Tuesday 10 May 2011
Primary Research: Questionnaire
1. Have you heard of the genre 'neo-noir'
Audience Description
Our main audience is aged between 18-30, mostly male, but females would probably enjoy it aswell. The working classes and lower middle classes would probably be able to relate to the characters more than the upper classes. Much older people might find it difficultto cope with the storyline of the film, and find the characters maybe a little un-relateable. Race, ethnicities and religions would probably all enjoy the film equally, as it doesn't involve subject matter that would discriminate agains anyone. The film would probably have a similar audience to the neo-noir film 'Brick' as it has a similar subject matter and deals with some of the same issues as 'Brick' does. I think the distribution would probably go straight into television. I think that 'Film4' would be very interested in the film, as it is very similar to alot of films they like to show. I dont think that a stint in the cinemas would be cost effective as the budget would not be enough to pay for enough advertising to bring in the audiences, to make it really kick off. I think that devoted film magazines will probably see us as an independent indie film, if they like our film and give it a good review, then we may look at putting it through the cinemas.
- Yes - 7
- No -8
- 0-2 - 4
- 3-4 - 8
- 5-6 - 2
- More than 6 - 1
- Se7en - 3
- Transformers - 2
- Black Swan - 2
- Hot Fuzz - 5
- Dirty Dancing - 3
- A chase sequence - 4
- A slow titles sequence - 5
- A dream sequence - 2
- A gun fight - 4
- Yes - 4
- No - 11
- Yes - 4
- No- 7
- Maybe - 4
- Action Film - 3
- Romantic Comedy - 3
- Black & White Film - 1
- Psychological Thriller - 2
- Neo-noir - 0
- Comedy - 7
- Fantasy -4
- Horror - 2
Audience Description
Our main audience is aged between 18-30, mostly male, but females would probably enjoy it aswell. The working classes and lower middle classes would probably be able to relate to the characters more than the upper classes. Much older people might find it difficultto cope with the storyline of the film, and find the characters maybe a little un-relateable. Race, ethnicities and religions would probably all enjoy the film equally, as it doesn't involve subject matter that would discriminate agains anyone. The film would probably have a similar audience to the neo-noir film 'Brick' as it has a similar subject matter and deals with some of the same issues as 'Brick' does. I think the distribution would probably go straight into television. I think that 'Film4' would be very interested in the film, as it is very similar to alot of films they like to show. I dont think that a stint in the cinemas would be cost effective as the budget would not be enough to pay for enough advertising to bring in the audiences, to make it really kick off. I think that devoted film magazines will probably see us as an independent indie film, if they like our film and give it a good review, then we may look at putting it through the cinemas.
Wednesday 4 May 2011
Script Idea
Since we're only working on the intro sequence for our neo-noir, the script does not call for that much to be said, especially since we'll be cutting up a lot of silent action in the editing.
Our primary interest, script-wise will the be the brief introductory narration, presented in a sort of 'pause' in the fast-paced action of the sequence.
Since I'm co-writing the script, here's an idea for our narrative:
EXT. OPEN FIELD. DAY
NATHAN runs towards the camera, stopping close. He looks deadpan in to the lens.
NATHAN
I know what you're thinking.
"What's this silly wanker gone and done?"
Truth is, I haven't got a clue what's going on.
But, it's all downhill from here.
NATHAN looks over his shoulder, seeing his pursuers and looks back in to the camera.
NATHAN
Oh, shit.
Fade to black.
Thursday 28 April 2011
Evaluation
1. Our piece uses the famed convention of the 'femme fatale' very strongly. But how i think we changed media conventions was that we used a non linear narrative structure, this is something that a lot of films are doing nowadays, neo-noirs often enjoy to use a non linear structure this adds suspense and mystery and presents the enigma.
2. Our product has used the 'femme fatale' stereotype but does show the young generation primarily. This decision does not mean that the older generation werent worthy of being in the film bu they would not fit into the story line and thought the narrative was more important than the representation of more social groups. Ethnicity is not represented in the film opening and neither is nationality. The main focus is gender, and we chose to show the female character as a dominating character, much like the femme fatales of the 30s and 40s.
3. The media institutions that may be interested in the film would probably be an institution that enjoys showing films by independent studios. One of these institutions is Film4 that often have film festival seasons showing movies from independent studios. Channel 4 may also be interested if the film gained some notoriety.
4. The audience for our piece was the younger demographic, mostly 18-30. Gender wise, the audience wouldn't really discriminate much.
5. We tried to grab our audience demographic by crafting the narrative around something that the demographic are more likely to be aware of. We also chose the typical film storyline of a couple and their problems, this is mainly to keep ana audience outside of our main demographic.
6. We learned the value of lighting in this project, we used it to great effect during the project, in particular we used coloured light, to show emotion and depth. We also used the editing tools at our disposal to great effect we used it for several weeks and it came in very useful. We also had experience using such computer programs as Prezzie and Xtranormal.
7. The main thing that we have learned as a group is shot composition, we learned alot about framing since the Preliminary Excercise where we had a lot of problems. We learned to always take more footage than we needed in case we had problems with continuity errors. We have all learned to be more proficient with the camera equipment as well as the editing programs and equipment.
2. Our product has used the 'femme fatale' stereotype but does show the young generation primarily. This decision does not mean that the older generation werent worthy of being in the film bu they would not fit into the story line and thought the narrative was more important than the representation of more social groups. Ethnicity is not represented in the film opening and neither is nationality. The main focus is gender, and we chose to show the female character as a dominating character, much like the femme fatales of the 30s and 40s.
3. The media institutions that may be interested in the film would probably be an institution that enjoys showing films by independent studios. One of these institutions is Film4 that often have film festival seasons showing movies from independent studios. Channel 4 may also be interested if the film gained some notoriety.
4. The audience for our piece was the younger demographic, mostly 18-30. Gender wise, the audience wouldn't really discriminate much.
5. We tried to grab our audience demographic by crafting the narrative around something that the demographic are more likely to be aware of. We also chose the typical film storyline of a couple and their problems, this is mainly to keep ana audience outside of our main demographic.
6. We learned the value of lighting in this project, we used it to great effect during the project, in particular we used coloured light, to show emotion and depth. We also used the editing tools at our disposal to great effect we used it for several weeks and it came in very useful. We also had experience using such computer programs as Prezzie and Xtranormal.
7. The main thing that we have learned as a group is shot composition, we learned alot about framing since the Preliminary Excercise where we had a lot of problems. We learned to always take more footage than we needed in case we had problems with continuity errors. We have all learned to be more proficient with the camera equipment as well as the editing programs and equipment.
Monday 25 April 2011
Post-Production: Audience
The audience demofraphic we were aiming the film at was the teen audience possibly going as high as the mid to late 20's. We tried to make the film aimed at them by making the film about a group of teenagers, the story is relatively simple to follow when you take in to account some of the films that have come out recently (Inception). We also tried to make the subject matter something close to what the younger generation would know a little bit about.The drug fuelled underworld is a scene that only a few neo-noir films have tapped heavily into. We also tried to take elements from other films of the same sort of style, like 'Brick' and the last scene that was inspired by 'Bronson'.
Treatment (written by Rhys Waterman)
- Sound editing: The sequence we shot is fairly non-diegetic. We have focused on overlaying sound, instead of using the sound from the shoots themselves. We have done this to create a sense of motion in the shots, since the concept of the sequence is the chase. The idea which inspired our choice of music was inevitability, as we were trying to create an almost claustrophobic atmosphere, enabling our audience to truly share the protagonist’s experiences.
- Editing: the editing for our sequence is crucial on several levels. Primarily, the entire rhythm and momentum of our project is based within the cuts we have used. We have several fast cuts in the edit, in order to maintain a sense of motion and urgency, crucial to the feel of the chase sequence. We have also used fades to black to mask small continuity errors, meaning parts of our edit were remedial. The final cut switches from a shot in a tunnel to a close-up of the protagonist in low-key red lighting. We decided to use this shot as we felt it presented the urgency of the scenario to the audience as immediately as possible. The shot was inspired by the film ‘Bronson’, in which several sudden close-ups are used to present the titular character as a stark contrast from his surroundings and others within his environment.
- Cinematography: We are trying to make the cinematography interesting, and varied we are going to use a lot of straight cuts. And a couple of fade outs, we will be using this to show a passage of time, whether this is short or long will be shown in the next shot. We are going to use a straight cut to a different scene showing a deadpan shot to the camera, where the main protagonist does a short speech to the audience. This is the final shot in our sequence, but we do have plans to put titles in between shots, these are going to be either clean cuts used to show a transition between two shots. Or they will be fade cuts into the title card, used to show a transition, these could also be used to slow down the sequence if we run into difficulties, and can be used to cover up continuity errors. We have used this to cover up some of a shot we could not reshoot, making it an effective method of “damage control”.
Sunday 27 March 2011
Changes in Plans: Filming Stage
Originally we were going to just do a deadpan shot to the camera in the tunnel at the end. Instead we had an idea to make it more psychological, and gathered inspiration from the film "Bronson", in which Tom Hardy has points in the film where he deadpans to the camera in a spotlight often offering small concise descriptions of this point in time, or thoughts occuring to his character. Also due to the size and design of locations we had to change some shots to keep to the guide lines of the coursework.
AS Media Coursework: Plot Synopsis
Nathan, a small-time drug dealer, is found by a couple of rival dealers. He has been seeing Amy, the girlfriend of Jamie, Nathan’s rival. Jamie and his friend catch Nathan in the park, and chase him down. As Jamie runs from his pursuers, he reflects on recent events, largely involving drugs and Amy. Jamie realises that Amy has betrayed him, and decides that he needs to confront her, in order to clarify the situation.
(Written by Rhys Waterman)
Sunday 23 January 2011
Evaluation of The Exchange
Our exchange exercise was based around a "noiry" thriller with a hint of supernatural on the side. During the making of the project, I was largely responsible for acting in the extract, as well as doing some of the editing that was needed on the finished film. The acting responsibilities took up a lot of time on the filming side, but in the shots I was not in, I played a big part in capturing them on film. Particularly the first half, unless I was in the shot. Most of the shots that I shot were reasonably good technically, we were particularly proud of a shot that we managed to get Becca to walk to and sit on a bench, right below a hazy sun in the sky, with condensation on her breath, we thought this was very effective in ramping up our project. We did, however, have some continuity problems in the second half of the project; we could have made this look better by putting in an establishing shot, to show the movement of the character in the background. Overall during the film we kept to the 180 degree rule. From the exercise we learned to take as many shots as we possibly could, as in "its better to have too much than not enough". We also learned that we need to take our time with the story and use more establishing shots. We made use of a very good piece of music and were able to put the "stings" in the right and relevant places, to make it more effective. I think that the idea was very good, if slightly too complex for a three minute extract. We were given mostly good reviews, it was given good technical reviews, and the music was enjoyed particularly. Our project compares to the real thing, in the way of mood, and music, i.e. slow and moody. Overall I think our project was quite successful, but it needed a lot of work to make it perfect and would need a complete re-shoot. We hope to do better than this in our final project.
Sunday 2 January 2011
Exchange Excercise Brief
We have been asked to, in groups of 4 people, prepare, shoot and edit a sequence lasting around 1 and half minutes. The project we were asked to produce was to be called "The Exchange". We have been asked to produce the sequence in a neo-noirish style displaying some of the codes and conventions of the genre. We were also told that we must all contribute to all of the different stages of the production, meaning we must all help with paperwork, we must all have a go at shooting the project and we must all have a go at editing the piece.
Idea for a Film Noir Opening
Rough Synopsis: Beginning: Starts with a man carrying a package being followed by another man, gets robbed and killed.
Middle: Several killings and exchanges over the package
End: Through some sort of misdirection and deception, the first guy comes back and steals the package.
Detailed First 3 Mins: Man walking along the waterfront carrying a package (Carrier), being followed by another man. Carrier turns the corner, sees he's being followed start moving quicker, the killer starts to move quicker as well, we see the carrier running through the woods, being chased by the killer then the carrier stumbles onto the floor, and we see the killer pick up a rock and repeately hit the carrier with it, killing the carrier. We then see the killer throw away the rock, pick up the package and walk away from the camera.
Middle: Several killings and exchanges over the package
End: Through some sort of misdirection and deception, the first guy comes back and steals the package.
Detailed First 3 Mins: Man walking along the waterfront carrying a package (Carrier), being followed by another man. Carrier turns the corner, sees he's being followed start moving quicker, the killer starts to move quicker as well, we see the carrier running through the woods, being chased by the killer then the carrier stumbles onto the floor, and we see the killer pick up a rock and repeately hit the carrier with it, killing the carrier. We then see the killer throw away the rock, pick up the package and walk away from the camera.
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