Planning - Location Hunting (Woods) and Look Development

Hello readers,
 Upon deciding the chosen locations for the escape scenario within our film opening we, as a team, decided to hunt for accessible locations that would suit the criteria for our intended site. We had already decided upon a forest location for the main dual escape scene between the victim and the captor; this we found on the outskirts of a village. It is accessible as a road cuts through the middle of the wood meaning equipment can easily be transported for use.
Images of found site:

Why this is the chosen location?

 As well as being accessible, we also decided this location was suited to our criteria of a thriller movie as not only is it maze like, but due to the time of year (winter) it is eerie with bare and fallen trees creating irregular patterns within the environment. Due to fallen trees, our victim will also appear helpless due to loss of direction and loss of ability to run well. We were inspired to choose a wood for the escape scene by different films such as The Blair Witch Project, Sleepy Hollow and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (the snatchers chase scene).

 Using a wood environment for the main chase scene between the two characters will also be ideal for our chosen genre as the lighting in woods is shadowy, creating suspense for the audience.
Look Development in Wood

 When in our chosen location we decided to do test shots; this was the first time working with our particular equipment meaning the camera work in this is shaky which will be improved on in our final piece. Shannon, our actress and co-worker, helped and was filmed for this particular montage as she will be the victim in our final piece. We also found the lighting to be too dark so we will over expose and film in daylight to ensure we have enough exposure for easy watching; this we can later change by colour grading. Overall we used a variety of shots such as dolly zoom, close up, focus pull and so on and also worked with a camera rig. The whole look is eerie which is essential for our chosen thriller genre. We used a soundtrack from The Killing which will inspire us when we make our final soundtrack as it creates tension and suspense which is necessary.