Scouting for Settings

Since our short film contains high-tech fictional elements such as hyperrealistic stimulation, it can easily be inferred that this film takes place in the future, therefore our chosen elements of mis-en-scene need to imply that this is where society is heading, without creating the illusion that it is several centuries ahead of our modern times. In fact, according to an article by Forbes Magazine, 
"For a full-blown Cyberdeck you’re asking for each of them to leap about fifty to one hundred years forward (at least) and converge into a single technology. That in itself could take quite a few decades before we begin to figure out how all of these could mingle, let alone a production process for building entertainment software.", so my best approximation is that the time of this story is somewhere around the year 2150.

This constructs the impossible question to answer, "What will our world look like in 150 years?".

When I thought of this concept in my head, I derived my inspiration based on one of my favorite shows called Black Mirror, a Netflix original series that focuses on criticizing human interaction with technology, by telling different stories in a dystopian/ futuristic, fictional setting. Some of their episodes appear as if they are happening years into the future, while others look like they could be happening in the present if we had access to such technology. As a result, I wish to incorporate factors from of both ideas, which would maintain some of the elements in setting could be found in our present time, while others create that futuristic essence to it. Here are some inspirations for what I would love to create:



Bedroom & Bathroom:

For these settings, I would love to have neon lights surrounding the room, imitating that futuristic sense that is often created in movies with lighting. This effect can be easily created with tissue paper, and would go extremely well with white bed covers or tiles  to make the colors more vibrant. 

Kitchen & Living Area
Once again, I feel like neon lighting would create the "future vibe", only this time I would not have it surrounding the room, but would rather have it coming directly from a specific light source. The reason for choosing so is so that it doesn't feel excessive, but it subtle enough to go with the neon theme. Sofi's kitchen would probably be the best location since her countertops are all marble white.

Neighborhood:
It would be extremely difficult (and probably illegal) to try to decorate every house in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, since we are inferring that the entire world is frozen, we will probably have to shoot various places in our neighborhood, so the buildings would be representative of our modern times. However, we can still imply that this is happening in the future based on the clothing that is worn by our frozen extras. This will definitely be its own blog post, but I was thinking of a neon color palette for costumes (surprising, I know!)


Weston Town Center
Although it's hard to believe, this place is actually pretty empty in morning weekends, so it would facilitate filming. It doesn't give off a modern sensation like that of a metropolitan city, but it's the among the few social gatherings our city has to offer. If there's enough time and actors to travel somewhere else then MAYBE we could find another "downtown", if not we have to work with what we have. 

Hobo Hole..... Maybe?
#DoItForTheMedia Okay... so I know Mrs. Stoklosa will be against this, but Paloma and I have been dying to go film there, and it could be a cool setting for the actors to discover that they are rapidly aging. This is basically a dark hole underneath 595 highway that has a ton of graffiti and is pretty creepy. Since it's our last media project, why not cross it off the bucket list? This is still yet to be determined based on whether or not it fits the script, or if it's feasible. 

Psychologist's Office
White floors, ceiling, furniture, uniforms, lighting, etc. This is an image that I had clear in my mind which I've seen portrayed in episodes of Black Mirror and American Horror Story. A white room is emblematic of a room for utilized science experiments and simulations, so I would like to stick to the convention . 


All of my ideas for setting seem realistic to the inferred time period and our limitations for shooting locations , but I have to wait and see what Sofi and Paloma think as well. See you in the future!



Prinke, Mike. “How Close Are We To Creating Full- Immersion VR Worlds?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 25 May 2017, https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/05/25/how-close-are-we-to-creating-full-immersion-vr-worlds/amp/