

The market is set put over a number of floors, I'd like to take advantage of this and use the height from where we can film to incorporate an element of voyeurism  Just as in The Shining the hotel seems to watch the Torrance family, we will it seem the market is watching our protagonist.

The architectural and, again, the different levels of the market enable me to come up with some interesting long takes, taking advantage and showing off of the interesting location.

 
 

This area of the market though lit has the potential to look as dark as any of the photographs above, by keeping the ISO to a maximum of 200 and increasing the F.stop will produce the best quality low light footage. The fixed lighting also gives us the option to flood the market with light is the script calls for it. This versatility was what attracted me to the market in the first place. 

I would like to incorporate a dramatic shot, potentially through using a jib, to show the protagonist exploring his environment. This stair set would be the perfect location for such a shot. 

I really like the way in which there seems to be passage ways leading in all direction, a feature of the market to potentially emphasis when our protagonist begins to feel trapped inside. 

These 'behind the scenes' areas of the market are particularly spooky in the dark. While it would be awkward to film in these places due to the little amount of space it would be a shame not to see them in the film. 

 
 
 

Another example of how we can use high angles to 'spy' on our protagonist.

Above the market are offices, its here that we hope to film an interview scene.

The lifts still work at night, I like the idea of incorporating them in some way in the protagonists flight from the 'monster'.

This reminds me of Kubrick's visual style in The Shining (along with most of his other films). His use of the three point perspective is clearly visible in all his work. In The Shining its used to emphasis claustrophobia and extenuate an element of insanity, I hope to use it in much the same way. The architecture of the market lends its self well to the three point perspective style of shooting with it's long narrow isles and square, grid like layout. 

These are the monitors in the guards office, it's my hope that we can use them  in part to shoot the film. To further the voyeuristic qualities, I'd like to film these monitors as the protagonist is doing his rounds, resulting in the audience watching his progression through the CCTV.