Pre - Production: Theatre visit!

After a very long time trying to secure a theatre to film in, I finally had a response back from Mid Kent College. I had been in contact with Karen Wright who was in charge of the venue hire at the college, and she kindly agree'd for myself and the director Vic to visit to take a look at the theatre. Initially, she had sent me the prices and we was going to be in Band B - a non profit organisation. The prices for 3 days filming in the auditorium was quite high and the prices only fit around 4 or 8 hours. I knew that when we arrived on location we would need a bit of time to once again go over the scene, so looking at the prices did worry me a little. However, I asked Karen if there was any chance on negotiating the price, which she very kindly agreed. After a phone call with Karen, I met up with her at the Theatre and was eager to see it in person.

Initially, I did want a professional 'proper' theatre, with red draped curtains and nice seating. However, when looking on the college website, I saw that because the students there studied theatre and performing arts, they did have some really, really nice facilities, and the auditorium didn't look like a school or low budget theatre. I asked if we could also take a look around the dance studios as there was 3 different ones and on some videos I saw, they looked like they had a stage with seating - and was much cheaper.

Once we arrived, Karen was lovely showing us around the theatre and 3 dance studios. As soon as we walked into the theatre we was amazed by how well it looked. Karen let us look around and look back stage. She talked me through what came with the prices and any additional things we needed. she told us that the stage currently had an extension on it which could be taken off, but we really liked it as it comes out a little which is what I wanted anyway. The stairs are inclined down and she showed us how far they came out which was helpful. Karen showed us what the room looked like with the lights off, which made the theatre look very professional, as you can't see the white walls and the wooden floor. Karen mentioned that if we needed anything extra, we could get it projected onto the stage background. She was very helpful and managed to let us go into Band C - Charity organisation. She also mentioned that she will try get it for us for cheaper, she was very 'pro student' and was extremely helpful giving us all the information we needed, and in return we promised her recognition in our film credits and if she needed anything filming for the students we'd offer to help which she was delighted about.

Next, we looked around the dance studios. Although I was very excited about the theatre, I managed to stay optimistic about the dance studios. However, although they was very nice, they wasn't what I was looking for at all so that idea was gone. I'm glad that I've found a theatre that I really like and didn't end up sticking with one that wasn't what I wanted and the prices being even higher.

I will have a think about this location because the obvious downfalls are the lack of red curtains and theatre seats which really does lower the production values, but hopefully we can work around it and find a set designer. If not the search for the theatre once again carries on!