Anglia square, car park - Possible thriller location

The other day, me and another member of my group went out to take pictures of a location we had in mind for our thriller opening, the location we chose to look around was the car park in Anglia Square. This is as it is a very generic location that shows great establishment of thriller location, claustrophobic spaces, noir lighting (during periods of darkness), views over the dystopian town and also the decaying, scummy staircases/lifts/windows.

This location portrays great noir lighting, the fluorescent beams present non-ambient lighting which isn't too bright and therefore maintains dark spaces between each beam. This leaves dark areas for the antagonist to potentially loom in.

This shot further conveys how the spacing between lights is effective in leaving dark and  eerie spaces. Our group will have to ensure that we utilize this carefully, making certain not to mask the action by filming in a spot that's too dark. 

From the upper levels of the car park, the location gives a great view of the dystopian city and it's surroundings. The boarded up, degraded buildings, graffiti and dull weather add  to the idea of a dangerous and unfriendly environment. If used in our thriller opening, it would hopefully evoke suspense where by the intimidating city connotes that something terrible has/ or will happen. We were inspired to use this particular dystopian city by other films and television programmes, such as "Misfits".

Thamesmead, Location of "Misfits".

These shots show one of the car park stairwells, whilst also showing the damaged glass and  bars surrounding it. This location is particularly interesting and portrays a lot of ideas, for example, the bars could symbolize entrapment and claustrophobia. Whilst the cracked glass suggests attempts to escape the stairwell, but it not being possible. Overall, we may use this area of the car park as it connotes claustrophobia and looks tattered, further adding to the dystopian feel. 

 

I have included a shot of the lift and a clip of how we may use this to build tension and leave a shocking cliffhanger. We thought the idea of the foot stopping the lift door from closing would be a good way to end our thriller, this idea was inspired by the surroundings we visited. However, after exploring other aspects and ideas we may adapt this thought.

Noir lighting and wet glistening surfaces are portrayed in this image,  this is a great establishment of genre and therefore we may hope to use the same setting in out opening. Additionally, films such as "Once Upon A Time In America" also use this setting in order to establish genre and add to the bleakness.  

Body's laid out on the street, still from "Once Upon A Time In America" 

These shots and the clip I have added highlight another idea we had for a scene in our thriller, which was also thought of when exploring the car park. We had the idea that the shattered window could be in focus and then just before either the white van or person walk past, the focus shifts towards them instead. This could give the feeling that someone is watching either one of them when they are entering the desolate car park. 

Influences on the idea of a car park:


One of the major influences on our choice of this location is the music video to "Angel" by Massive Attack, the empty, desolate car park, noir lighting, glistening streets and enclosed environment posed as a great setting. Therefore, we investigated into which particular car park in Norwich best replicated the one used in the video and we concluded at Anglia Square.