Written by Colin TheysI’ve always been drawn to movies that build worlds. A unique setting can be a powerful storytelling tool and a memorable experience. Would The Thing feel as isolating set in a diner? That said, would creating such locations often seems out of reach for low-budget films. You’re usually stuck with sensible, easy-to-find locations. How many finales happen at a construction site? There’s a reason for that.But you don’t need a big budget to create compelling worlds. For Stalker’s Prey 3: A Predator Returns, our the villain lives in a lighthouse on a rocky island in the ocean. Stalker’s Prey 3 is an ultra-low-budget, campy-fun, made-for-TV movie that aired on Lifetime. We didn’t have much time or money, but wanted to attempt something bigger and more conceptually unique than the traditional suburban stalker story. The script was originally written for Falkner’s Island. Falkner’s Island image credit Greg Thompson/USFWS (creative commons attribution 2.0 licenseIt's a real place with a lighthouse and a few buildings. When we couldn’t get permission to shoot there, we moved to plan B: creating the location ourselves. I identified the essential components for the story: a lighthouse, a dock, a shoreline, and an abandoned house—al isolated feels. Then, we set out to find their real-world counterparts.Finding the lighthouse was the hardest part. Coastal lighthouses were accessible but surrounded by things we’d need to remove in post-production, which would be too expensive. That's when we found the New London Ledge lighthouse, a stunning structure on a...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 10 October