Research into Film Noir

Femme Fatal

In film Noir the femme fatal is always portrayed as a cunning and sexual character. They always try to please the other characters most likely the detective with their nice yet sly charm by using their looks in order to pull the wool over the other character's eyes. 

Features of a femme fatal:

• The iconography is explicitly sexual with long sleek hair (blonde or dark), make up and jewellery.
• Cigarettes have sexual connotations of liberation and phallic power.
• 'Dress - or the lack of it - defines the woman'
• 'Iconography of violence is a specific symbol of her unnatural phallic power'
• Framed portrait of women is a common motif.
• Murders indicate narcissism or duplicity.
• Women are generally centre frame or drawing our attention by focusing on the foreground.
• Visual style expresses mood through darkness, both real in under-.jmlit and night-time scenes, and psychologically through shadow and claustrophobic settings which overwhelm the character. 

Planning Schedule

3rd November 2014 - Planning schedule created.
7th November 2014 - Begin to organize when certain actors can perform.
11th November 2014 - Film all of the college scenes, borrowed a camera for the night filming at home.
Evening of 11th November 2014 - Normal lesson, no filming. Filming at Charlie's house. 
17th November 2014 - free lesson - re-shoot anything that needs it, add additional scenes if necessary.
28th November 2014 - record the voice over at college sixth form.
1st December 2014 - editing again and making sure all editing is done with adjustments so add on's can be added for example titles, voice overs and sound effects.
8th December 2014 - add titles, voice overs and sound effects.
15th December 2014 - evaluating our film opening. 

December feedback

You are making sound progress toward producing an edit. Make sure that you take responsibility and make your input clear. At times you are not working to your full potential and the blog reflects this at present. Now is the time to make sure that research and planning is detailed and thorough.

You can add to blog posts to ensure that detail is there. Posts about representation and audiences is thin and you need to follow up what is covered in class with your own research and analysis.

Your film demonstrates a sound knowledge of the medium and technical skill.  You should complete this by the deadline. I think you need to film some different shots to show an awareness of generic codes and conventions.

Add;
Production schedule
Analysis of audiences and representations needs to be thorough

Concentrate on updating the web-log by Christmas and complete an edit.

Creative Journey

This week I have edited footage which we filmed last week. We filmed scenes for our final task in the college with the different characters. On a different day, we had to film the part where in which the detective is getting ready at his house and then we had to edit this at a later date. We are using Premiere Pro which enables us to be able to edit our final piece with the professional software so that it can look sophisticated in the end and like something a real film company would produce to sell to an audience. We had to import the footage and then find out where all of the many videos fit in and then place them into the correct order. Following this, we had to crop each of the videos to get rid of any background noise or unwanted footage to make it fluent. After this, we could then create our track and put it into our film and then change where about the music starts and stops to fit in with all of the tense parts of the film and the more quieter parts like when the detective is getting ready and then the more tense scene when the character opens the envelope.
 Finally, we extracted our film from the computer and added it to Landau's YouTube channel for our peers to watch and then give us feedback on how we can adapt it and make it reach the expectations for our targeted audience.

Identifying An Audience

Identifying An Audience:

People use media texts to gratify their needs for example when they watch Horror films it can be for a number of different reasons: they get a thrill and excitement out of watching them, to watch them with friends to see their reactions to see if they are scared,  the feel of adrenaline that they cause when you are scared, the feeling of vulnerability and to push their boundaries to see what the worst film they can allow themselves to watch is so they can say that they have watched it. They can sometimes relate to then if they have had a past experience that ha been very similar to the scenario in the film. Most people have a fear of 'the other' which is a fear/phobia of anyone who is different to you. 

Audience Reception:

There are different type of audience reception that people can want to expect they will receive from viewers watching their films...

Preferred reading - what the director wants.
Opposite reading - wrong reading of the film.
Negotiated reading - the person knows its not true/someone else's opinion.
Aberrant reading - Stuart Halls theory - the audience doesn't understand it. 

An example of this is the T- Mobile advert where the are lookalikes of the Royal family dancing at the 'Royal wedding'. The preferred reading is that the director of the advert wants the viewers to see the funny side of it and how it is praising the Royal family. The negotiated reading is that it is irrelevant to the company and to phones. The opposite reading is that people would believe that is it the actual Royal wedding which could be believed by the older generations such as 55+ and the aberrant reading is that people don't understand it.

Hypodermic Syringe Theory:

This is when an audience believe the first thing that they hear and don't leave any room for thinking otherwise or their own opinion. This happened a lot in 1957 because they had less choice of media so when they saw something they just believed it however, nowadays this happens less frequently because people are always making pranks and making things up as they go along. Audiences are active rather than being passive and believing everything they hear they will use their common sense and knowledge to know that it isn't true or they will ask someone else to get their opinion on the matter. 

A lot of viral advertising happens now too when you see something that is funny you are more likely to send and share it with your friends on different social media like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and vine.

The Detective in Film Noir

The Detective in Film Noir:

What does representation mean?
The representation of something of how something is portrayed. When portraying a person these factors are tenderly used.
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Class and status
Sexuality
Physical ability /disability 

The Detective in Film noir is one of the main character which is very predictable character, he drinks, he smokes his age however NORMALLY is 40-50's. Its very uncommon to see young detective in Film noirs. The detective is wordly-wise. He knows what his talk about which gains him 'respect' or that what he thinks anyway. Really the detective is vulnerable, sly and patronising however this is because of the time period there wasn’t equality within genders so the detective often thought he was better than women which women (the Femme Fatale often uses this at her advantage) The detective shows this in the way which he speaks for example 'darling' and 'petel' which may come across as patronising for the women. Which in today's society this wouldn't acceptable because it would come across as 'creepy' ECT.


The detective in our Film Noir

Preliminary Task Analysis

For our preliminary task we had to film a series of shots based on a narrative we had been given. The narrative of this included two characters, the first one was the typical hero and the second being the generic villain. Our aims were to create a piece of film which followed the typical action film conventions whilst following continuity.

Our final product has some flaws but we had the general idea. If we were to do it again then we would change a few things. Including some continuity issues and music editing. The continuity issues are mainly with the dialogue as we followed the 180 degrees rule.

Overall we think our preliminary task was of good standard as we followed all instructions fully and met everything in the criteria allowing us to have a good quality final product.

Cast

CAST

Detective Lance Bullock – Callum Prendgast

Tony Slinger/ Maroni Falcone – Charlie Bell

Bobby Slinger – Reece Mountford

Lisa Statham – Georgia Turner

Ben Woodward - Thug

SCRIPT

Scene 1 – LB’s Intro ET: 35 seconds

*Throughout this scene “I don’t want to set the world on fire by the ink spots 1941 is playing, almost as an alarm. There is an establishing shot of a house at night; the only light source is lampposts in the shot and the shot will fade in from black and will last about 3 seconds. The shot will then cut to grass blowing in the wind, until finally a close up of an alarm/radio clock that is the source of the music. A hand reaches out and smacks it down, this stops the music. The room is dark, only a portion of light is reaching the room via blinds. A man (whose face you do not show during this opening scene) sits on the end of his bed rubbing his face. A narration begins:

Detective LB:  “Todays gonna be a helluva day, Head guy Phillip J House has made sure of that, he’s been busting my balls about this for a while now, he’s got it out for me I swear. See he’s got me inspectin’ some kind of college for a Maroni Falcone, see you wanna hear a funny story? 3 murders, one of them a cop and over 15 assaults and this guy is hiding in a school would’ya imagine? Me personally *pause* I think it’s a load of crap but like I said; House may be an ass, but it’s rare he’s wrong. and so that’s where I come in, me, Detective Lance Bullock, I gots to find this guy, if there even is a guy and take him out. Easier said than done when hiding in a hoity-toity school, and better yet, word is that his men already know that we’re catching up and planning this little undercover shindig, if Maroni really is there, he’s good, but I’m better”

*Throughout this scene there are different cuts of the detective. One stumbling to the blinds and peeking out, doing his top buttons up, lighting a cigarette with a match (shisha pens and vapour) and a shot of the smoke blowing out, and finally a shot of him doing his tie up and walking out of shot, this shot should be when he says “But I’m better”

Scene 2 – TS, PS and BS Intro ET: 

The shot then cuts to an EST shot of the school, until a OTS shot of Bobby walking down the main halls, past the stairs, then a mid-shot of him walking towards the camera (David Fincher style) with the camera on a dolly, he fixes up his tie. He pauses as he hears loud noises he looks around the corner and the camera does the same. Tony has Paddy Statham up the wall and Bobby is watching in intrigue

Lisa Statham: Please honey I'm sorry!

Tony: Just get out of my face damn it

Lisa runs off past Bobby crying.

 

Tony spots Bobby and Smiles. He’s wearing a different type of Tie to Tony.

Tony: Bobby my boy!

Bobby: Uncle Maroni!

Tony Slaps Bobby

Tony: Keep your god damn voice low, it’s Tony here, and will be till I can secure a way out to Mexico, none of this Maroni business, you get me?

Bobby: Yeah sure uncle…Tony

Tony: Good any questions?

Bobby: What was that about just?

Tony: Don’t you worry your pretty little mug about that said whilst gently slapping his face walk with me boy.

They walk down the corridor, the detective walks past the shot casually but the audience don’t know it’s him as you never see his face in the first shot

Tony and Bobby walk down the corridor dolly camera again.

Tony: Reece, you’re new, you’re my nephew but you’re not special, I don’t care if you’re my son, you don’t cross family understood?

Bobby: Understood boss

Tony: I like you already. 

As they walk off the camera pans to the detective watching from the second floor balcony. A high angle shot showing that he is superior and he has been watching

Film Noir Story Board

This is our storyboard for planning the film Noir.

Feedback November

You are working at level 2 for research and planning but can achieve level 4 if you publish all your posts as your group work is very promising.

 

To reach level you must publish your;

• Script
• Storyboard
• Maltese Falcon analysis
• Discuss the codes and conventions of film noir in more detail
• Preliminary task

Targets for November

Film

Risk assessment

Edit

Consider sound and titles to add meaning and atmosphere

Manage your time effectively

Ensure that the web-log reflects your planning and reserach fully

Feedback on progress

Some interesting and perceptive insight into how the director has created meaning. If Somerset's room is dark it may be that the lighting at the start of his film is purposefully low key to try and evoke the claustrophobia of the city. David Fincher uses these techniques often in his films.

I think you could be more thorough in analysis and check the work before publishing in terms of punctuation.  The examiner will view these posts.

The Mission Impossible analysis is more thorough but could be checked for accuracy. 

I suggets going back to your posts and adding further detail. I will advise you how to do this.

Seven

Seven

At the start of the film, Summerset, played by Morgan Freeman, is in a very dark room of his house. This symbolises his isolation away from everyone else and suggests that he lives alone. Somerset's room is dark it may be that the lighting at the start of his film is purposefully low key to try and evoke the claustrophobia of the city. David Fincher uses these techniques often in his films. There is a mid angled shot when he is getting dresses. From what he is wearing, we can see that he has an important job as he puts on his police identity badge.

In the next scene, we can see that a murder has happened from the body that is laying motionless on the floor showed through a high angled camera shot looking down at it. When Brad Pitt or 'Mills' arrives, we see the tinges of green light which could potentially suggest to the audience that he is a bit jealous of Summerset as he has had a lot more experience than he does and knows how to do the job best.

From the title 'Se7en' we can tell that its about the seven deadly sins which hints to us that the whole of New York city is soaked in sin and it is what the film will be about. There is rain throughout the opening scene. This shows pathetic phalacy and how everything that occurs will be sad, dangerous and glum. The quietness at the beginning emphasises the feel of danger and death and the police officers wearing white and black, gives us a hint of the good and bad that will be in the film.

When Summerset is lying in bed, the ticker gets louder and louder which also portrays a sense of danger and despair to the audience. There is a lot of mid shots when Summerset and Mills are talking to show the viewers their body language as mills keeps on fidgeting but Summerset is very calm and content as it is just an everyday thing for him to see a terrible sight of a dead body. This is also shown through the fact that Mills never stops talking and is frequently asking questions throughout the film to prove he is curious about learning what the job entails as a police officer. However, Summerset doesn't talk much so it ensures us he already knows what is going on.

In the title scene, it shows how the criminal puts everything together but also leaves things out as he wants to be caught out. The music is very weary and has a creepy feel to it to match the film and what it entails. There are close up shots of the criminal shaving off his skin on his finger to hide his finger print so that whatever he touches won't leave his trace on it. He does this as he is trying not to get found out and has a clever plan to make sure that that doesn't happen very soon.



Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet

The music at the start sounds like violins and is quite calm to begin with but then gets louder. This could represent what will happen throughout the film and how it will progress and something drastic will occur. The first show we see is a tilt shot that reveals a bright blue sky, white picket fence and red roses. It look like a scene from a Disney movie, the idea of a perfect setting is shown. The blue sky can show pathetic phalacy of how everything is perfect and foreshadows a feeling to the viewer that as the film goes on, it will change and do the opposite. The red roses are very significant as the colour red symbolises danger, death and blood and the fact that they are roses could symbolise and portray imagery of loss or a funeral that will occur.

In the next scene, it is a sunny day which again is pathetic phalacy but there is a man who is watering his garden and he has a heart attack. This is very ironic because due to the fact that it shows it as being a sunny day and he has a heart attack, you would have expected it to be raining in the picture. There is an establishing shot and a pan of the America surroundings showing how perfect it is but then that happens which shocks the audience. When the bloke falls to the ground, there is an extreme close up of the rummaging through the grass. Next, we see hundreds of cockroaches which is showing the device of animal imagery for something that will happen throughout the film.

In the rest of the opening scene, there are loads of hints of it being portrayed as a very safe town like with the markings on the road for the children going to school and the lollypop lady helping them get to the other side. There is also an old fire engine that drives past too showing irony as the man is stood right on the edge of the truck as it is driving which isn't safe so the image contradicts itself. With all of these things saying to the audience that it is a very safe town, it makes the viewer feel even more on edge watching it because they know that something bad is about to happen and the film will be full of disaster and nothing more. 

Publish all posts before I give feedback

Codes & Conventions

Film Noir

In film noir's they contain many codes and conventions for example:

• Sound
• Lighting 
• Narrative
• Use of language
• Mise-en-Scene
• Character
• Iconography
• Use of the camera

When they use to film film noir's, they only used one light source like coming through some blinds, candles or a lamp. This is because they didn't have the technology that we have today or the money so they had to spend as little as possible on making the films. They would also use things like dry ice to create smoke too. 

In the films they used props such as a trilby hat, trench coat, identity badge, cigarettes, alcohol etc... This is called iconography when they use symbols or typical things that are all in the same sort of films in other words, the genre of films.

The characters in film noir's are usually detectives, a victim and someone that helps the victim. The murderer usually plays up to be the victim normally as a femme fatal where they draw in the detective to brainwash him into thinking she is the victim kind of like a scenario with a spider and a fly - she is the spider twisting the detective around her finger to try and convince him.

Mission Impossible 2

Mission Impossible Film Analysis

The first shot is an establishing shot to show the character’s surroundings of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is an array of very steep and high mountains which Tom Cruise is seen climbing. This gives the audience an insight to his strength and capability of just how powerful he is but also the Grand Canyon is very bare with no people to show his isolation from the rest of the world and how this will affect him throughout the rest on the film.

 The camera which could have been used on a helicopter as it is so high up, starts to zoom in towards the character to show him making his climb. As you can see, he is not held onto the rock by any form of support, just his bare two hands which adds to the danger shown in the opening scene. Next, the camera does some pan shots to prove to the audience that he isn’t being held on by anything and to emphasise the characters strength and how it might be used throughout the rest of the film. Then the camera zooms out to give the audience more of a view of the Grand Canyon and the climber showing just how high it is.

As the character carries on his climb, there is a close up of his face which  tells us that he is not scared or in fear of what he is doing and how high he is up which makes the viewer feel more secure that he isn’t going to fall off of the rock. A birds eye view is made as the camera looks down and the character is looking up towards it. In the scene, we can hear the diegetic sound of an eagle circling around him as if he is the prey but Tom is not fazed by it at all and just carries on. The birds eye shot that was made could be to represent how the bird could be looking down on him.

The next shot that is made is when the character jumps from one part of the rock to another in order to be able to climb up easier. This shocks the audience even more as he is already risking his life let alone jump across the rock because if he was to fall, he would die so he is making a huge choice. When he makes the jump and gets to the other side, he falls down the rock but luckily manages to hang on to the edge of the cliff which is significant because no one else would have been able to get such a good grip with just their fingertips lifting their whole body weight. Then, he hangs off of the cliff with just one arm which would take some serious strength to which so this emphasises to the audience just how strong and powerful he is and that no one should cross him.

The camera pans/moves around like a bird would when flying to show the character holding on to the rock in a position which is similar to how Jesus was on the cross. This symbolises how Tom Cruise will be seen as the saviour in this film and will save people that he comes into contact with unless they are the villains. There is a zoomed in close up to his face and the expression on his face shows that nothing fazes him and he isn’t bothered about where he is or what he is doing proving his fearlessness. Suddenly, he swings round back onto the rock to begin his climb again. When he gets to the top of the mountain, there is a moving shot or 360 degree shot which is like the bird coming to get him but it just circle round him as he watches and doesn’t harm him. An establishing shot gives a clear view of the Grand Canyon  and the overall picture so that you can see everything in its surroundings.

Next, we see the helicopter come into view and turn round to when the character is. Because the helicopter is black, we just assume that something bad is going to happen because there is another character in a black and white suit that is holding what appears to be a gun. When he fires the gun, an object lands in the rock and then there is a close up view of Tom’s face smiling so we know he knows the person and what the object could be so the audience don’t feel on-edge anymore. A low shot is taken when Tom walks over towards the object and picks it up. When he takes the lid off of the arrow shaped object, there is a close up of the sunglasses that are inside to show what they are and what the main focus is as they are the only things in that shot. Then there is another close up of Tom’s face when he smiles and shakes his head because he knows who they are from and what they are because they aren’t ordinary sunglasses. When he puts the sunglasses on, we get a point of view shot which is the same as if we were looking through his eyes at the information he is being told. Furthermore, there is then a mid shot where we can see the character with his sunglasses on and also some of the scenery of the Grand Canyon. The shot is panned so that we can see the full view of the character not moving as he is focused on what he has to listen to showing his mental and physical ability to block out what is happening around him to listen to one voice. When he takes off the sunglasses and throws them away they explode and the film titles start up which makes it a great opening scene because it gives the audience a mixture of things that will happen through the entirety of the film and the explosion emphasises again the danger that will come with the job that he does.

The music is quite calm at the start which is not what you would expect because of his circumstances. Then it builds up bas the character gets higher up the rock. When he jumps the music slows temporarily for a second and the singing stops but when he is hanging onto the cliff with one hand, then puts the second hand on, the music’s tempo builds up again getting louder and louder and the singing is back again. The music sounds like some that you would hear on holiday abroad but it is really ironic as he is rock climbing which you wouldn’t normally do on holiday.