Coursework Location Inspiration: She’s So Lovely

After deciding I was going to use a bowling alley as my main filming location, I figured it would be beneficial to focus on the use of cinematography in bowling alleys in other films in order to draw more inspiration and ideas.

A perhaps less expected source I thought to take note of was the music video for She’s So Lovely by Scouting For Girls. Whilst this is a music video and I will be making a short film, I remembered that it was filmed in a bowling alley and figured there was no harm in checking it out to see if any inspiration could be drawn from it.

One of the main things I got from the music video was the use of establishing shots, they were edited fast pace at the beginning of the video to set the scene and this is something I want to do in my film.

Another thing I love is the way they showed the progression of the stages of bowling, the shot from the lane of the bowler which then switched to a tracking shot following the ball before ending on a shot on the lane point at the pins as the ball reached the end. This sequence is an interesting blend of the three different ways I had considered showing the action of bowling and something I will definitely consider using in my own film.

The main shot that I am going to take inspiration from is the extreme close up framing the characters eyes and the ball before they go to bowl. I could use this in the part of my film when Lisa and Phoebe are taking their final shots to build suspense.

Coursework Location Inspiration: The Big Lebowski

After deciding I was going to use a bowling alley as my main filming location, I figured it would be beneficial to focus on the use of cinematography in bowling alleys in other films in order to draw more inspiration and ideas.

Potentially the most iconic film that features a bowling alley location is The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998) so of course I had to include it in my inspiration research plus any excuse to watch it again is good enough for me. It takes place in the Hollywood Star Lanes Bowling Alley on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood (an alley that no longer exists).

I really like the mid-shot (left) because you can see the background activity. The wide shot (right) framing all three characters eating with the lanes in the background is the kind of shot I want to use for the final discussion between Lisa and Phoebe at the end of my film.

The thing that stood out was in one scene from the film in which a steadicam shot tracks the character of Jesus through his shot. Instead of using the cuts to show the progression like in the She’s So Lovely music video, Coen uses one long shot. In my film, I will probably use both techniques.

When doing my location scout I quickly tried to imitate this shot, of course this is my first attempt and was filmed on my phone rather than using the appropriate equipment but even so the movement turned out to be less difficult that I expected.

Coursework Location Inspiration: Curfew

After deciding I was going to use a bowling alley as my main filming location, I figured it would be beneficial to focus on the use of cinematography in bowling alleys in other films in order to draw more inspiration and ideas.

The first thing that sprang to mind was the short film Curfew (Shawn Christensen, 2012) that we watched as part of our initial short film inspirations. Curfew consists of various scenes, featuring the two lead characters Richie and Sophia, that take place in a bowling alley.

One of the key things I was looking for when analysing Curfew further was things I could include in my own short film. I really liked the close ups used as establishing shots, specifically the bowling ball coming out of the ball return and the lined up bowling shoes, these are two shots I’m definitely going to use shots similar to these in my own film.
This wide shot was another that stood out to me. I want to incorporate a similar shot to frame both girls sat on separate lanes in order to symbolise their metaphorical closeness whilst highlighting their physical distance.

Whilst my characters will not at any point be walking on the actual lane, I love the use of a long shot here to capture all the lanes as well as the background setting whilst focusing on the main character.