Studio Production: Politics VT Recce

A Day Down Margate

Yesterday, myself, the VT director and VT producer (Danny and Sophie) decided to head down to Margate to create a recce and to be prepared for when we film the actual VT tomorrow (Wednesday). This was to confirm on which locations to use plus to generally get a feel and a better insight into Margate.

As well as this, we also head down to see if there was any advertising of politics, particularly regarding Nigel Farage and Al Murray, to help give us some more cutaways and to add to the theme of our VT. Unfortunately, we didn't find any evidence of politics being advertised. We even checked Thanet's Council Office to see if there were any leaflets or posters there but we couldn't find anything! We also asked a few of the residents including a fish and chips shop worker however he too didn't know much about politics (and the rivalry between Al and Nigel!)

Locations

Moving on, I took some pictures of locations which can be used for certain scenes or just be useful for cutaways, which you can see below.

Fish & Chips Shop (Papps)

Once we have established Margate with a montage of cutaways showing the coastal town, our first sequence will begin outside a fish and chips shop called Papps. Here, our presenter, Dave, would appear walking out of one of Margate's fish and chips shops, picking a portion of chips he's just bought. This immediately adds a casual and humorous tone to the VT which is what we are aiming for. Of course, he will then introduce and lead onto the rest of the VT. The shop can be seen below:

Outside the fish and chips shop which we will be filming at

They do make good fish and chips!

Thanet Council

This will then lead us to the scene where we are introduced to our two politicians. We decided to film this with the Thanet Council office building in the background as this is the closest aspect which relates to politics - which also helps to enable the audience to know what part of the country these politicians want to run. Once they've been introduced and Dave explains that we will be asking people who they would ask for and why, we are eventually then led onto the vox pops.

Outside the council office

British Pub: Britannia or Flag & Whistle

For part of the vox pops, we will be focusing on a pub to see whom people who are in the pub would vote for, as this is relevant for the Murray and Farage rivalry (which i've mentioned in one of my research posts). We decided to choose one of the two pubs below purely because they both are patriotic which too can be relevant to politics as it is to do with the nation. Which one we choose is purely dependent on whether we can get consent to film outside or even in the pub on the day - either way as long as there is a pub evident in the background of the vox pop then it isn't entirely important as to what pub it is.

The Britannia - evidently patriotic from it's name

The Flag & Whistle pub. This image is taken from the internet
however we went to view the pub it had England flags which were
hanging from the window.

Margate Beach Front

Once the vox pops have been filmed, the outro could be filmed at the iconic Margate beach front, where the conclusion will be drawn. However this could be problematic as it is considerably windy meaning the sound quality is likely to be effected. Therefore, depending on the wind, we may have to use a different location.

Our potential last location - hopefully it will be sunny tomorrow for when we film!

Outside Dreamland - Outro Plan B

If the wind proves to be too problematic, then we have a Plan B location which is situated outside the iconic Dreamland amusement park. Although it's currently shot, this is a perfect location to end the VT with by establishing Margate, as this theme park was once (and soon to be reopened) one of Margate's biggest tourist attractions. The aim here is to make sure we get the sign in the background like shown below, however this too may be problematic as it is on the main road of Margate, meaning pedestrians may interfere. However, it won't cause a problem if they are seen walking in the background as this may help to set the scene as the audience will learn that there are people around.