PLANNING - LOCATION

We aim to shoot our music video in a recording studio, so that the band could be conveyed as close, and highlight their passion for music. This will also allow us to focus entirely on the band with no need for a narrative. We believe that the recording studio should be a small, local studio, perhaps not of the highest of standards, nor in the best of conditions. This will help to convey a sense of verisimilitude, as the Jungle Doctors are a small independent band, and using a well known prestigious location would not ring true to an audience. It will also help to convey the fact that the band are still teenagers, and doing it purely out of the love of music and for fun, rather than in the hops of gaining fortune and fame. Additionally it will align with the indie-rock genre, highlighting its working class roots, starting from the bottom, and working your way up. We looked around at a variety of recording studios in the local area as possible locations to shoot our music video, and found three options. 

1. R-Studios 
The first studio that we considered was R-Studios, in Whitton. This made the location ideal as it was within a close proximity to us and the band. 

R-Studios rehearsal room

R-Studios Website

This location would have been ideal, as it provides everything that we require in order to shoot our music video, including the close proximity to us and the band. However, we were not sure about the ease of accessibility to the studios, due to arrangements, availability, and timing. We also may have needed to film in the studio on more than one occasion. Upon further investigation, we discovered that the studio would cost £25 an hour, while a rehearsal rooms would cost £10-£12 an hour. 

Prices for the recording studio

With a very limited budget, this was not ideal, as we knew that shooting could take a matter of hours, and could be spread across multiple days, leading to high costs for hiring the studio.  In addition, the website offered only a limited amount of photos of the recording studio, so we did not know whether the location would aesthetically suit our needs and the song itself. As the song is upbeat and happy, we felt that the base colour of the location should be of a whitish colour, and the only photo that was offered of R-Studios was a room which was furnished and decorated in black, which would not provide suitable mise-en-scene for the music video. We concluded that this was not a very suitable location for suiting our music video, due to the costs involved, and the dark colour palette of the studio.

2. Airplay Studios
The second location we considered was Airplay Studios, in Sunbury. Although a bit further afield, it was still accessible to both us and the band. 

The studio offered a recording studio area, as well as rehearsal rooms, which would be more ideal for filming the band shots. The rehearsal rooms came equipped with drum kits, which meant that the band had did not have to bring a drum kit, making their lives easier, and offered a bright colour palette, which would have worked perfectly for our music video. The studio also offered a soundboard which was required for our initial shot. 

However, this location was not free to use, and required payment to access it.  We discovered that the room we desired to use was £49 for 7 hours on a Saturday or Sunday. Once again, this was not ideal due to our very limited budget, and the fact that we may have had to shoot the music video over multiple days. Despite the ideal colour palette and mise-en-scene of the studio, we decided that this was also not an ideal location to shoot our music video, however it was still an option.

The rehearsal area would cost £49 to hire for the day

3. School Recording Studio
Underneath our very classroom at school, there is a recording studio, which for some reason did not cross our minds when initially thinking of locations we could use. This already solved our one major problem - it does not cost anything to use. Although the space in the recording studio is very limited, it offers everything we need; a drum kit, a professional microphone, a soundboard, guitars and basses, amplifiers, and a variety of rooms each decorated in a bright colour palette, which would match the mise-en-scene. We decided that due to the limitation of space, each instrument category would have to be split up into different rooms, rather than the band all playing in one room, however we feel that this would work, as this is more likely to happen in a recording environment, to isolate the sound of each instrument. This also means that that accessibility would be very easy, and if needed we can shoot across multiple days, if a certain band member can't make it, due to each member of the band being recorded by themselves. This provides us with the perfect resolution to our search for locations, and we have decided that this is the location we are going to use to film our music video.