Tuesday 4 May 2010
Friday 30 April 2010
Undercover Depression: The Feedback
Initial Audience Response/Impressions: Good Areas
The Scary Voice-over, Sunlight glowing through the trees onto the two characters meeting, I like the slow paced editing that has been done, Yellow/Orange effect was cool, Music went well and created a Dreamy/Sinister effect.
Initial Audience Response/Impressions: Weaker Areas
Storyline was quite confusing for me actually, Narrative was not striking home, Voice-Over was a bit over the top.
Use of Cinematography
Blur & Flashbacks created great effects, When George looks directly into the camera (CU)
Use of Mise-En-Scene
The way that they made George look like an Everyman & How they made Seb look really Shady. Emily's costume was clever as the colour represents Danger which is very noiry.
Use of Sound
Voice-Over went well with scenes, the fact that there was no ambience in the background was very interesting, Music created a greater Tone & Tension.
Use of Editing, Titles & Effects
Suitable/Average Titles - did the job alright but needs to be more noiry, Motion/Effects creates a dream like quality.
Suitability of Style to Noir Genre Codes & Conventions
Definatly a noir but a very different neo-noir.
Suitability of Narrative to Noir Codes & Conventions
Sign posted needed/ a little more, More of a trailer than an Opening, Audience will be confused.
Suitability of Characters (Representation) to Noir Codes & Conventions
Ex Copper character YES works with a noir, Shady characters backs it up.
Overall Production Values
Give nathan & George more credit, only 2 people in the group, created SOLID WORK LADS.
Target Audience? How does it Appeal to them?
15+, 12A, Guns, Action, Psychological Thriller.
The Scary Voice-over, Sunlight glowing through the trees onto the two characters meeting, I like the slow paced editing that has been done, Yellow/Orange effect was cool, Music went well and created a Dreamy/Sinister effect.
Initial Audience Response/Impressions: Weaker Areas
Storyline was quite confusing for me actually, Narrative was not striking home, Voice-Over was a bit over the top.
Use of Cinematography
Blur & Flashbacks created great effects, When George looks directly into the camera (CU)
Use of Mise-En-Scene
The way that they made George look like an Everyman & How they made Seb look really Shady. Emily's costume was clever as the colour represents Danger which is very noiry.
Use of Sound
Voice-Over went well with scenes, the fact that there was no ambience in the background was very interesting, Music created a greater Tone & Tension.
Use of Editing, Titles & Effects
Suitable/Average Titles - did the job alright but needs to be more noiry, Motion/Effects creates a dream like quality.
Suitability of Style to Noir Genre Codes & Conventions
Definatly a noir but a very different neo-noir.
Suitability of Narrative to Noir Codes & Conventions
Sign posted needed/ a little more, More of a trailer than an Opening, Audience will be confused.
Suitability of Characters (Representation) to Noir Codes & Conventions
Ex Copper character YES works with a noir, Shady characters backs it up.
Overall Production Values
Give nathan & George more credit, only 2 people in the group, created SOLID WORK LADS.
Target Audience? How does it Appeal to them?
15+, 12A, Guns, Action, Psychological Thriller.
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Alien
Alien is the same idea to Terminator, using the elements of noir to clash with the Sci-Fi, Horror genre to make something unique and scary.
The new planet discovered in the narrative is all dark and fact that all you can hear is the spooky theme in the background and the heavy breathing from the oxygen masks is almost a new genre added right there and then.
The Terminator
The Terminator is definatly a Sci-Fi landmark in cinema history However the fact that most of it is filmed at night introduces elements of noir into the mix. James Cameron stated that making Terminator more of a night movie would bring in most of the unique suspense that has never been created before. Costumes were dark and evil/shady style worked well to go with the night film idea.
The Hitcher (1986-2007)
The Hitcher (I thought) included some of the codes and conventions you would find in a Film Noir narrative. The fact that most of the story takes place behind the wheel like the 1950s film Detour, is a good enough comparison to the genre. The 1980s version include better elements of the tension and suspense in the story whereas the re-make makes the story more modern and less noir.
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is Martin Scorsese's new neo-noir, psychological thriller movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. You can tell that this film is or uses elements of noir just by studying the promotional poster. Light illuminating the face and setting builds the tension and adds the suspense.
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Undercover Depression Final Evaluation (1000-1500 words!)
George Duric-Last’s Media Evaluation
One of the real media products that my film opening uses is the very typical Noiry Storyline about a certain character being double-crossed, betrayed and involves police corruption for personal matters. The noir I researched was the neo-noir film Seven and I felt that the characters we used were similar to the cop corruption and shady villains that we involved in that film, I felt that this worked very well and it is something that is not usually seen very much so it can have an impact on the audiences predictions of the event outcome. The techniques I was excited to use were how producers/directors instantly had the audience hooked on an opening compelling them to watch the whole film e.g. the scary voice-over that occurs when explaining a back story of the protagonist and the flashbacks that are sometimes thrown in to give the audience a more visual idea of how and why things are how they are, I did use these particular techniques in my project because I felt that they were the main part of how to get someone interested in something that isn’t that important to them. I made sure to follow the genre characteristics at all times because I wanted to help the audience realise it was a noir by staying on that track/ train of thought at all times. Honestly it was more of a neo-noir than a classical, memorable noir because I thought it would appeal more to my target audience (late teens+) I challenged the codes and conventions of noir a little bit by altering the characters costumes to make them appear as more of an everyday type of person and I tried to base the dodgy deal around things that actually would occur these days and clashed with an enigma explaining very little at first sight created more interest among viewers, other than this I used the common codes and conventions of noir in the opening scene.
The Christchurch Park area was supposed to represent an open, dead space of scenery where secrecy is highly possible to happen so I thought it would be best to film it where there are less of the public and shiftier, shady areas to go perfectly with the dodgy deal. At one point Emily was dressed in red to represent danger/death in order to put more effect on current/future events, Seb & Martin were dressed in Black, Shifty clothing to put more emphasis on their characters. I did not focus too much on the college setting; it was just to divert away from the current events taking place at the park and to explain previous events. All in all I thought that my project was very stylistic in use of the elements of film noir but had a sudden clash of surrealism when Seb had returned from the dead. The messages and values I was trying to create with my project were to signify what can actually happen these days and the types of things that can drive you to the edge of your sanity.
I really do not know who would distribute this low budget, unknown film opening but I would have to say something like Working Title/Metronome because I remember when they distributed Shifty which became an instant success in British audiences. Our film opening relates a little bit to the certain genre these films include and the fact that it is an independent unknown future British film to hit screens very soon with some potential in there somewhere so it would have the same effect on the distributers as Shifty had on them. In an attempt to repeat history they probably will take our film into consideration for a low budget cinema screening or direct-to-video release. I do have a lot of hope for this project but being realistic I think it would only be able to get as far as those little small-town, independent title cinemas and the TV channels that would show them are probably something like the ITV3 or LIVING channel that can get tired of broadcasting American stuff all the times, it would all depend on how well a station is doing and if they think that showing this would boost the ratings on their show, it would probably be shown around 6:30pm-9:00pm time.
The typical audience that would take an interest and be suitable for our project would be the late teens to adult area of the public (15+) because this involves guns and action which are some of the many things that appeal to the younger generation going up. The BBFC may rate this film a 15 because the involvement of guns and death may not be suitable for children of a younger age. All the research I did was primary because I did not need to refer to an existing project and request help from another group, I wanted to start fresh in order to gain a better experience and not to take the plain and simple road to my final grade. The class responded to my film opening with mostly positive feedback and great, helpful comments were useful for this project to become better and better each time. In some places the class requested that I made the “little things” more Noiry in order for perfect detail in full, I will keep this in mind next time round.
To attract the audience to give a chance to my opening scene I introduced guns and criminal activity into the narrative in order to create appeal and reason why they should be interested and why they are the target audience for this film, my feedback was positive so my theory was correct and the props did work well with my chosen narrative in the end. The Crime theme was perfect for bait in order to attract my ideal audience, my messages and ideology helped the audience agree with what I was trying to describe and how I used the film to get that out in the open. The style of music was to put more effect on the narrative, add more tension and suspense to the actions and to make an obvious statement that it is a film noir. The costumes I used were modern and worn by the younger generation which would appeal to the target audience however to keep on the noir track I expressed it through colour coded representations using the different types of clothing. The shots were plain and simple but mostly used to capture effects and emphasise them in order to get the positive feedback I needed and the full understanding the audience needed. I kept the pace at an average speed in order not to compromise the audience’s enjoyment and understanding; I mostly focused on the narrative than the pace of how it is told. The scene where the protagonist is abusing himself to make himself feel better or to die can relate to how many youngsters may feel at this time which creates an understanding between a real person and a fictional character, my class found my tough-guy American voice over very amusing so I would say that was a strong point that helped getting them hooked on the short scene they had making them wanting more and more.
I have learned that a Blog is a great way to keep track of your pre-production and to keep a record of who done what without having to remember every time over and over again. I studied other people’s film openings in order to gain knowledge from their techniques and use them for my own advantage. I did not surf the web for a scrap of info that may help me because it would be too time-consuming and being unable to claim credit for yourself does really help you I think. I was not the editor so I believe my partner will have more to say in this department. The equipment was state of the art and very helpful without the downside of being complicated in any way, it made it easier to do and less stressful to work with technology during the project.
I have learned that not having dialogue in the film opening can create and unusual effect that can still work well and achieve good feedback, I had learned from my errors and therefore richer in knowledge and was careful not to make the same mistakes again. I had improved a lot more on this project and the next one should be even more accurate than this one. I & Nathan did not go into a lot of depth during the planning stage as we were both interested in improvisation with the camera angles and settings. We organised a specific date and time to film and made sure Seb & Martin were able to help us on this date, we were very strict about this stage of planning. I done basically all of the pre-production work and came up with the setting, costumes, camera shot ideas and starred in the film opening as the protagonist. Nathan was more involved in the technological side of the project so he did all the camerawork and editing on final cut pro.
One of the real media products that my film opening uses is the very typical Noiry Storyline about a certain character being double-crossed, betrayed and involves police corruption for personal matters. The noir I researched was the neo-noir film Seven and I felt that the characters we used were similar to the cop corruption and shady villains that we involved in that film, I felt that this worked very well and it is something that is not usually seen very much so it can have an impact on the audiences predictions of the event outcome. The techniques I was excited to use were how producers/directors instantly had the audience hooked on an opening compelling them to watch the whole film e.g. the scary voice-over that occurs when explaining a back story of the protagonist and the flashbacks that are sometimes thrown in to give the audience a more visual idea of how and why things are how they are, I did use these particular techniques in my project because I felt that they were the main part of how to get someone interested in something that isn’t that important to them. I made sure to follow the genre characteristics at all times because I wanted to help the audience realise it was a noir by staying on that track/ train of thought at all times. Honestly it was more of a neo-noir than a classical, memorable noir because I thought it would appeal more to my target audience (late teens+) I challenged the codes and conventions of noir a little bit by altering the characters costumes to make them appear as more of an everyday type of person and I tried to base the dodgy deal around things that actually would occur these days and clashed with an enigma explaining very little at first sight created more interest among viewers, other than this I used the common codes and conventions of noir in the opening scene.
The Christchurch Park area was supposed to represent an open, dead space of scenery where secrecy is highly possible to happen so I thought it would be best to film it where there are less of the public and shiftier, shady areas to go perfectly with the dodgy deal. At one point Emily was dressed in red to represent danger/death in order to put more effect on current/future events, Seb & Martin were dressed in Black, Shifty clothing to put more emphasis on their characters. I did not focus too much on the college setting; it was just to divert away from the current events taking place at the park and to explain previous events. All in all I thought that my project was very stylistic in use of the elements of film noir but had a sudden clash of surrealism when Seb had returned from the dead. The messages and values I was trying to create with my project were to signify what can actually happen these days and the types of things that can drive you to the edge of your sanity.
I really do not know who would distribute this low budget, unknown film opening but I would have to say something like Working Title/Metronome because I remember when they distributed Shifty which became an instant success in British audiences. Our film opening relates a little bit to the certain genre these films include and the fact that it is an independent unknown future British film to hit screens very soon with some potential in there somewhere so it would have the same effect on the distributers as Shifty had on them. In an attempt to repeat history they probably will take our film into consideration for a low budget cinema screening or direct-to-video release. I do have a lot of hope for this project but being realistic I think it would only be able to get as far as those little small-town, independent title cinemas and the TV channels that would show them are probably something like the ITV3 or LIVING channel that can get tired of broadcasting American stuff all the times, it would all depend on how well a station is doing and if they think that showing this would boost the ratings on their show, it would probably be shown around 6:30pm-9:00pm time.
The typical audience that would take an interest and be suitable for our project would be the late teens to adult area of the public (15+) because this involves guns and action which are some of the many things that appeal to the younger generation going up. The BBFC may rate this film a 15 because the involvement of guns and death may not be suitable for children of a younger age. All the research I did was primary because I did not need to refer to an existing project and request help from another group, I wanted to start fresh in order to gain a better experience and not to take the plain and simple road to my final grade. The class responded to my film opening with mostly positive feedback and great, helpful comments were useful for this project to become better and better each time. In some places the class requested that I made the “little things” more Noiry in order for perfect detail in full, I will keep this in mind next time round.
To attract the audience to give a chance to my opening scene I introduced guns and criminal activity into the narrative in order to create appeal and reason why they should be interested and why they are the target audience for this film, my feedback was positive so my theory was correct and the props did work well with my chosen narrative in the end. The Crime theme was perfect for bait in order to attract my ideal audience, my messages and ideology helped the audience agree with what I was trying to describe and how I used the film to get that out in the open. The style of music was to put more effect on the narrative, add more tension and suspense to the actions and to make an obvious statement that it is a film noir. The costumes I used were modern and worn by the younger generation which would appeal to the target audience however to keep on the noir track I expressed it through colour coded representations using the different types of clothing. The shots were plain and simple but mostly used to capture effects and emphasise them in order to get the positive feedback I needed and the full understanding the audience needed. I kept the pace at an average speed in order not to compromise the audience’s enjoyment and understanding; I mostly focused on the narrative than the pace of how it is told. The scene where the protagonist is abusing himself to make himself feel better or to die can relate to how many youngsters may feel at this time which creates an understanding between a real person and a fictional character, my class found my tough-guy American voice over very amusing so I would say that was a strong point that helped getting them hooked on the short scene they had making them wanting more and more.
I have learned that a Blog is a great way to keep track of your pre-production and to keep a record of who done what without having to remember every time over and over again. I studied other people’s film openings in order to gain knowledge from their techniques and use them for my own advantage. I did not surf the web for a scrap of info that may help me because it would be too time-consuming and being unable to claim credit for yourself does really help you I think. I was not the editor so I believe my partner will have more to say in this department. The equipment was state of the art and very helpful without the downside of being complicated in any way, it made it easier to do and less stressful to work with technology during the project.
I have learned that not having dialogue in the film opening can create and unusual effect that can still work well and achieve good feedback, I had learned from my errors and therefore richer in knowledge and was careful not to make the same mistakes again. I had improved a lot more on this project and the next one should be even more accurate than this one. I & Nathan did not go into a lot of depth during the planning stage as we were both interested in improvisation with the camera angles and settings. We organised a specific date and time to film and made sure Seb & Martin were able to help us on this date, we were very strict about this stage of planning. I done basically all of the pre-production work and came up with the setting, costumes, camera shot ideas and starred in the film opening as the protagonist. Nathan was more involved in the technological side of the project so he did all the camerawork and editing on final cut pro.
The Storyboards
The 1st of the Storyboards that was a basic plan of what we intended to shoot on the day of filming and what narrative type we intended to use and basic notes on the shot type/camera angle.
On this page we had the introduction of the Protagonist and breifly had him abusing himself without explanation. Afterwards we put in flashbacks to describe his backstory and help the audience understand why he is how he is at the moment.
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Dark Blue
Kurt Russell plays the lead role in Dark Blue, a film about police corruption which is a common storyline for a film noir. This is noticeable in the poster. The usual elements of tense, terror and suspense are involved which helps create this neo noir thriller.
The Thing
The Thing is a classic Sci-Fi Horror directed by John Carpenter it was filmed in Antartica and mostly filmed a nighttime where some slight elements of Noir took place in many scenes of the film. The MES was mostly focused on the characters who became mysterious all of a sudden when the thing started attacking them and they were placed in danger: the dont trust anyone effect was added to create more suspense and tension.
Bourne Ultimatum
I noticed that noir elements were used in the Bourne Ultimatum and in the promotional poster right here. Matt Damon is surrounded in darkness but has a lit up face to represent a return and maybe a flicker of hope.
Undercover Depression Questionnaire
Name:
Signature:
“A Cop with a dark past full of cheating, corruption and murder is homeless and unloved. One day he witnesses a dodgy deal going down involving a partner in crime that he thought was dead. Full of alcohol & drugs he intervenes with the situation.”
Do you find this storyline Interesting, Exciting?
Yes No
Comment:
Would you pay money to go and see this short film?
Yes No
Comment:
Does this Synopsis/Story put you in mind of a Film Noir/Old B&W Film?
Yes No
Comment:
Could the storyline be improved?
Yes No
Comment:
Judging by the storyline, what would you rate this?
PG 12 15 18
Comment:
Overall, what do you think?
Comment:
Signature:
“A Cop with a dark past full of cheating, corruption and murder is homeless and unloved. One day he witnesses a dodgy deal going down involving a partner in crime that he thought was dead. Full of alcohol & drugs he intervenes with the situation.”
Do you find this storyline Interesting, Exciting?
Yes No
Comment:
Would you pay money to go and see this short film?
Yes No
Comment:
Does this Synopsis/Story put you in mind of a Film Noir/Old B&W Film?
Yes No
Comment:
Could the storyline be improved?
Yes No
Comment:
Judging by the storyline, what would you rate this?
PG 12 15 18
Comment:
Overall, what do you think?
Comment:
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Undercover Depression The Script
EXT. Christchurch Park, WWII Memorial, DAY
COP sits quietly on the war memorial (alone) down in the dumps, looks around, facial expression is sad, angry mixture of emotions.
INT. Suffolk New College, Hallway, DAY
(Flashback) COP argues with his girlfriend, she turns her back and he punches the wall in anger and then leaves the scene storming off.
EXT. Christchurch Park, WWII Memorial, DAY
The flashback builds up to the COP taking an overdose of drugs and becoming affected immediatly but before that he rolls them around on his hand.
EXT. Christchurch Park, Grassy Patch, DAY
CRIMINAL walks across the grass and stops when he reaches the HOODED MAN and they both stare at each other barely exchanging words.
EXT. Christchurch Park, WWII Memorial, DAY
COP is in a daze but does not fail to recognise the CRIMINAL and witness the dodgy deal taking place, he is angry and surprised all in one facial expression.
EXT. Christchurch Park, Grassy Patch, DAY
CRIMINAL hands the blank disc to the HOODED MAN and then walks down the path leadng elsewhere, while the HOODED MAN slips away unnoticably.
EXT. Christchurch Park, WWII Memorial, DAY
COP gets up slowly due to the drug ingestion and struggles to sober up and do the smart thing, COP looks at the CRIMINAL walking away and then follows him.
Fade to black - END
COP sits quietly on the war memorial (alone) down in the dumps, looks around, facial expression is sad, angry mixture of emotions.
INT. Suffolk New College, Hallway, DAY
(Flashback) COP argues with his girlfriend, she turns her back and he punches the wall in anger and then leaves the scene storming off.
EXT. Christchurch Park, WWII Memorial, DAY
The flashback builds up to the COP taking an overdose of drugs and becoming affected immediatly but before that he rolls them around on his hand.
EXT. Christchurch Park, Grassy Patch, DAY
CRIMINAL walks across the grass and stops when he reaches the HOODED MAN and they both stare at each other barely exchanging words.
EXT. Christchurch Park, WWII Memorial, DAY
COP is in a daze but does not fail to recognise the CRIMINAL and witness the dodgy deal taking place, he is angry and surprised all in one facial expression.
EXT. Christchurch Park, Grassy Patch, DAY
CRIMINAL hands the blank disc to the HOODED MAN and then walks down the path leadng elsewhere, while the HOODED MAN slips away unnoticably.
EXT. Christchurch Park, WWII Memorial, DAY
COP gets up slowly due to the drug ingestion and struggles to sober up and do the smart thing, COP looks at the CRIMINAL walking away and then follows him.
Fade to black - END
Undercover Depression Synopsis
A depressed undercover cop is introduced when the film opens at Christchurch Park. His career is going down the drain, his girlfriend/wife has left him and he has lost his best friend, he just sits there all by himself looking ashamed of himself and very moody. He starts thinking about his girlfriend/wife and how they ended their relationship doing this he chucks back some pills to deal with the painful memories and ease his stress.
An unknown man walks across the grass to meet another unknown man, the two of them hardly exchange words however they do exchange what it appears to be a blank disc in a transparent case. The depressed cop suddenly notices the dodgy deal and watches them like an eagle after we see his unexplained shocked facial expression the scene cuts to yet another flashback in which we see the cop speaking friendly with the unknown man that exchanges the disc to the Hooded man.
The criminal walks away casually while the hooded man just slips away unoticed (clearly a professional) the cop rises to his feet and can hardly stay up after the ingestion of the unknown pills and then pulls a gun out from his coat, after doing this it cuts to another flashback in which we see the criminal dead on the floor with the cop standing over him with a gun in his hand. The cop follows the criminal down the unknown path and then it fades to black leaving the film sequence at a cliffhanger.
An unknown man walks across the grass to meet another unknown man, the two of them hardly exchange words however they do exchange what it appears to be a blank disc in a transparent case. The depressed cop suddenly notices the dodgy deal and watches them like an eagle after we see his unexplained shocked facial expression the scene cuts to yet another flashback in which we see the cop speaking friendly with the unknown man that exchanges the disc to the Hooded man.
The criminal walks away casually while the hooded man just slips away unoticed (clearly a professional) the cop rises to his feet and can hardly stay up after the ingestion of the unknown pills and then pulls a gun out from his coat, after doing this it cuts to another flashback in which we see the criminal dead on the floor with the cop standing over him with a gun in his hand. The cop follows the criminal down the unknown path and then it fades to black leaving the film sequence at a cliffhanger.
Monday 8 March 2010
2 Film Openings that have Inspired Me
1. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
This movie opening was very clever because firstly it cuts away from the main character and what happened in the prequel and explains how it all really started and explains the events that led to the post-apocalyptic world that the film is set in. The strong, wise, scary australien accent adds effect on what he is talking about and it expresses the stress of the current state the world is in right now. Mad Max is a really burned out, battered up guy so the narrator can describe him well in the opening sequence of historic events and prequel flashbacks. The dialogue that is used to decribe death, the enemy, current situations is very metaphoric and full of wisdom. The cool thing is that while the narrator is talking there is still diegetic sounds being heard in the background while all the video clips are in motion. This movie opening inspired me to do a sequence opening like this one day and use the style of flashbacks used in the opening sequence.
2. Rambo IV
I never thought that the latest rambo film would live up to its previous installments in the franchise but it did. At the beginning we see innocent burmese people getting slaughtered by soldiers which was very graphic and expresses a whole load of fear, hatred, despair, peril etc. This film does tie in with the true story of what went down in burma and is expressed through the victims point of view. They make this seem so realistic and after the terrible slaughter has taken place and we see a close up of the main bad guy/leader, the audience will think that no one can stop them until we start hearing the classic rambo theme song used in all of the films. Is a signifier that only rambo can stop them.
This movie opening was very clever because firstly it cuts away from the main character and what happened in the prequel and explains how it all really started and explains the events that led to the post-apocalyptic world that the film is set in. The strong, wise, scary australien accent adds effect on what he is talking about and it expresses the stress of the current state the world is in right now. Mad Max is a really burned out, battered up guy so the narrator can describe him well in the opening sequence of historic events and prequel flashbacks. The dialogue that is used to decribe death, the enemy, current situations is very metaphoric and full of wisdom. The cool thing is that while the narrator is talking there is still diegetic sounds being heard in the background while all the video clips are in motion. This movie opening inspired me to do a sequence opening like this one day and use the style of flashbacks used in the opening sequence.
2. Rambo IV
I never thought that the latest rambo film would live up to its previous installments in the franchise but it did. At the beginning we see innocent burmese people getting slaughtered by soldiers which was very graphic and expresses a whole load of fear, hatred, despair, peril etc. This film does tie in with the true story of what went down in burma and is expressed through the victims point of view. They make this seem so realistic and after the terrible slaughter has taken place and we see a close up of the main bad guy/leader, the audience will think that no one can stop them until we start hearing the classic rambo theme song used in all of the films. Is a signifier that only rambo can stop them.
Storyboard & MES ideas
Our MES ideas needed to be solid enough to actually work well with our initial plan so first we decided on Props: Handgun would be perfect as it suggests a weapon for good or bad. It will be the main signifier to show that our hero character is a cop or a vigilante type of person.
DVD will be the item that will be involved in the exchange from the Criminal to Hooded character or vice versa. Blank case but visible disc in order to confuse and intrigue our audience to think What is it for? Why does he want it?
Tic-Tacs will serve as another signifier to show that our hero has taken a plunge and turned to drugs, the sweets will look real enough to be pills and will get audiences interested in his past alot more.
Newspaper - a basic prop to show that our hero is an ex cop and is looking for odd jobs advertised in the newspaper, it will be a signifier to show that our hero has nothing going for him at the moment.
The Wedding Ring is another signifier to show that our hero was in a strong relationship. this should answer alot of questions for the audience, the prop will also add the fact that he is living on the edge of a broken dream.
Because of freezing cold weather conditionjs we did not put as much emphasis into our Costume choice as we did to our Prop choice, here is our Costume choice:
Hero - (Black/Blue jeans, T-Shirt, scruffy look) - We thought that this apparel would belong to a brutal action movie theme and show what type of character he really is.
Criminal (criminal to appear in disguise, let actor choose himself) We wanted our criminal to be a character that is hard to figure out which will make him more mysterious in the story.
Hooded Man (Hoody, dark colours) This character will stage the dodgy deal and the attire will make him look more shifty and on the run, the audience would know instantly that the character is up to no good.
We explored our location choice alot further and chose some certain areas that would add Noir stylistics to the mix, here they are:
Benches - If you add a scruffy looking character with a park bench the audience would figure out that he is a tramp and is unloved. We came to the conclusion that our Hero character would be there minding his own business.
Dark Area (lonely & creepy) This would be the best and most relevent, necessary setting for criminals, hoodies to be located during an illegal activity. This would create more tension and add more of the Noiry codes and conventions to the film sequence.
The sound we have chosen is Guitar, Drum & Bass etc. these instuments will make our film sequence more intense for the audience to watch.
DVD will be the item that will be involved in the exchange from the Criminal to Hooded character or vice versa. Blank case but visible disc in order to confuse and intrigue our audience to think What is it for? Why does he want it?
Tic-Tacs will serve as another signifier to show that our hero has taken a plunge and turned to drugs, the sweets will look real enough to be pills and will get audiences interested in his past alot more.
Newspaper - a basic prop to show that our hero is an ex cop and is looking for odd jobs advertised in the newspaper, it will be a signifier to show that our hero has nothing going for him at the moment.
The Wedding Ring is another signifier to show that our hero was in a strong relationship. this should answer alot of questions for the audience, the prop will also add the fact that he is living on the edge of a broken dream.
Because of freezing cold weather conditionjs we did not put as much emphasis into our Costume choice as we did to our Prop choice, here is our Costume choice:
Hero - (Black/Blue jeans, T-Shirt, scruffy look) - We thought that this apparel would belong to a brutal action movie theme and show what type of character he really is.
Criminal (criminal to appear in disguise, let actor choose himself) We wanted our criminal to be a character that is hard to figure out which will make him more mysterious in the story.
Hooded Man (Hoody, dark colours) This character will stage the dodgy deal and the attire will make him look more shifty and on the run, the audience would know instantly that the character is up to no good.
We explored our location choice alot further and chose some certain areas that would add Noir stylistics to the mix, here they are:
Benches - If you add a scruffy looking character with a park bench the audience would figure out that he is a tramp and is unloved. We came to the conclusion that our Hero character would be there minding his own business.
Dark Area (lonely & creepy) This would be the best and most relevent, necessary setting for criminals, hoodies to be located during an illegal activity. This would create more tension and add more of the Noiry codes and conventions to the film sequence.
The sound we have chosen is Guitar, Drum & Bass etc. these instuments will make our film sequence more intense for the audience to watch.
Notes on Group Meetings & Technical Desicions
This is what Nathan decided on what we should work with when we reach the Editing stage of the project.
Editing - Fading in and out at the start
Continuity Editing - clean cut, nothing fancy - Mostly use effects.
Sound - Drum & Bass artist DeepFocus - Heavy Metal
1 Camera Operator, No microphone as there will be no dialogue, Park is flooded with natural light so there is no need for Spotlights.
3/4 Actors needed for sequence - Seb, George, Martin, Emily (flashbacks only)
George as the Hero/Cop
Seb as the Criminal
Martin as the Hooded Man
Emily as the love interest of the Hero
Tuesday 7th February - Date of filming in Christchurch Park
Props were thought about and we decided who would bring what in Me & Nathan
George - Handgun, DVD, Wedding Ring, your costume
Nathan - Newspaper, Tic-Tacs
After we planned what we needed to sort out for our project, we set out afterwards to finally film it.
Editing - Fading in and out at the start
Continuity Editing - clean cut, nothing fancy - Mostly use effects.
Sound - Drum & Bass artist DeepFocus - Heavy Metal
1 Camera Operator, No microphone as there will be no dialogue, Park is flooded with natural light so there is no need for Spotlights.
3/4 Actors needed for sequence - Seb, George, Martin, Emily (flashbacks only)
George as the Hero/Cop
Seb as the Criminal
Martin as the Hooded Man
Emily as the love interest of the Hero
Tuesday 7th February - Date of filming in Christchurch Park
Props were thought about and we decided who would bring what in Me & Nathan
George - Handgun, DVD, Wedding Ring, your costume
Nathan - Newspaper, Tic-Tacs
After we planned what we needed to sort out for our project, we set out afterwards to finally film it.
My Contribution to the Undercover Depression Project
Nathan came to me with the rough ideas about a cop down on his luck but that all changes when he witnesses criminal activity etc. Nathan left the class early that day for whatever reason so I chipped away the rough edges to his plan and added in noiry styles of storyline to make it more solid and better. We both decided that it was my duty to be the main planner of the sequence and to star as the main character in the sequence as well. I created a solid piece of synopsis and also done a detailed list of props and costumes that me and Nathan had discussed together in order for us to agree on the same things.
Nathan assigned himself to the Cinematographer role so he decided on all the camera angles that would work well with this particular piece but it also brings up the question on where to film our piece. College was too crowded and common for illegal activity so I recommended that we use an isolated area in Christchurch Park to create more mood and effect. We agreed on this.
While Nathan was organising the shots and camera angles, I was assembling the perfect cast to suit the characters in our film sequence and i ended up with some great people to work with who were willing to help us out. Nathan also organised the Sounds we would play while showing the finished sequence to the class and he would take care of Editing when we had finished filming our short piece in the park.
Nathan assigned himself to the Cinematographer role so he decided on all the camera angles that would work well with this particular piece but it also brings up the question on where to film our piece. College was too crowded and common for illegal activity so I recommended that we use an isolated area in Christchurch Park to create more mood and effect. We agreed on this.
While Nathan was organising the shots and camera angles, I was assembling the perfect cast to suit the characters in our film sequence and i ended up with some great people to work with who were willing to help us out. Nathan also organised the Sounds we would play while showing the finished sequence to the class and he would take care of Editing when we had finished filming our short piece in the park.
Friday 5 February 2010
The Taking of Pelham 123
Hollywood Legend, John Travolta stars in this action, gritty noir film as the mysterious Ryder. Travolta is known for a string of memorable bad guy roles on such films as Face/Off, Broken Arrow & Pulp Fiction.
this film featured many noir elements such as the dark lighting down in the subway and the common noir clothing for petty criminals.
Max Payne
I never thought a pop star turned action hero would make a good neo noir character. To be honest Mark Wahlberg kicks ass as Max Payne!
Notice the smoke effect in the background and the pale moonlight illuminating his face from above.
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Report on the The Exchange
We were all still a bit new to the cameras and project planning but we still gave it our best shot. Our roles were immediately decided when this project was assigned to the whole class. Seb & Caroline were the Cinematographers, Nathan & I were Actors and the Editors for our new short sequence. We decided to have more depth with the detail this time as the Preliminary Exercise was very plain and basic. The actions and shots were planned out only as we decided not to add any dialogue to make it more of a classic film noir to the audience. The sound we added in the mix related a lot to the situation and the theme which we used during planning of the storyline. Costumes & Lighting were not touched this time as we did not have enough time or did not have the clothes to go with the theme.
Characters (Me & Nathan) were quickly established into the scene. Nathan was introduced as a shifty, up-to-no-good kind of guy and I was introduced as the mysterious, dangerous guy that did not really contrast with Nathans character which was good because these were the types of characters that were found in a classic film noir with a criminal genre.
The location we used was located on the burned out, rough looking area at the docks. This was the perfect setup for our characters to meet and the ideal place for an illegal activity to take place. A very rare amount of mistakes were found which was a major improvement from last time and I believe that I will be much better prepared for future filming projects.
Here is some of the feedback we received from the audience when we presented our Exchange piece in class-
"Very cool music to go with the actions cause it creates more of a noiry setting for us lot" Martin
Characters (Me & Nathan) were quickly established into the scene. Nathan was introduced as a shifty, up-to-no-good kind of guy and I was introduced as the mysterious, dangerous guy that did not really contrast with Nathans character which was good because these were the types of characters that were found in a classic film noir with a criminal genre.
The location we used was located on the burned out, rough looking area at the docks. This was the perfect setup for our characters to meet and the ideal place for an illegal activity to take place. A very rare amount of mistakes were found which was a major improvement from last time and I believe that I will be much better prepared for future filming projects.
Here is some of the feedback we received from the audience when we presented our Exchange piece in class-
"Very cool music to go with the actions cause it creates more of a noiry setting for us lot" Martin
Report on the Preliminary Exercise
Our plan for our Preliminary Exercise was quickly made up and put into action the day of shooting. We decided not to contrast our scene with Sebs & Martins in order to keep it simple and easier for us to get done a lot quicker. We wanted to leave our audience wanting more of our short sequence so we decided to add a cliff-hanger at the end of the scene.
Seb is established as mysterious, the lone wolf. Martin is established as a calm, cool second party waiting in the wings for our lone wolf to show up. These characters worked well in the particular theme of our storyline because both of them were not alienated in any way from the situation at any time. We did not focus on costumes, lighting and depth of detail with our props (blank piece of paper to represent “The Documents”) as this was our first time shooting we thought it would be best to get used to the whole camera work in the field projects.
The location was extremely nearby and easy to find. However we were delayed for some time by students making their way past and through our shooting scene. The hallway was the perfect setup to introduce our lone wolf character: Seb. The small, tight little room created a claustrophobic effect for the duration of our seedy exchange between Seb & Martin. Unfortunately some mistakes were made by me and Nathan but as it was our first time we were let off with minimum punishments. Our mistakes noticed were dead space and silence but next time I will definitely be sure not to make the same mistake again.
We were given feedback on our work when the day came that involved us presenting it to the class. Here are some of the comments that were provided-
"Great work guys but i think you went a bit off with the sound in a few places and your choice in camera angle did create an amount of dead space in one or two scenes" John
"I liked the silence between both characters because it created tension and suspense for many people" Cameron
"I thought the choice in setting was interesting as it was a small space to work in but did not affect the fact that it created a claustrophobic feeling during the secret conversation"
I will take in these comments in order to create a more solid piece of work next time.
Seb is established as mysterious, the lone wolf. Martin is established as a calm, cool second party waiting in the wings for our lone wolf to show up. These characters worked well in the particular theme of our storyline because both of them were not alienated in any way from the situation at any time. We did not focus on costumes, lighting and depth of detail with our props (blank piece of paper to represent “The Documents”) as this was our first time shooting we thought it would be best to get used to the whole camera work in the field projects.
The location was extremely nearby and easy to find. However we were delayed for some time by students making their way past and through our shooting scene. The hallway was the perfect setup to introduce our lone wolf character: Seb. The small, tight little room created a claustrophobic effect for the duration of our seedy exchange between Seb & Martin. Unfortunately some mistakes were made by me and Nathan but as it was our first time we were let off with minimum punishments. Our mistakes noticed were dead space and silence but next time I will definitely be sure not to make the same mistake again.
We were given feedback on our work when the day came that involved us presenting it to the class. Here are some of the comments that were provided-
"Great work guys but i think you went a bit off with the sound in a few places and your choice in camera angle did create an amount of dead space in one or two scenes" John
"I liked the silence between both characters because it created tension and suspense for many people" Cameron
"I thought the choice in setting was interesting as it was a small space to work in but did not affect the fact that it created a claustrophobic feeling during the secret conversation"
I will take in these comments in order to create a more solid piece of work next time.
Wednesday 6 January 2010
My Media Blog Introduction
In my Media Blog I will discuss the examples, elements of film noir and also present examples of pictures, screenshots from classic and contemporary Film Noirs to back my posts up. Every project i complete in Media will be logged on here and discussed. You will read and understand my points of view on certain things and topics.
George Duric-Last
Pictures for my Contemporary Film Noirs
Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this character made a serious impact on how much tension was built and what it led to next.
3 Example of a Contemporary Film Noirs
Blade Runner - (1982) Sci-fi, dark, noiry film that is set in the future but uses MES to create an effect that was used in the original film noirs, this was one of the first films that introduced the neo/contemporary film noir genre. An ex-cop known as Deckard is assigned to hunt down a rebellious group of escaped androids. Many extracts of the film contains examples of classic noir effects to build up suspence in a certain moment, such as the very dark effects used in almost every single location and the classic glowing eye effect which made them appear more serious and creepy. This film has alot of dramatic depth and it is a vision of the distant future to come for some people. The genre and the location types can intrigue audiences and compell them to study further someones opinion of the futuristic version of Los Angeles. Blade Runner has remained a cult classic and is ranked at 97th in the Greatest American Films book "100 years.......100 movies"
Silence of the Lambs - (1990) Thriller, horror, dark film that focuses on the viewpoint of hauntingly unstable psycopaths. Anthony Hopkins stars as his most famous film character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this character builds up tension and suspence increasingly thoughout the whole film with the use of facial expressions and disturbing dialogue. The locations used such as Buffalo Bills basement and Hannibals cell are dank, dark and frightening which makes in uncomfortable for not just the main character but the audience as well. This neo-noir classic as led to academy awards for the stars and a string of sequels creating an unforgettable franchise in horror history.
Alien - (1979) Sci-fi, horror movie that is set in outer space which was a major change for audiences back them which is good enough reason for them to be hooked immediatly, this is one of many reasons why this low-budget sci-fi movie became an instant cult classic in movie history. Sigourney Weaver starred as her signature role lt. Ellen Ripley whose character has been referred to by feminist acts against patriarchy. The locations throughout the whole film are dark and mysteroius which can alienate the audience from the real world which and inrigue them to keep watching. This film also led to a successful franchise and a cross over with the predator franchise that targeted the audience that fell in love with the MES techniques used.
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