Planning: Production meeting - 28.03.12

So far, my group has filmed all of our footage and also edited most of it. All together it is nearly 1min 30secs, so we may have to add some more footage in if it seems too short. We have kept to our new film synopsis, with a poker game and the murder, we also including the flashbacks (which we recorded from our previous idea)




However, we still need to sort out the music that we want to include, we have had a few ideas about the sort of music:

• Jazz music
• Strings
• Classical

 We listened to a few examples of each, but have still not come up with an exact piece of music that we would want to play in the background (on the radio?)
We are then planning to show our draft edit to a few teachers and get feedback. We are also planning on creating a survey monkey on our OTS to collect feedback and then hopefully make some improvements to our film noir.

Planning: New film synopsis

As a group we have decided to change a few things about our film noir. We realised how difficult it would be to include the shots we had originally hoped for (zooming through the window, the hanging girl). This means we have changed our film synopsis to:

The femme fatale is a woman who enjoys to play poker with other female opponents. The doll we originally used, is now her mascot. The doll is old and creepy-looking, but this is the woman's way of knowing she will win in the poker game. However on the rare occasion she does not win, she copes by brutally murdering the opponent and (sometimes) hanging her from a free as her punishment.

In our OTS we are going to show the original shots of the doll, and then a poker game of the femme fatale losing and murdering her female opponent. A journalist will then come in and talk the audience through what has happened giving them more of an understanding.

Cast:

• Abbie as femme fatale
• Pip as poker game opponent
• Olivia as detective/journalist who comes into the poker room and investigates the murder

Props:

• Poker game chips/cards
• Doll
• Rocking chair
• Dictaphone/microphone
• Pad of paper

Sound:

• Radio - Classical music in the background?

• Dialogue - during poker game, and journalist talking

• Crashing noise when journalist is talking.

Reflective Comments

Our new idea seems a lot more easier to produce than our original idea. As well as being much easier for us, it also fits more of the film noir conventions whereas our previous idea didn't fit that many.

Construction: Our Animatic

Untitled from Pip Evanson on Vimeo.


Reflective Comments
This is an animatic that we produced for our original idea (before we changed it) we took a lot of time into deciding where each shot would go, the duration of each shot, the transitions, camera angles and camera shots.

Technical: Continuity Task

Untitled from Daniel Mackay on Vimeo.

I worked in a group with Bianca Gotts and Daniel Mackay, we had a few difficulties in creating our continuity task. Our first attempt didn't go as well as planned, as it did not flow smoothly throughout the clip. However, we identified where we had gone wrong and filmed it again more successfully.

Planning: Updates and changes

As a group we were finding it difficult to fit our film noir into the conventions that a typical film noir would include. Therefore, we have decided to change our original ending idea into something more traditional. We have decided to change the short clip that will be shown after our credits, instead of our modern version we are going to include a poker game between 3 men, one man will say "We have a preposition for you". You will not see this mans face on the camera so the audience cannot see his identity and therefore will leave them in suspense. We are hoping that this ending will help our film fit more into the film noir genre than previously.


Reflective Comments:
Though changing our idea will be very difficult and a risk, we decided we would be more successful in creating an OTS which had a more simple storyline. We are hoping that our new idea will be a lot more successful and realistic than our original idea.

Critical theory: Mark scheme

PRODUCTION

Level 3         36–47 marks 

There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills: 

 Producing material appropriate for the target audience and task; 

 using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions; 

 using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set; 

 shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to 

framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene; 

 using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of 

shot transitions and other effects. 

Level 4         48–60 marks 

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills: 

 material appropriate for the target audience and task; 

 using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions; 

 using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set; 

 shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to 

framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene; 

 using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of 

shot transitions and other effects.  

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Level 4         48–60 marks 

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills: 

 material appropriate for the target audience and task; 

 using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions; 

 using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set; 

 shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to 

framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene; 

 using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of 

shot transitions and other effects.  

Level 4          16–20 marks 

 Planning and research evidence will be complete and detailed; 

 There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience; 

 There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props; 

 There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding; 

 There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning; 

 Time management is excellent. 

EVALUATION

Level 3            12–15 marks 

 Proficient skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation. 

 Proficient understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms 

and conventions in relation to production. 

 Proficient ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.  

 Proficient understanding of their development from preliminary to full task. 

 Proficient ability to communicate. 

Level 4           16–20 marks 

 Excellent skill in the use of  appropriate digital technology or ICT in the evaluation. 

 Excellent understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms 

and conventions in relation to production. 

 Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.  

 Excellent understanding of their development from preliminary to full task. 

 Excellent ability to communicate. 

Planning: Cast for our film noir

Although we only need two characters in our film noir OTS, the cast is still considered as a major part as they will be featured much more in the rest of the film. 

• Someone to walk past in the dark room to create a shadow only
• Man (stalker) = Ivan Tilman (an actor)
• Femme fatale = Jessie Gregg

Planning: Props needed for our film noir

For our film noir, we have decided on a list of props we will need to make our film seem more realistic. We will need:

• A rocking chair
• A doll
• Rope
• String (to pull the rocking chair back and forth without it being noticeable)
• Mannequin/dummy
• Bed (for femme fatale to wake up)
• Window frame (looking out onto field)
• Alarm clock

We also decided on the clothes/hair and make-up terms we will need to include in our film, these are:

• A white gown (for femme fatale)
• Slippers?
• Red lipstick
• Blusher for cheeks
• Curled hair
• Dressing gown for male character (hopefully we can create shadows well enough so the audience won't be able to see the man too much)

Reflective Comments:

Making a list of these props has helped us be more prepared for the filming of our film noir. We now know exactly what to take to each filming session which will give us more time to focus on our filming.

Planning: Setting for our film noir

We have decided to have a creepy atmosphere and setting for our film noir. We are going to use a dark room to show the 'stalker' man in our film, we also need to show this room as the man will be looking out onto a green field or garden where the body of the teenage girl will be hanging, however, this will be difficult to do successfully, we will try and obtain the shots using two different settings and hopefully be able to transition between them. We also need a field/garden to show the girl hanging from the tree.

Reflective Comments:

We are now beginning to pull everything together and have also decided on the setting we would like to film our OTS in. Though we may find it difficult to find the right size room we were hoping for which is also completely empty with only a certain amount of light shining through, we are hoping to overcome this problem. We are also struggling with thinking of the appropriate field/garden to use which wouldn't have any unnecessary aspects in the background.

Planning: Sound effects

We have attempted to try and create certain sound effects which we would like to include in our film noir;


Desired sound effect and ideas to make the sound
- Rocking chair creaking 
Creaking a chair or floorboard


- Heavy breathing 
Each of us breathing heavily until we find one which  matches our action


- Thunder
Dragging a bin along the floor


- Wind
Swinging the recording device around very quickly


- Alarm
Traditional alarm clock 'beep'?


- Leaves rustling
Simply kicking leaves, or rustling a plastic bag


Reflective comments
These are our first ideas on what sounds we want to include and they may vary as we begin to think more about our OTS. We may find it difficult to create the exact sounds we are hoping for, and may find it even more difficult to fit the sound with the action on camera. We went out around our school and attempted to make certain of these sounds such as the rocking chair, this turned out to be quite successful

Planning: Storyboard for our film noir

Today, our group had a meeting. We created our first storyboard for our film noir (shown below)

We made a list of all the props we would need to use to create our film noir. We also decided on the people who we are going to include.

Reflective comments:

As a first storyboard, we are beginning to pull together an idea of our OTS and order the shots we are planning to record. As this is only our first storyboard, we may make many changes.

Technical: Camera shots/angles/transitions

Camera Shots:

Very long shot (VLS) -

The very long shot gives the viewer 'geography'

Long shot (LS) -

Takes in the whole height of the person. Doesn't show as much background as VLS but it does show enough to show the subjects location.

Mid shot (MS) -

The mid shot cuts off at the waist.

Head and shoulders shot (HSS) -

Shows only the head and shoulders of the subject

Close Up (CU)

Focus in on the subjects face - pay more attention to facial expressions

Extreme close up (XCU)-

Very intimate shot.

Over the shoulder shot (OTSS) -

Shot from behind, looking over the subjects shoulder

Camera angles

High angle -

Camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview

Low angle -

Increase height and give a speeded motion. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling.

Eye level -

Camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene

Canted angle -

Camera is tilted.

Transitions

Fade -

Fades the shot to a single colour, usually black or white. Usually signal the beginning and end of scenes

Dissolve -

A gradual fade from one shot to the next

Wipe - 

Progressively replaced by another shot in a geometric pattern. Often have coloured border to help disinguish shots

Cut -

Cutting straight from one shot to another




Reflective comments

For our film noir we will most probably include eye level shots and high level shots. This will help us show our femme fatale having the most powerful position. We will also be using eye level shots to show the perspective of each character. We are unlikely to include many transitions apart from cuts throughout our OTS, apart from the first shot fading in. We are also hoping to include many close ups to help show emotions.

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