Location Scouting: It Doesn't Have to End with Bullets

The first scene that is looking to be shot is the opening with Caleum seeing Abby for the last time in her hospital room. Since OotGG's budget is roughly $1, renting a hospital is out of the question.

"How are we going to get the look we need?" You ask.

Well, this is where the magic of being polite and asking come in. I recently got to meet with the head of the Coral Desert Rehabilitation center, Tony Wrigley. He was nice enough to give me a tour of his facility and let our crew film there when need be.

This is where all my dreams will come true. Or die.

In the scene, Caleum enters the hospital and walks down a hallway. He is stopped by a man, Paul, who he has a small chat with. After he is finished he enters Abby's room. After they have their scene, Caleum returns home. Later that night, Caleum gets a call from the hospital informing him of Abby's passing. Caleum returns to have a doctor tell him the news. Caleum is in Abby's room, her possessions in a bag and her bed stripped. He is clutching her rosary and is left alone with no family.

Tony opened up the building to us. He started by asking what the scene was going to play out like. I gave him a quick rundown and after he got over his depression of the sadness of the scene, he had some ideas of where we could shoot. 

*NOTE* ALWAYS bring a camera with you. This is so you can show your crew about the space you will be shooting in and to help you visualize your scene. Also, if you are story boarding these pictures can help your artist create custom story boards that fit exactly your scene.

Here are the areas that I believe would fit perfectly for our scene:

This is one hallway that Tony showed us. It is carpeted with artwork hanging on the walls. The coloring is very warm and almost comforting. The lighting is a very soothing color. Almost looks like a home. Looks great. Only problem being that patients are housed here and we couldn't use the entire hallway. Tony was courteous enough to block off a section of the hall for us to film in.

Here is the 2nd hallway Tony's facility had:

The complete opposite of the other hallway. Sterile. Clinical. Almost dead. This is a service hallway that the employees use for things as maintenance, dining and laundry. The walls are blank and one color. The lighting is a fluorescent and flat. The bonus to this hallway, after 4PM, it is cleared out. There are no patients to disturb and it is clear of people.

Both hallways have their pros and cons. Shooting in each can change the scene dramatically. In the warm hallway, the scene could have a look of home. This is Caleum's home because Abby is here. The cold hallway has the uncaring, clinical aspect. Someplace our characters don't want to be. I think either will be great to use. I lucked out by having these options.

There is also the rooms we need to shoot. The rooms at Coral Desert come in two sizes; big and small. Tony made no promises on which will we could shoot in as patients are coming and going. Hopefully a big room will be open, but that may not happen. Either way, I'm stoked that we can even get into a place like this.

Small room.

Big room. 

I personally like the smaller room because it has that cozier feel, but I need to remember that getting gear in there would be a pain. Both rooms are great though and I would not hate either one.

Here is a desk in which Caleum can greet a nurse. Nothing fancy, but it adds that little bit more.

So that was our magical trip into scouting this location. I learned a lot and got a better feel for the space and the scene. A huge shout out to Tony and Coral Desert Rehabilitation center for allowing us to film in their location. All it takes is asking. The worse they will say is no. Most people are interesting in film making and would love to help out. We will probably knock the scene out within the next two weeks as I am going to give Tony a weeks notice so he can prepare everything.