PRELIMINARY TASK - Pushed to the edge

MAIN TASK - EVALUATION - Montoya Downfall

MAIN TASK - Montoya Downfall - Final Edit

MAIN TASK - Montoya Downfall First Edit

Media Evaluation - film noir

Media Evaluation

Film Noir - My Contribution

Within this task I worked with Stephen and Jake I believe we did well in this as we split our task accordingly to our strengths and did them equally. In this task I worked on:

• Shot List 
• Production schedule 
• 2nd edit
• Camera shooting
• Casting 
• Actors Info 

As well as these I took small roles in other tasks like script writing but this was mainly Jake. I believe the tasks were done well and efficient as we all helped each other instead of one person completely doing a task 2 people did. 

Film Noir - Research

When I first started my film I obviously looked at what was conventional towards this film genre these things are listed below:

• Hats 

 

• Long Coats

 

• Murder
• Detective

 

• Alcohol 

 

• Cigars/Cigarettes 

 

• Femme Fatales (usually seductive women)

 

• Dark lighting 

Also after looking at all theses separate conventions I looked further into other research and though filming will be very simple as harsh dark lighting will be needed and to film in black and white. But a main concept would be that our group would need to film long opening credits which go at the start of our film. 

 

Here are some examples of what I found:

From this particular research I found that we would need some dark background with white writing. Also to have lots of cross fades which all flow nicely with easy transition. Furthermore they would need to include all actors with names, and say who wrote directed and produced. 

After creating our final credits we decided to alter these and instead of panning a dark street with lamposts as harsh lighting maybe to use a puddle with ripples over it.

Film Noir - Diary Entries info

Through the tasks I believe we worked well and efficient even though very few entries have been made that is due to how busy we have been. We started off planning I think this went down very well and we came to our idea. Then we started all Pre Production and managed to complete all tasks, this process started slow but after we came together as a group this all started flowing nicely.

Afterwards we filmed and came together and edited predominately Jake but me and Stephen added effects and came together to polish off a film which is almost 100% complete. 

I believe all blogging and all our film producing has gone up to scratch, I think this as we are well within the time frames and believe we can finish extra evaluations and all other tasks to improve our final grades.  

Year 12 Main Task Film Noir - Montoya Downfall - First Edit

Film Noir - Risk assessment

Film Noir - Shooting pictures/Info

This is our team setting up our shoot, we didn't really face many problems expect trying to hide the sockets from the cameras view and also moving all the tables and chairs in the correct position so we can film appropriately. However we found the cameras and all our shots easy to place and found all the lighting and everything else efficient and easy which saved us bags of time. 

Preliminary Task - Camera Skills

Some benefits of using a tripod:

• Camera in a precise position
• Reduces the risk of camera blur due to free hand shooting
• Using a tripod makes for easier shooting as it allows you to do certain aspect such as pans and tilts easier

Some benefits of using multi cameras:

• It makes filming the 180 degree rule easier
• It will speed up filming as you dont have to use a single camera to get every shot
• Means you dont have to move the camera around to get different shots

Also in filming there is a certain rule this is called the 180 degree rule this rule requires you not to go round from side to side more than 180 degrees.

Film Noir - Story Boards

Film Noir - Location recce

The booth were filming takes place

 

The bar thegang walk through

Film Noir - Character and Props

Our femme fatale was played by Emily Read. She will be wearing a black dress which fits the appearance of a conventional female character in a film noir production. Her appearance will be beautiful and striking to the audience which again fits the conventions. As important as the detectives and their hats, the femme fatale's hair needs to fit the 1940/50's look, this is key to producing a realistic attempt of film noir, it will also allow the producers to follow the typical conventions of film noir.


In Order to follow the convetions of a film noir production we must follow the males character. For our production we used what most males who acted in film noir producitons would have be it cigarettes. This is key in gaining the typical 1940/1950 look.

We Also decided that it would be appropriate if our lead character tony montoya would wear a trench coat, we all agreed that this would make our film look like it was set in the 1940/1950s which is most off all what we wanted it too look like. These are appropriate as most male characters in film noir movies would be seen wearing one.

This is a list of the props and characters typical

 

• cigars
• trenchcoats
• femmefatales
• detective
• alchol
• gangs
• guns
• money
• drugs
 

Main Task - Film Noir - Character Info

 

Middle (Chris Lawrence)

 

Chris Lawrence - Tony Montoya (07889244844)
We believed that Chris fitted the role of our actor as he is around 6"0 and seemed dominant over his other 2 henchman, we new he would go well with Crystal as they are a couple we saw this as an advantage as we knew as a team there would be no trouble in acting.

Emily Read - Crystal (07951485817)
We Believed that Emily would fit this role very good as she had a good dress to portray our character, we believed as she had chemistry with Chris and is tall and blonde she would seem dominant but also a good actor.

Daniel Oloafe - Hugo (07713587067)
We chose Daniel for this role as we new he was very good at acting to begin with, also he was very big and seems like a leader and stands out from the rest.

Ollie Howells - Support Henchman (07895393523)
We chose Ollie for this role as he was a good actor we new he seemed smaller and younger than the rest so would fit the role a background henchman very well

Ryan Smith - Detective (07958312025)
We chose Ryan for this role as we knew to the audience he would come across as shy and quiet a very background character but then can come out and make a huge impact on the narrative. Also he will seem very much like a middle man.

Film Noir - Production Schedule

Film Noir- Production Schedule

Film Noir -Shot List

Film Noir- Shot List

Film Noir- Diary Entry

Me and Jake both worked together getting out location and completing tasks such as production schedule and Shot List. This went very efficient and give us a good step in completing our overall production

In lesson work: Lighting workshop

• In our first lesson we first shown the ins and outs of a lighting kit, here is a list of what is contained inside it too:

-2x Redheads
-2x Stand
-2x Barn Door
-2x Bulb
-Power Lead
-2x Power Surge
-Gloves
-Set of Clips
-Set of Gels

Then after a long show of all the equipment we were given a health and safety lesson:

1. NEVER mount one of the lights outdoors without someone manning it at all times
2. ALWAYS switch the light off when not in use
3. ALWAYS make sure the light is parallel with one of the legs
4. The lights are HOT so ALWAYS wear gloves
5. NEVER look directly into the light
6. ALWAYS warn people when you're going to switch the lights on
7. ALWAYS work with lights at a low level to start with
8. ALWAYS use a surge protector
9. NEVER try and replace a bulb
10. REMEMBER to include the lights in the risk assessment.

Finally after a thorough lighting show we were shown some techniques these are all listed below with an image:

Key Light - the main light used to light a key actors face

Fill Light - used on opposite side of the key light 

 Back Light - behind the actor(ess) head

Scrim -Using scrim to light the femme fatale make them look sexier and mysterious

How to light a villian

Film Noir - Character Bios

Character Bio of Gang Leader Tony Montoya:

Character Bio of Crystal Tony's Girlfriend:

Character Bio of Detective:

Character Bio of Lead Henchman Hugo:

Diary Entry

I am currently uploading the latest work to my blog and have now completed my character biographys, we are going to comple the rest of pre production tonight. Also in our group we have a attained a lighting certificate and all had lessons of hazards and how to use them.

Similiar Products- Final Script

Montoya Downfall Second Draft

Main Task - Production - Script Frirst Draft

Montoya Downfall Draft 1

Target Audience Research - Graphs and Analysis

I believe that for film noir the major target audience is for the older range people as most of them are working class people I think the age suitable is around 35+, however all ages may like but this specific age is the most common.
The Film Noir I am creating will give them the usual convention that a usual film has and givew the a good narrative plot which will hook them.

Target Audience Research - Questionaire

Questionnaire Media

Similar Products - Film Openings

Sunset Boulevard
This Film uses many of the main conventions of film noir and this is shown in opening sequence, for example the credits at the start instead of end are main feature of this genre. Also the tradition USA setting is shown as Hollywood is the setting. The films opening starts off by using a tradition film noir detective and police theme this is shown when a big crime is taken place, this is immediately shown.
Double Identity 
From the opening of this film shows us a detective figure straight away and this is a main convention of the genre. This opening doesn't give much narrative to the audience just makes us think whats happening, where we see a very conventionally lit film noir opening with the main features. The lighting would be considered to use in my own projects e.g. street lights.
Touch of Evil
This Film noir opening is very conventional like the other using long trench coats, old cars and dark lighting. This opening is also different how it uses one long shot and grips us as we are shown with a bomb and an explosion between the both you are hooked and want to know when it goes off and why he does it. The feature I like most is the shadows used to portray how evil the villain is.

Similar Products - Poster

Here are three Film Noir Posters, it is common in most of these poster they are in colour even though the film isn't this seems to be a strong convention through there posters. This specific characteristic of the posters helps attract customers to see the films as they are more attention grabbing. Furthermore In these posters different characters are portrayed. These two main characters are the femme fatales, and the detective figure. The females are portrayed as suave and sexy characters who get there way and use there looks to get what they want. While the male figures look upper class and smart, this gives them an intelligent look and shows their whole detective persona.

Main Task - My Team

On this Project i am working with Jake Howells and Stephen Page.

Main Task - Similar Products

Film Noir is French for the words Black Cinema, Film Noir has been Known for putting black and white into movies.
The Majority of Film Noirs are set on Sex, Crime and Corruption.

It is set around low set writing and urban settings with a gloomy ending.

Film Noir has main conventions to its filming here are them:
- Costume (long jackets, detetetive outfits)
- Characters/Actors (detectives and journalists)
- Location (USA)
- Camera Angles and Shots (use strange camera work)
- Lighting (dim and smartly lit)

5 Plots :

• Sunset Boulevard - 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. (IMDB)
• Double identity 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 (IMDB)
• Notorious - 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 (IMDB)
• The Third Man - 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. (IMDB)
• The Maltese Falcon - 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 (IMDB)