Main Task - Diary Entry 7

Half Term

It's half term and I decided to do a little more work on the production, I wanted to first sort out casting. Our call has been out for four days, and we have had 4 applicants, 1 for Wayne Farrow, and 3 for Esmé Knight. I decided to open out the range of applicants, so I have posted a set of casting calls on starnow.com also.

Main Task - Diary Entry 6

Lighting Workshop

Today we had the first half of the lighting workshop. It was good, I enjoyed it.
What I expected to get out of this workshop was to know how to use lighting effectively to suit the needs of a Film Noir production.


What I got out of the workshop was indeed just that. We explored and discussed the ways and tricks that directors used in the genre to create such great effects. I learnt that usually in film noir, the set is lit with only one source. We also learnt about spill from the lights, and identified it in the room when we set the lights up.


Some golden rules with the lighting:
          ›   Always work at height
          ›   NEVER plug the lighting in without the surge protectors
          ›   NEVER use the kit outside
          ›   NEVER use extension leads

Main Task - Diary Entry 5

Casting

For this project we have decided to seek external actors for our production. I have put a casting call on castingcallpro.com for our three characters.

The individual character descriptions are:

Wayne Farrow

The detective in the piece. A confident yet secretive character, distinguished and professional.

Johnny Rodrigues

The henchman character in the piece. A brash and sly character, yet one who does what he's asked of him. (Largest speaking part)

Esmé Knight

The femme fatale of the piece. A sleek and provocative character, very attractive, mysterious and seductive.

I have also created another document template for the project, along with a specialised email, for dealing with external affairs: productions.abr@gmail.com

Main Task - Diary Entry 4

Untitled?

Over the weekend I looked into what to call the production, because currently we're on a working title. I knew we needed sometime, bold yet cunning, but also something that's typically conventional, or something that fits nicely into Film Noir.


So I went to the IMDB in search of other film noir titles, and spent some time going though them and analysing them. My conclusions were that the titles were short, often just a word, or in one case a letter. Another observation was that some titles were in french, expressing class or diversity right from the off. Also, the use of simple and quantifier words were used such as 'big' were often featured. Finally, the biggest conclusion was that in many titles, there was a reference to a road; avenue, boulevard for example, these also being typical american words.


So we needed a title that included some of these aspects to make it suitable film noir. This was the title I came up with: Scarlet Avenue. Firstly using one of the american street names, which directly associates the film as american (or like american in my case). A simple quantifier word such as an easy adjective like a colour would fit nicely, so I started to think what colour could I use. Then I thought back to our planning and thought about how in our plot there is murder, which usually leads to some sort of blood spill. So a red colour would be suitable to the title, I then researched different types of red, till I came across scarlet - I thought it perfect, as scarlet is indeed a French name, and it's origin is that it meant red. So it couldn't have been more fitting, this now relating it back to the diversity and French history!


So this title could lead to connotations with blood, which one would associate with murder, and then avenue, which sets it in america, perfect. I told Ryan about the idea, and he agreed he liked it, so our production is now officially named, Scarlet Avenue.

Main Task - Diary Entry 3

Script Workshop

Today, in media we had a script workshop. What I expected from the lesson was to learn a few tips on screenplay script writing.


In the workshop we learnt how to use and format script, but also discussed the different aspects and uses of the script, namely, drafts. I already knew a fair bit about script writing, and the program Celtx, having used it for years - but sir took us through all the aspects and taught us how to use it properly to create and format a correct script.


What I got out of this workshop was that a production script and a shooting script are basically the same; however the production scripts are the drafts. I also learnt that MOS means mute of sound. Finally sir gave us a useful website, if ever we get stuck: screenwriting.info

Main Task - Diary Entry 2

Development

All is going quite nicely in the project, the pre-production work is coming along nicely. However Beatrice has not been present for a while, so she's not totally aware and up-to-date on the situation, or current work that we're working on.


We've developed our story further, establishing three characters. A detective, a henchman and a femme fatale. I also thought of a great location which we could use, it's a solely street-lamp lit bridge down a dark dreary street in the village - I think it would do quite nicely for the 'murder'.


Our original was too complex for the timeframe limits we were given, so the Mafia boss character was cut.

Main Task - Film Noir Movies Synopses

Research

Below are ten great film noir movies, with a synopsis for each film underneath.

Sunset Boulevard, 1950

"The story, set in '50s Hollywood, focuses on Norma Desmond, a silent-screen goddess whose pathetic belief in her own indestructibility has turned her into a demented recluse. The crumbling Sunset Boulevard mansion where she lives with only her butler, Max who was once her director and husband has become her self-contained world. Norma dreams of a comeback to pictures and she begins a relationship with Joe Gillis, a small-time writer who becomes her lover, that will soon end with murder and total madness."

M, 1931

"Someone is murdering children in Berlin. The Police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible."

Double Indemnity, 1944

"In 1938, Walter Neff, an experienced salesman of the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co., meets the seductive wife of one of his clients, Phyllis Dietrichson, and they have an affair. Phyllis proposes to kill her husband to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy and Walter devises a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When Mr. Dietrichson is found dead on a train-track, the police accept the determination of accidental death. However, the insurance analyst and Walter's best friend Barton Keyes does not buy the story and suspects that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of another man."

The Third Man, 1949

"An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, arrives in a post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and where a shortage of supplies has lead to a flourishing black market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry Lime, who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to Lime's friends and associates Martins soon notices that some of the stories are inconsistent, and determines to discover what really happened to Harry Lime."

The Maltese Falcon, 1941

"Spade and Archer is the name of a San Francisco detective agency. That's for Sam Spade and Miles Archer. The two men are partners, but Sam doesn't like Miles much. A knockout, who goes by the name of Miss Wanderly, walks into their office; and by that night everything's changed. Miles is dead. And so is a man named Floyd Thursby. It seems Miss Wanderly is surrounded by dangerous men. There's Joel Cairo, who uses gardenia-scented calling cards. There's Kasper Gutman, with his enormous girth and feigned civility. Her only hope of protection comes from Sam, who is suspected by the police of one or the other murder. More murders are yet to come, and it will all be because of these dangerous men -- and their lust for a statuette of a bird: the Maltese Falcon."

A Touch of Evil, 1958

"Mexican Narcotics officer Ramon Miguel 'Mike' Vargas has to interrupt his honeymoon on the Mexican-US border when an American building contractor is killed after someone places a bomb in his car. He's killed on the US side of the border but it's clear that the bomb was planted on the Mexican side. As a result, Vargas delays his return to Mexico City where he has been mounting a case against the Grandi family crime and narcotics syndicate. Police Captain Hank Quinlan is in charge on the US side and he soon has a suspect, a Mexican named Manolo Sanchez. Vargas is soon onto Quinlan and his Sergeant, Pete Menzies, when he catches them planting evidence to convict Sanchez. With his new American wife, Susie, safely tucked away in a hotel on the US side of the border - or so he thinks - he starts to review Quinlan's earlier cases. While concentrating on the corrupt policeman however, the Grandis have their own plans for Vargas and they start with his wife Susie."

Les Diaboliques, 1955

"The wife and mistress of a sadistic boarding school headmaster plot to kill him. They drown him in the bathtub and dump the body in the school's filthy swimming pool... but when the pool is drained, the body has disappeared - and subsequent reported sightings of the headmaster slowly drive his 'killers' (and the audience) up the wall with almost unbearable suspense..."

Strangers on a Train, 1951

"Bruno Antony thinks he has the perfect plot to rid himself of his hated father and when he meets tennis pro Guy Haines on a train he thinks he's found the partner he needs to pull it off. His plan is relatively simple. Two strangers each agree to kill someone the other person wants disposed of. For example, Guy could kill his father and he could get rid of Guy's wife Miriam, freeing him to marry Anne Morton, the beautiful daughter of a U.S. Senator. Guy dismisses it all out of hand but but Bruno goes ahead with his half of the 'bargain' and disposes of Miriam. When Guy balks, Bruno makes it quite clear that he will plant evidence to implicate Guy in her murder if he doesn't get rid of his father. Guy had also made some unfortunate statements about Miriam after she had refused him a divorce. It all leads the police to believe Guy is responsible for the murder, forcing him to deal with Bruno's mad ravings."

Rififi, 1955

"After five years in prison, Tony le Stéphanois meets his dearest friends Jo and the Italian Mario Ferrati and they invite Tony to steal a couple of jewels from the show-window of the famous jewelry Mappin & Webb Ltd, but he declines. Tony finds his former girlfriend Mado, who became the lover of the gangster owner of the night-club L' Âge d' Or Louis Grutter, and he humiliates her, beating on her back and taking her jewels. Then he calls Jo and Mario and proposes a burglary of the safe of the jewelry. They invite the Italian specialist in safes and elegant wolf Cesar to join their team and they plot a perfect heist. They are successful in their plan, but the D. Juan Cesar makes things go wrong when he gives a valuable ring to his mistress."

Notorious, 1946

"Following the conviction of her German father for treason against the U.S., Alicia Huberman takes to drink and men. She is approached by a government agent (T.R. Devlin) who asks her to spy on a group of her father's Nazi friends operating out of Rio de Janeiro. A romance develops between Alicia and Devlin, but she starts to get too involved in her work."

Ace in the Hole, 1951

"Chuck Tatum, a down-on-his-luck reporter, takes a job with a small New Mexico newspaper. The job is pretty boring until he finds a man trapped in an old Indian dwelling. He jumps at the chance to make a name for himself by taking over and prolonging the rescue effort, and feeding stories to major newspapers. He creates a national media sensation and milks it for all it is worth - until things go terribly wrong.

The Big Sleep, 1946

"Summoned by the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several problems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood's favoured employee who has left with a mobster's wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes."

SOURCES:

Sunset Boulevard:        imdb.com/title/tt0043014/

M:                             imdb.com/title/tt0022100/

Double Indemnity:        imdb.com/title/tt0036775/

The Third Man:           imdb.com/title/tt0041959/

The Maltese Falcon:     imdb.com/title/tt0033870/

A Touch of Evil:          imdb.com/title/tt0052311/

Les Diaboliques:           imdb.com/title/tt0046911/

Strangers on a Train:    imdb.com/title/tt0044079/

Rififi:                         imdb.com/title/tt0048021/

Notorious:                   imdb.com/title/tt0038787/

Ace in the Hole:           imdb.com/title/tt0043338/

The Big Sleep:              imdb.com/title/tt0038355/


My Opinion
All the films above, are crawling with film noir conventions, which makes them the films they are, plus each has a different twist unifying each from another. Personally, 'M' and 'The Maltese Falcon' caught my attention, as the plot lines begin in convention, yet alter slightly due to a nifty twist. There are plenty of ideas from here that I can use in my production.

Main Task - Diary Entry 1

Ideas and Initial Planning

Our task for this lesson was to think about the storyline and the plot, also discussing the desired characters aside too.


I made this mind map during the lesson, to start us off:

We then started to develop ideas around the side, and eventually when we had a few good ideas that we wanted to look into we played around with a timeline on the reverse of the sheet:

The main idea that the opening formed around was that our detective character gets shot, really obviously, but then at the end of the scene - he's heard on the voice over, making the audience question his death.

Main Task - Group

My Group

For this main task I will be working with Ryan Weir and Beatrice Brown.

Main Task - The Task

The Task

"You must create the titles and opening of a new Film Noir film. The video must be dead on two minutes. Lastly, you must create a podcast evaluation like previously"


Deadlines
Pre-production: Present day to 31 January.
Production: February.
Post-production: 1 March to 24 March.
Presentation Day: 29 March.


Academic Target
My target for this task is a level 4.

Main Task - Similar Products

Film Noir?

A classic genre in movie history. Film noir, the literal translation as 'Black film', is what it expresses in it's title - film noir is a cinematic genre of a low key black and white visual style. Usually Hollywood themed crime dramas, which impose cynical attitudes and possible sexual motivations. This genre began and peaked from early 1940s to 1950s, yet has roots previously from German Expressionist cinematography.

There are a range of factors that build the conventions to make a film noir. When discussing the characters, there a few types which are directly typical to be featured. A detective or private investigator are likely to be include to abide with it's theme of crime drama. The other main film noir character convention is of course the femme fatale (translated to 'deadly woman'), the sexy, mysterious and seductive woman in the piece - it's this character whom charm to ensnare her lovers to follow her despite nothing, leading to possible compromising or dangerous situations. Further other possible characters types could be: henchmen, corrupt cops, alienated protagonists, and perhaps misogynistic men.

Detective Character

Femme Fatale

The conventions in visual style defiantly include low key lighting to empathize the monochromatic style that is film noir. Below are a list of more visual style conventions:

          ›   Shadows cast by venetian blinds

          ›   Dutch angles (such as the Dutch tilt)

          ›   Low angle shots

          ›   Wide angle lenses

          ›   Mirror work, (such as a character's reflection in one or many mirrors)

          ›   Night for night filming

The icongraphy is particular too in the genre, below are conventions that could feature suitably in a film noir production.

          ›   Dark pavements

          ›   Rain drenched streets

          ›   Flashing neon signs

          ›   City location is villainous or hostile

          ›   Alcohol and alcoholics

          ›   Cigarettes

          ›   Guns

          ›   Trench coats

Neon Sign In The City

The underlying themes are those of predicted from discussing the previous conventions. Such as the transgression of social norms; an evil type character going against normal expectations; and finally, taboo.

Conventional settings are mainly those of an urban feel. Usually film noir films are set in a large well known city, predominantly LA, New York, San Francisco or Chicago - all american due to the genre. More localised sets under the convention would be Bars, Lounges, Nightclubs, Gambling Dens or maybe more industrial settings, such as refineries, factories, train-yards or power plants.

Talking about the narrative devices, a classic film in the genre would usually feature from a first person narrative, using voice overs. Other conventions would be convoluted storylines, and flashbacks.

In film noir cinematography there is a high use of low and high angles, to make it look distorted, skewed and uncomfortable to view. This effect makes the audience feel uneasy. Another common effect in the genre is extreme close up, most likely of the eye or of an lone object. Deep focus, the depth of field is also conventional. Reflections, commonly in mirrors are definitely craved for in a film noir movie, as with reflections, views and faces can be obscured. Popular camera effects such as dutch tilts, or just the irregular framing of shots poses uncertainty or the feeling of something's wrong in a scene, which bodes nicely with the genre.

Dutch Tilt

Mise-en-scene conventions include as mentioned before, a high usage of chiaroscuro (low key lighting) and high contrast images - mainly dark blacks and white, few greys. Another convention is the use of Venetian blinds in front of a light source to give a special lit effect.

Venetian Blind Effect

The sound in film noir was used to complement the feeling of pessimism and foreboding. The list below feature a selection of common conventional sound:

          ›   Melancholy downbeat music

          ›   Jazz

          ›   Use of quiet and silence

          ›   Heavy breathing

          ›   Sudden noises

          ›   Voice over of the protagonist

          ›   Ambience and other sound effects of the city and suburbia

Finally, the editing in film noir followed many of the traditional crime characteristics, however they are generally told non linearly. Perhaps maybe starting at the end, to tell tell a story in many flashbacks. 

Main Task - Bonjour Hollywood

Preliminary Task

The preliminary task has concluded.

Dawn of the Main Task

With the preliminary task completed, the rise of the main and final production has arrived. The provided genre of study is the classic 'Film Noir'.