Coursework: Location Scout – Bowling Alley

Location: Lincoln Bowl, Washingborough Road

The decision to film in a bowling alley was an easy one to make as my family bowl regularly and are friends with many of the employees and managers at Lincoln Bowl.

The first step I took was asking one of the managers what their policies on filming were, he responded with plenty of enthusiasm telling me that filming is allowed and has been done before by University students and others. He also said they would be happy to provide me with information about convenient times or even let me stay late one day after closing to get some shots.

Next, I contacted Andy, the owner of the alley to cement that it would be allowed. After getting his confirmation I visited the bowling alley on 16/07/18 to take photos of the location.

Wide shots

Wide shot framing the interior decoration of two lanes in the foreground as well as several other lanes in the background

Wide shot from a low angle, camera is placed on the lane facing the seating area

Wide shot from a higher angle, camera is placed on the lane facing the seating area

Wide shot of the dining area in the bowling alley

Lane shots

Wide shot of lanes focusing on one lane in the middle third of the frame

Wide shot symmetrically centred in between two lanes

Low angle floor shot of one lane

Wide shot framing several lanes

Long shot from the end of the lane framing several lanes with the seating in the background (during normal times people would be stood bowling on the lanes all framed in this shot)

Close up of the framing the pins on several lanes

close up of pins

extreme close up of pins

Others

Close-ups of bowling balls

Close-ups of bowling balls

People Examples

Practice Tracking Shot

Wide shot framing the score boards

People Examples

Practice Tracking Shot

Whilst I was at the Bowling Alley, the manager offered to show me the behind the scenes of the lanes. I may not use this in my final film but it is nice to know I have options open to me.

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.