The vision in my head is of a bedroom with a working desk and a vacant wall for Victor's crime board. However, it is so hard to find a location that perfectly fits my vision, either they are too expensive, or too far from where I live (in another province or country, for instance). Also, Mr. Williams is currently in Hua Hin (a beach town in Thailand), therefore, he can only manage to come up to Bangkok during the weekends. I've tried searching for possible hotels in Hua Hin, but all of them looked "hotel-ish" (as I describe them) with paintings everywhere and a lot of decorations a condominium or an apartment wouldn't have, and doesn't really fit Victor's humble lair.
Okay, so maybe I can cut out the vision that Victor lives in a humble lair. Maybe he lives in a middle-cost condominium. As long as I don't have to tell the whole story, I can make it seem like Victor is still having trouble getting money to support this condominium of his.
The closest location I found in Bangkok is 'The Peninsula Bangkok'
Victor's crime board can be put on one of the window panes instead. I think that this is a perfect location for the shoot out. Firstly, the working desk isn't completely opposite from the bed like other hotel rooms. This means that we can have a wider shot of the scene without having to constantly switch between Victor and Scott. Secondly, we can zoom into Victor's expression as he looks at his crime board from the windows and still see Scott on the bed. This way, we don't have to film the back of Victor's head when we want an 'over the shoulder' type of shot. The camera man still have space behind the desk.
However, the only problem with this is that the hotel is quite expensive to afford...
A cheaper hotel that could work is 'Okura Prestige Bangkok'
The good thing about this hotel is that there are vacant walls on either sides of the window. It would be authentic when the camera pans in elegantly with Victor standing at a position a third from the window (rule of third), and crime boards on either sides acting like webs. The room itself is wide enough to try on different angles. Instead of having Victor looking out the window, we can have him look at the crime boards, now positioned on either sides of the wall instead. Not only this can indicates the struggle to turn around and about in circles, going back and forth between what he knows and what is real from the evidences, it can also portrays how chaotic Victor's life seems to be at the exact point.
*****
However, when I discuss the possibilities of filming in hotels with my parents, my father advised me to go and take a look at his current service apartment: The Plim Place BKK
This way, we don't have to spend too much money on the filming location and instead, use that particular fund on equipment. Secondly, after hearing my presentation of the theme, the characters, and story, my parents thought that if Victor is having a financial crisis, it is very unlikely that he owns a condominium like that and that it doesn't really make any sense. To be exact, an apartment of a shabby poor detective needs to be old and filed with papers and books. The hotel rooms look too neat for someone who works by himself and not with special government agencies. Therefore, the Plim Place serves as the most sensible choice - only needing some additional decorations.
The color degradation and room decoration would be based on the film stills below:
No comments:
Post a Comment