Location Scouting...

Cafe:
One of our main locations is going to be a cafe; it will need to be attractive, easy to get to and fit in with the 'countryside' theme as the couple will be walking around a country village. We have looked at several locations and our favourite is 'Bread and Milk', a cafe and deli in Bloxham. It has a classic farmhouse-esque interior and exterior with a quirky style which links in with the style we want our film opening to convey, it is also in the same village as Molly's house which makes it easy to get to, as we are using Molly's house as one of our main locations.

 The only problem that we may encounter is the interior of the cafe is small so we may be pushed for space - especially as we have a lot of camera equipment. We have overcome this disadvantage by phoning the manager of the cafe and asking for permission to film before we arrived at the location. The manager said we would be allowed to film, however it would have to be during a non busy time of day as we may get in the way of the customers. So we are planning to film at that location during the late afternoon; thus avoiding getting in the way and also allowing us to have more freedom within the cafe. However we must make sure we don't film too late in the afternoon as we don't want it to get too dark; so we must either bring a bright white light or time our filming schedule so that we don't get caught out by the light.

We have gone on a location scouting trip to source locations, so we've visited the cafe and have planned where the couple are going to sit. They will sit at a table right in front of the main window so there will be plenty of natural light pouring through the window (depending on the weather) and we will use props of hot chocolate on the table to set the atmosphere of the scene.
Here are a few photos of the cafe that the couple's first date will be filmed at...

Park:

 For the outside shots in the park I envisage them to be in a picturesque countryside location with lots of trees in autumnal colours to evoke the time of year. I think this is important because romantic films are usually set in the summer, so our film opening goes against the stereotypical season for this genre, which I think is good as its a unique interpretation. The village of Bloxham is perfect for this countryside location as it has plenty of trees, parks, and charming stone cottages; thus suggesting the characters of our film opening are of a middle to upper class as is so often represented in the television and film industry. This is the archetypal representation we are aiming for the characters in our film opening. I have taken a few photos of the style that I want to portray through the shots...



This is how I imagine the bench location to look in the 'first meeting' scene.