Does 2 locations=1?

S

SDBenassi

I have a story that takes place in a single-story elderly lady's house (and mostly the living room). In the final scene we learn that the main character is insane and that in fact he has been in a dingy apartment the entire time. His mind has been hallucinating that the dingy apartment was a much cozier home belonging to an elderly lady. The idea is that the elderly lady's house is warm, cozy and that the dingy apartment is beat up, bare. However, though they are 2 different environments they are supposed to be the same place, so the layout, like where the bathroom is in relation to the front door, should match each other. The question is would it be more practical to find one location and simply dress it up as the two different environments or would finding two separate locations that already somewhat match the feel of the different environments make sense? If we found two separate locations it would obviously be difficult to match up a lot of the geometry of the room, but I'm wondering how far 'cheatin' it would go. On a budget too
 
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I vote that you use the same location and try to make it look different using lighting, set design (as much as your budget will allow), the way you shoot it (camera angles, composition techniques, etc.) and finally consider some post effects to pull off the illusion.

You can pull this off in two locations (especially like row houses or developments that tend to have the same house design/layout) but you will still need to do most of the things I listed above anyway to differentiate your two locations. Plus a huge added benefit is that you don't have to deal with a company move (i.e., a move to a whole new location), which should cut down on your pre-production efforts (like scouting) and your shooting times. Not to mention how much it will help your budget.

But that's my vote though, I would love to hear what others think about this subject. Oh and it sounds like you have a cool premise going there. Good luck on your movie.

Sam
 
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Warm and cold lighting and colorin would work wonders to add contrast to both locations.
Use soft focus on every take involving the lady's house.
Add portraits with black and white photos.
For the apartement, pile up magazines a newspapers, use cold colors, and hide most of the furniture under boxes and bed clothes, like if you were going to paint your walls.
Trash will help too. Empty soda cans, bottles, if you have a cat or dog, show it well fed on the lady's house, and eating trash in the other setting.
 
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On a budget, I can't imagine trying to find two different locations that
look the same - one cozy and one dingy. But simply taking everything
out of the "cozy" apartment seems so much easier - and cheaper. Find
some beat up furniture in alleys, use some "Streaks n' Tips" to dirty up
the walls (it washes right off) and as Kosh and Jake mention, change
the lighting.
 
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Sounds like a cool idea actually, but yeah i would go with just making the same room look different as it would make it a lot harder finding two identical places. Good luck with the film, look forward to seeing it :)
 
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