Commentary for Slow Burn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0R2Bx3D5d0

Xtranormal Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-jiPuRZMzzI

Primary Research: Questionnaire

1. Have you heard of the genre 'neo-noir'

• Yes - 7
• No -8

2. On average, how many times do you visit the cinema a month?

• 0-2 - 4
• 3-4 - 8
• 5-6 - 2
• More than 6 - 1

3. Out of the below list, which film are you most likely to watch?

• Se7en - 3
• Transformers - 2
• Black Swan - 2
• Hot Fuzz - 5
• Dirty Dancing - 3

4. Which film opening sequence would most appeal to you?

• A chase sequence - 4
• A slow titles sequence - 5
• A dream sequence - 2
• A gun fight - 4

5. Have you seen a film that you would describe as a 'neo-noir'?

• Yes - 4
• No - 11

6. If a film was described to you as a 'neo-noir' would you go and see it?

• Yes - 4
• No- 7
• Maybe - 4

7. Is your favourite film a....... (mark all that is appropriate)

• 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.

Final Project: Slow Burn (Final Cut)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUDnvKwuvfM

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.

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.

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”.

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)

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.

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.

Evaluation of Preliminary Excercise

Overall the preliminary excercise was a success for our group, the shots that I personally directed were fairly technically sound. An improvement could be to make sure our panning is maybe a little smoother as to keep up with the character, we were following in the sequence. The problems we encountered were, some sloppy framing in places, we once let a characters head move out of shot very quickly, we also had a small problem with the sound boom, just dipping into shot once. There was no continuity problem in the editing, there was also no problem with the sound, i.e. no extraneous ambience or talking. In summary this excercise was a success, we made a film in which everyone contributed, and although it may not have been technically sound it certainly gave us alot of experience to use in our upcoming excercise, a link will be posted soon.

Micro-analysis of Brick

I am analysing the scene in which Brendan attempts to break into Tugg's car. The scene starts with focus on the car instead of on Brendan, this is also repeated later in the scene when Tugg finds Brendan attemptin to vandalise his car. This scen focuses on getting as much action in, whill at the same time using a mlittle camera shot as possible. There is no non-diegetic sound, and almost no sound for the majority of the scene. The intriguing shot in this is the continuous shot at the end of the scene. Which focuses on Tugg, instead of on Brendan. Odd considering that Brendan is our main character, this attention could signify that Tugg has quite a large part to play in the film. This scen overall is about going through what you have to, to get what you want. At the very end of the scene, Brendan vents his frustration by throwing a rock at the fleeing car. The character of Tugg is shown to be very domineering, until he gets into his car, because when he gets into the car, he flees from the scene, fighting as little as he has too. Overall a simplistic, minimalist scene, that shows a suprising amount about the film and it's characters.

Analysis of Film Openings 2

The other film opening I’m going to analyse is the opening sequence for the new David Fincher film "The Social Network". The film starts with a two shot of a young man and a young woman sitting facing each other, at a very neutral angle that suggests no character dominance or submission. The colour scheme of the scene is a very "Fincheresque" green colour, closely resembling the green of a beer bottle. This image backs up the inference that they are in a bar, we also here muffled talking in the background which all but confirms our theory of a bar scene. Next we get a lot of over-shoulder shots, signalling conversation. The conversation is initiated by the woman, but is quickly interrupted by the man with a new topic of conversation, the woman accepts the conversation change, a small show of submission, but also a showing of maybe a little bit of arrogance on the side of the man. We start to build a character profile for both the man and the woman. If we dissect the conversation we notice that almost all of the lines that the female character is given are questions even though we join the conversation halfway through. The eye movements are very different also, the male characters eyes continually wander throughout the scene whereas the female's are very often transfixed on the man. The only significant change in angle is a very short shot when the woman gets up from the table to leave straight after breaking up with the man, the man is shown in a high angle shot showing submission. Straight after very slow piano music starts playing, often shown to signify extreme sadness. This film excels at showing emotion in even the most emotionless of people.

Analysi of Film Openings

Panic Room

The first film opening I’m going to analyse is Panic Room (2002). This film was directed by David Fincher, the director of acclaimed films such as Se7en and Fight Club. This is the first film Fincher made in the three years after Fight Club (1999). David Fincher's films are well known for being very dark and gloomy, and from the first few shots of Panic Room, it looks like this film is not going to disappoint. The first shot we see in the opening sequence after the titles is of a woman laying on a bed, the camera zooms out slowly, with a quiet muffled sound of what sounds like the wind blowing. It is a large room, from this we can tell that the person is quite wealthy and they are going to have a large house or apartment. The camera zoom makes the woman seem very small, and the fact that we are not usually used to seeing a zoom like this makes almost seem paranormal. As the camera pans out further we find that the shots passes through the railings, therefore backing up the paranormal story hypothesis we had. The sound range expands and becomes more clear, we can hear rain, a usual convention in horror films. From this we start to build up an expectation of the story in our heads. The floating camera angles are smooth and emphasise some sort of danger. The camera twist all the down the stairs, towards a window, out of which we can see a pair of moving lights which we assume to be a cars headlights. The car stops outside this house. The camera stops, for the first time in the film so far, this shows that this thing outside is very important to the story. We see a black shape coming closer to the window. And a grinding noise, we assume is coming from a gate. The camera again zooms and pans at the same time, it follows the shape, the audience now think is a person, towards the front door, and zooms into the lock. The sound here starts to intensify, the sound we here is largely non-diegetic instrumentals, mixed in with rain. We here the door being tried, and conclude that these are thieves trying to break into the house. As the camera zooms back out, the sound intensifies again, maybe trying to show, a danger over signal, because the thieves can't get in. The camera pans back over to the window, where we see two figures. One presses his face against the window to see inside. This shot shows him as being very large, showing a lot of dominance in the scene. After this we pursue the continuous shot around the room through a kitchen, still very smooth. This makes the camera seem like a person. This makes the audience more fearful, because the camera now is not just a camera, it is a person in the eyes of the audience. Not once during the entire film does the camera go outside, this makes outside seem frightening, this is a daunting notion for the audience as mostly they know the outside to be safe. The film continues to go in the same light as the opening sequence, as it all takes place in one night. Overall this film is a brilliant example of Fincher thriller, and could probably be classed as a sort of neo-noir, because of the crime based story line, the Femme Fatale (Jodie Foster) and the amount of darkness and shadow used during the film.

Examples of Neo-Noir

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The film is narrated by a small-time criminal, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.). Fleeing a botched robbery, Harry evades the police by ducking into a movie audition for a hardboiled film and, ironically, impresses the producers with his emotional outpouring of regret about the robbery and the subsequent death of his accomplice. He is given the part of a P.I. For the part, he is given an assignment. To shadow a real P.I named “Gay” Perry Van Shrikle. While working with Perry, Harry stumbles into a conspiracy of kidnapping and murder involving a high profile heiress.

During the film, there is a lot of shadow, as well as the Femme Fatale-ish character of Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan) who Harry has known since childhood. The noir mood is often set with shadow and sound throughout the film.

Minority Report

The story is based in 2054 in Washington D.C, where an experimental police force called Precrime has completely neutralized murder in the city, by using the psychic powers of three “pre-cogs”, who are all named after mystery writers. The lead Pre-cog is called Agatha Christie. This film shows just how well neo-noir converts to a sci-fi genre. This is a highly shadowed film, that has most film noir conventions in to one extent or another, the only big one it is missing is the famed Femme Fatale character.