Coursewok Evaluation

1 : In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

Whilst making an opening to a contemporary film noir thriller, we made sure that the codes and conventions of a traditional film noir were still included, but instead of using the old traditions and values of a traditional film noir we had updated them so that the audience today can level with today's environment.

Our main character of the film Jason Brown (Played By Myself) was our typical male in a traditional film noir, We made sure that he was based around males in other film noirs, being the fall guy who has nothing and has an opportunity to gain something more than he has got but because he is living in a cruel world he has the worst luck in the world and he ends up having less than he had in the first place. We also used an antagonist, this is the hooded man (played by conna) who sets Jason Brown up to get him into trouble with the police. This scenario is not unheard of in typical film noirs.

From the research, it provided us with some vital information that the start to a film noir opening is crucial to keeping the audience hooked, the way you do this is to create enigmas to keep the audience wondering what is happening and to keep them guessing the unpredictable, because of this we knew that we needed to create enigmas to keep our audience guessing. After the film opening was watched by an audience we knew we had done the job because people were thinking who killed Kate Mayfair? Who was the hooded man? Who was the woman on the phone and was she the woman who was walking off in the distance? With all of these enigmas created we managed to keep the audience interested.

The reason we picked crime as one of our genres in our film was because crime is the most common genre in film noir, this is because of the characters which are old American gangsters and dark smoky areas for example rooms or dark lanes where the underground crimes are committed.

2 : How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

The age range that is represented in our film is between the ages of 18 and 25, male and females. But these characters are around danger and consequences. Our film opening contained the characters of a stereotypical film noir, the fall guy who ends up in trouble with a woman, the femme fatale who controls the man over everything, the antagonist who gets the fall guy stitched up into trouble. We managed to pull off these characters by dressing them up accordingly, props and costumes were key to help point out these characters.

I realised that the male characters in the film noir were realistic and typical males, that males think they are number one and top of the food chain, with a high confidence level and a massive ego. On the contrary the femme fatale hasn't got the same stereotypes as most people would see them, she is a blonde female who nowadays most people would portray her as a bit slow and dumb, but in this case she is actually the opposite, she is the one who controls the situation and who is the most intelligent of them all.

3 : What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product And Why?

Because our film would never become a “blockbuster film” due to the fact that we don't have the well known actors, director, producers worldwide, we aren't ever going to be able to make our film a big hit. This means our film is an independent film, I feel that our film would be most successful at film festivals that focus on independently made films, this is where people go who are mostly interested in independently made film rather than major hit blockbusters. Also because the film is a low budget film I think that if the opening was to appear on television I think that it would appear on Channel 4 because they show independently made films on off peak times, that is where I think our film would go because its not a hit not many people are going to watch it.

I feel that the type of film distribution company that would distribute our film would be one that has distributed independent film noir thrillers before for example Optimum Releasing, they are one of a many independent film distributers

4D: Treatment for the Editing & Titles of the opening

I am now about to introduce to you my ideas on what I hope to achieve / do in the editing department. As we know the final project that has been set to us is to film an opening sequence to a “Film Noir”, once this has been achieved then I have to edit the sequence so that it makes sense and seems like a real opening to a film.

As we all know, film noirs are tense, dark and ambiguous, this is what makes them a genre of their own and they create this effect by using shadows and noises. Black and white is normally used in film noirs but recently some films have got the traditional film noir effects, situations and characters, but instead of having it in black and white, they have used colour, but instead of the colour being bright and bold, they have either used dark colours or by editing, unsaturated the colour so that it is not so bright, which then gives off the darkness effect.

In our project I hope to achieve the same principle, because we are in the modern society it only seems natural if the opening sequence is in colour. I hope to be able to unsaturate the colours so that it gives off the traditional film noir effect. In our opening sequence there is an interrogation where the main character (Jason Brown) is being accused of murder, unfortunately for Jason’s case he is in fact innocent but has been framed, during the interrogation Jason is being asked questions about where he was, who he was with etc... On that night, during the questions Jason has flashbacks to that night showing where he was and what he was doing.

What I hope to achieve is a cold and gloomy effect during the flashbacks to make it uncomfortable for the audience to look at, this is because traditionally film noirs use effects to make the audience feel uncomfortable to create tension, this is one of the things you can do to get the audience glued to the film. When the flashbacks appear, in between I am going to have some sort of whoosh or space effect sound, this is because that is what is most commonly used in films/TV shows when there is a transition from a scene to a flashback, there is also a video transition where either a white flash transitions from one scene to a flashback, or the scene dissolves into the flashback, I would prefer to use the white flash because it seems more effective than a dissolve transition.

The titles that I shall be using will go in between the phone call at the start and the interrogation, this will emphasize that time has passed between the phone call and the interrogation with Jason Brown. When the titles are in show I am going to play a piece of music over the top, this is so that there is some sound to listen to, if not all you would see is titles across the screen which isn’t very interesting on its own.

Production Meeting Five

The final draft of the script was finished by Jessica (link here?) The questioning has been changed so that Jason believes he is coming into questioning to try and help discover who the murderer is. He no longer lies about where he is on the night of the crime, as this makes him look guilty. Slowly it is revealed he is the suspect due to evidence found on him. The dead girl’s credit card in his girl ties him to the murder. A new final flashback shows him passing the hooded boy, which Conna will shoot at a different angle, with him slipping the credit card into Jason’s pocket. The new beginning was introduced, featuring the femme fatale on the phone luring Jason to the scene of the crime. A few small changes will probably be made to the script before filming.

We organised a presentation for our Media lesson in which we would present our idea. We are yet to have a title for the film and have agreed to think about this over the weekend. Chris and Jess are going to watch The Following on the recommendation of Jon, as this may help with ideas. A final list of actors has been decided as well as there costumes decided by Maya.

- Jason Brown- Chris
- Detective- Possibly Conna, if no other friend available.
- Femme fatale- Jessica
- Dead girl- Charlotte Downing (friend) or Maya
- Hooded boy- Conna

Conna finished the new storyboard for the final script. We hope to make a new animatic next Wednesday. We will all work on our production tasks till then. Chris, Maya and Conna will begin writing their treatments. Jessica is going to analyse results from the questionnaires she made as well as pre production paperwork.

Production Meeting Four

The group received our updated script back from Jon. He viewed his concerns over the direction of the script. He told us we needed to make it apparent that Jason is unaware he is being questioned for the murder. Jon then gave us an excellent idea that we should include another flashback at then end showing the actual sequence of events. We decided to add a new beginning, Chris suggested featuring the femme fatale speaking on the phone.. The group decided the introduction of a hooded boy in the 2nd draft could be developed for the final script, maybe he is involved with the murder.

Conna produced his storyboard using computer software, this has given it a more realistic look.. Chris edited this into an animatic. Unfortunately this will have to change slightly inline with the script. The group have decided to use the studio to film the detectives office as this will allow us to work with lighting better and provides us with a blank canvas. Maya will consider using the Venetian blind effect for this scene now. We have an approximate location for the road scene but this needs to be visited and assessed. Jessica is going to create a questionnaire as part of her research and the group discussed possible questions she could use.

Production Meeting Three

In this meeting we talked with Jon and Jessica presented our 1st draft of the script. Jon commented that the arrest scene at the beginning maybe the wrong opening and would be difficult for Maya to create a legitimate scene. Uniforms and weapons maybe hard to recreate to a high quality. We all agreed to scrap this scene for the benefit of the film. Jon also commented that some of the questioning on the script was a little weak and this would need changing. Jessica will be producing another draft for the next production meeting.

Conna contributed ideas for cinematography. He suggested different shots to show the femme fatale that would look quite artistic. For example, a two shot of her behind Jason in the distance, with Jason unaware of her presence. Chris suggested the idea of editing the flashbacks but draining different colours. The group decided this would be a good idea as the flashbacks need to differentiate from the present time in the film.

Maya began to plan costumes for the actors and consider props. Locations were discussed, and we are aiming to find a quiet pedestrian road or alley to use. We also planned to find a suitable office in the college for the detective scene. Conna is going to work on a storyboard for the next production meeting. Maya and Chris can then begin to consider there treatment.

Based on what was discussed during the production meeting Jessica produced the 2nd draft of the script.

Production Meeting Two

In this meeting we primarily developed our narrative. We stayed with the idea of a man being convicted for a crime he did not do. Scenes such as the court case may make the narrative to long and complicated for the opening and the lecture room would be difficult to mock as a court room. Therefore we decided the opening should show the build up to the actual crime and the mans involvement. We decided upon the name “Jason Brown” for the protagonist.

Conna and Chris created the start of the opening- police kicking a house door open and arresting a surprised Jason. The next scene would feature an interview between a detective and Jason. Flashbacks could occur during this scene showing the discovery of a young ladies dead body. We agreed a femme fatale should feature to give the opening a more noir feel so it doesn’t feel too much like a thriller.

We discussed possible ideas for art direction with Maya. She is going to investigate props we may need such as fake blood and clothes for the actors. Conna is going to consider the cinematography when he receives the script from Jessica and prepare some ideas for the next production meeting. Chris discussed the narrative with Jessica to help her create the script. As a group we assigned the acting roles-

- Jason Brown- Chris
- Detective- Still to decide, possibly a friend in college or actor from drama.
- Femme fatale- Jessica
- Dead girl- Charlotte Downing (friend)

We received a pre production checklist with different paper work to be done. Chris kindly made a copy for everyone and we will now begin our assigned jobs on the sheet. Based on what was discussed during the production meeting Jessica produced the 1st draft of the script.

Production Meeting One

Our group consists of Jessica Hayward, Maya Mathias, Conna Cook and Chris Rathbone

We discussed our roles and abilities in the group and assigned the roles as the following-

- Jessica - Script and Producer
- Maya- Art Director
- Conna- Cinematographer and Director
- Chris- Editing and sound

Chris and Conna presented a synopsis they had discussed. It involved a young man being arrested and wrongfully sent to prison for a crime and then being blackmailed by the government. We all agreed to work on the synopsis to develop the narrative.

We also began to discuss possible locations. A lecture room was decided to be suitable for a court room and a front room for the arrest scene.