Planning: Titles/Fonts

Titles on the front cover of Film Noir DVD's usually have a slanted and almost scribbled sort of font.

The colour of text is red against a black and white background, making it stand out.

  




























Reflective Comments
Analysing the fonts and titles from these typical film noirs enabled us to get a clearer image of what our film noir title could be and what fonts we would use when it appears up on the screen during our OTS

Planning: Prezi on OTS

Our OTS on Prezi


Reflective comments:
Making a prezi on the production of our OTS and what we desire it to be like, will make it easier to produce as we have done all the planning and know exactly what we want it to look like. 

Planning: Film Noir Titles

Our group have been coming up with different titles for our film noir, so far we have come up with:

• Eyes Never Lie
• The Eyes
• Addicted Eyes
• Look Into My Eyes
• Always Watching

For our new idea

• Winner Dies
• Poker Game
• Death Game

Reflective comments:

After studying various other film noir titles, realising most of them were most short (2 words) we decided to create a get short title. Also including the theme of violence or death.

Critical theory: Links to fansites

http://film-noir.gemzies.com/

http://www.filmnoirstudies.com/more/index.asp

http://wesclark.com/ubn/web_noir.html

http://fsd.theorydesign.net/site-map/listings?sid=101:Film-Noir

http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

http://www.film-noir-alley.com/

Critical theory: Audience Theory

National readership survey - The Grades

The classifications are based on the occupation of the head of the household

Effects models:

The hypodermic needle model - The intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver

Two-step flow - The people with most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model.

Uses and gratifications - People are not helpless victims of mass media, but use the media to get specific gratifications (Diversion, personal relationships, personal identity, surveillance)

Reception theory - The meaning of a 'text' is not inherent within the text itself but the audience must elicit meaning based on their individual cultural background and life experiences

Obstinate audience theory - This theory assumes that there is a transactional communication between the audience and the media. The audience actively selects what messages to pay attention to. The Zimmerman-Bauer study found that the audience also participates in the communication by influencing the message

Reflective Comments:

After viewing the original national readership survey, I produced my own table on what our desired target audience for our film noir would be. This enabled me and my group to get a better idea of what to include within our OTS to correctly attract our audience.

Critical theory: Micro essay on ambiance

Creating ambiance means creating music which fits perfectly to the type of atmosphere and mood that you're trying to create during the clip. Whether you want to create a happy or sad mood, it'd mainly down to the music to determine what emotions the audience feels. If the music is not correct, for example, if you had sad music playing whilst a happy action on screen, it could make the audience feel confused as they will not know how they're supposed to feel. Creating ambiance also enables the audience to emphasise with the main characters within the clip.



Invisible Among A Crowd from Patrick Mahoney on Vimeo.


The above clip is a good example of creating ambiance. The background music gives off a sense of worry and makes the audience assume something is going to happen. The tone and pace of the music are quite creepy, maybe foreshadowing what is about to happen.



Happy (HD) from HappyChow on Vimeo.


In contrast, the music in this clip gives off a very cheerful mood. It is made obvious how the audience are expected to feel whilst watching this clip, and without the music, the audience may of felt confused about their emotions towards the clip.





Elise - Student Short Film (by Aiko Ilagan) from Aiko Ilagan on Vimeo.


Again, in this clip, the music makes the audience feel worried at the beginning, and assuming something bad is going to happen, it then develops into a unhappy tone meaning the audience will also feel this way.

Critical theory: Micro essay on copy right issues

Copy right issues will affect me and my group in many ways,

• Not being able to use a piece of background music originally made, this will mean we will have to take more time into making a piece of music which fits our plot. We may also find it very difficult to create a piece of music that will fit well with our film. 
• We will also have to create our own sound effects, meaning using foleying as a technique. This could also take time and also a lot of effort, we will need to find the correct props needed to create our sound and then be able to match the sound with the action of the picture.
• We are unable to use any borrowed sound unless it is being played on TV, radio etc.

Using copyright works fact sheet from UK Copyright Service.

Critical theory: Micro essay on foleying

SoundWorks Collection: Gary Hecker - Veteran Foley Artist from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.


Foleying is the art of creating sound effects for a film. It is a very effective technique as it ables the audience to pay more attention to the diagetic sounds within the clip rather than concentrating on just the dialogue and the production of the film. It is a technique for synchronous effects of live effects. Foley artists have to make sure they match live sound effects with the action of the picture. They sound effects used whilst foleying are laid manually and are not cut in with film.
The above clip shows exactly how foleying is done and shows us how it adds tension to the film. They go into as much detail as possible to make sure they get the sound they need.

Planning: Continuity Task - Story Board

1.

2

Dialogue

Technical: Lighting

Reflective comments:

As we experimented with lighting, we realised it was not as successful as we hoped it would be. We found it difficult to get the correct lighting that we needed, therefore meaning we couldn't create the images we had originally planned.

Planning: Film synopsis

I will be working with Abbie Hampson and Olivia Shearing. I chose to work with them because we have worked together previously, share similar ideas and get along well. We can work well as a group and trust each others opinions.

We started discussing our synopsis, we decided we are going to make a film noir rather than a neo noir. We also decided to make our film quite freaky and disturbing. Our ideas have stemmed from our (disturbed) imagination. The film will open with a suicide (a girl hung from a tree), The shadow of someone's shoulder will be seen in the corner of the camera as they're looking out of the window, we would like to include a rocking chair rocking back and forth and creaking.  The window will preferably be looking at the woods. The camera will focus on the tree, and it will zoom in, the audience will then see the shape of someone hanging from the tree. The girl will be swinging back and forth and then the camera will zoom into her eyes, the camera will then go black and the title will come up.  The camera will then come back onto her eyes when she's alive. It'll then zoom out and show her previously, when she was alive. The rest of the film will be about retelling of her life and how she is being stalked by a man who sits in a rocking chair and watches her.


The conventions we're going to meet is that it will be black and white. We're going to break the conventions of having a femme fatale and anti-hero. In the OTS, the only character which will be seen is the dead girl and the character's shoulders in the window.

• Mid-shot of rocking chair
• Pans across to show window, person moves in front of the camera and shows their left shoulder only
• Focus on what they are looking at - out the window, follows gaze and zooms through the window pane and out onto the green where the person is looking
• Zooms onto the tree where the person is staring, pans round to show the front of the tree properly and there is a dead body hanging from it
• Zooms right into the focus on her closed eyes
• Screen goes black, title appears
• Title fades and focuses once again on girl's eyes
• Eyes open, camera zooms out to focus on girl and her whole body - she is alive, everything is brighter, and she is alive once again - start the story of her life
• Screen goes black and the retelling of the story would begin here

Critical theory: Film Noir Iconography

Critical theory: Definitions

• Shot / Reverse Shot -  Where one character is shown looking at another character, who is often off-screen, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. (Normally used during a conversation)

• 180 degree rule -  two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other otherwise the audience would get confused.

• Match on action -  the idea that the filming must be continuous and connects two shots cut together by having a character finish an action in the second shot begun in the first shot.

Reflective comments:

After experimenting with creating these shots, I now feeling comfortable with being able to include these shots within my final OTS.

Critical theory: DVD Analysis

The Killers and Double Indemnity are two film noirs which have many similarities, such as the plot, key conventions but also the DVD covers themselves.






The colour scheme for both DVD covers is black, white and red, which is traditional for a film noir. Both covers consist of the traditional femme fatale and anti-hero character types. The femme fatale looks very glamorous and is wearing red lipstick on both, which can be seen as iconography within a film noir. 

Critical theory: Sound - Understanding how to use it

My initial thoughts on using sound in film:

• Background music can create a mood, it helps you understand more about what is going on and how you should feel.
• Sound motif's help the audience to understand what sort of character the film is dealing with.
• The sound establishes moods and might even lead the whole atmosphere of a film, driving its narrative.
• Can represent something
• Signifys things which are going to happen
• Give you an idea of the genre

Having analysed Waking the dead - these are my next thoughts:

Critical Theory: Film Classifications

Classification - U: It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.


If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in the Consumer Advice.


Classification - PG: General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.

Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset 

younger or more sensitive children.

Classification - 12 and 12A: General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.

Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.

Classification - 15: No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Classification - 18: No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video work.

Classification - R18: To be shown only in specially licensed cinemas, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults of not less than 18 years.

The ‘R18’ category is a special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops. ‘R18’ videos may not be supplied by mail order. 

Technical production: Film Noir narrative structure