07/02/12

Film Noir Research

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

 This is a site I've been looking at to find out what the key features of Film Noir are, and how they work. From this I've selected a few which I'm aiming to include in my media product.

Point-Of-View (POV) Shot
A shot taken with the camera placed approximately where the character's eyes would be, representing what the character sees.

To the left is an example of a point of view shot, it shows the audience what the character is looking at. I feel this could be very effective in a two shot with a couple, this would help link in the genre of film noir to the point of view shot, as a typical convention of film noir is a femme fatal and her relationship with a male. 

Femme Fatal is the french term that literally means "fatal woman”; an irresistibly attractive woman who leads men to destruction.

Flashback
An alteration of story order in which the plot moves back in time to show events that have taken place earlier than the one already shown.

Voice Over
Voice overs are recorded dialogue, usually narration, that comes from an unseen, off-screen voice, character or narrator who can be heard by the audience but not by the film characters themselves; narration often conveys the character's thoughts, either as a “voice” heard within one's head or as other narrative information and commentary; often a technique in Film Noir.

I think that the flashback and voice over could work really well together, to explain the flashback in the opening of our media product I think that the voice over could explain a previous argument between a couple, represented by the flashback. This would help us to include two more conventions of Film Noir within our piece.

29/01/12

Research - How to make a good Film Noir

Below is a link on how to make a good Film Noir piece.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mYb2gN00dg

 

27/01/12

Film Opening Analysis - In a Lonely Place

Here is a link to the opening of In a Lonely Place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-B4x7eeh-g 

Contextual Information	In a Lonely place is a typical 1950s film noir, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Boghart;s Santana Productions. Bogart starts in the film as Dixon Steele, a cynical screenwriter suspected of murder.
Representation	In a Lonely place starts a femme fatal ‘gold-digger’ The main character in ‘In a Lonely Place’ is instantly recognised by female at stop lights suggests he could be a well-known man, also recognised by the valet outside Paul’s, who is surrounded by even more people later in the film.
Sub Genres	· Crime · Film noir · Drama · Murder mystery · Romance
Camera	There is a MEDIUM LONG SHOT as Dixon drives down the main road, this allows the viewer to observe the scene and the characters limited body language. Birdseye shots are also used as Dixon pulls up to Paul’s to show the viewer the man in his car.
Sound	The sound within ‘In a Lonely Place’ is typical of the late 1940s. Non-Diegetic music is used to introduce music into the extract. Exteral-Diegetic sound is used as Dixon Steele and the femme fatal exchange words throughout.

27/01/12

Film Opening Analysis - Sunset Boulevard

Here is the opening to Sunset Boulevard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQNh_m3YIBc

Contextual Information	Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American film noir  named after the boulevard that runs through L.A. and Beverly Hills, California. The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful screenwriter, Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a faded silent movie star who draws him into her fantasy world where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen with Erich von Stroheim as Max Von Mayerling, her butler and ex-husband.
Representation	Within Sunset Boulevard there are many different representations, which would be worth considering when planning our media product. There is the representation of upper class throughout, this is shown by the celebrity status within the film ‘One of those great, big houses you’ll read about it in late editions I’m sure’ There are also the representations of an upper class male, however we also see in reference to the dead man in the pool, the male being described as ‘nobody important really’. This show’s their upper class attitudes within the film.
Mise-En-Scene	Mise-En-Scene is key within any film noir, but is particularly notable within Sunset Boulevard. Costumes are key throughout—police, homicide, squad, detective clothing. The lighting in the film is natural which helps to create a sense of realism.
Camera	There is a birds eye shot used as the police pull up to the house, this helps to show the setting and the surrounding action. There are many different camera movements within Sunset Boulevard, there’s a long distance establishing shot of the road at the start of the film as the homicide squad pass along the road, the camera movement is shakey to make the audience feel asthough they’re part of the scene.
Sound	There is diegetic and non-diegetic sound used throughout the whole of Sunset Boulevard. There is diegetic sound of piercing sirens. Non diegetic music is used within the voice over to keep the audience up to date with what’s happening ‘It’s about 5 o’clock in the morning’. There is also non-diegetic music used within SBV, this is slow paced, deep music that’s in the background.

02/02/12

Final Continuity Piece

30/01/12

Questionnaire -Pie Charts/Analysis

Q1. Male or Female 

     50       50

  

We gave out 10 questionnaires - 5 to males, 5 to females. We did this in order to get a fair mixed opinion from both sides as that could easily alter preference.

Q3. 

Little knowledge, Fairly good knowledge or Good knowledge etc.

70%                            10%                                 20%

As you can see, a majority of the people have 'little knowledge' on the film noir genre. I have to admit, until this unit came around I was one of them. I believe film noir is popular but the subtle theme means people don't consciously acknowledge the genre. For this reason, from viewing, it won't be conspicuous that our film is a noir. We will try to be as subtle as possible.

Q4. Film choice

L.A. Confidential       Se7en        Reservoir Dogs       Pulp Fiction       None

         0                 4                3                  5              6

Q7. Genre choice

Crime                                 Thriller                            Mystery

20%                                   50%                                   30%

Half of the people who answered the questionnaire said Thrillers are their favourite genre. This will affect our production as we will do our best to incorporate the theme within our noir.

Q8. Film channel viewing choice

Film4               Sky Movies

40%                          60%

Not really an important factor affecting our production method as such, but this will be in deciding (hypothetically) which TV channel it will be screened on.

Q10.

Yes                    No

80%               20%

8 out of the 10 people in question believe props / costumes / settings are important in opening scene of a crime / mystery film. Of course this will mean we will have great regard to this during the planning and production of our short film.

21/02/12

Continuity Task

The story for our continuity task was about one male with two personalities. This gave us the chance to use the 180 degree rule to show the characters in opposition. The male walks down the hall and opens the door, he then enters the room and sits on a table. Following this the two characters exchange dialogue, match on action is then used to follow the hand as the male slams his fist onto the table, for this we will film from three different positions. The shot reverse shot is also frequently used between the two males as the exchange in conversation.