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Prelim Video

Loves sinister gifts shot types

Establishing shot- This uses a wide pan to set the scene. It shows an isolated field, making the audience feel vulnerable. This is reinforced when the body is eventually revealed as it appears alone. It creates and builds tension.  

Having various close up shots of parts of the body helps to build tension in the audience as it builds ambiguity, it creates mystery as it implies something bad has happened. It also creates a sinister atmosphere as the non-diegetic sound track builds tension.

The close up shots also allow for the audiences attention to be drawn to things which are important, such as the note in the hand of the victim. The show and draw attention to them subtly.

Having a series of these type of shots after each other creates an almost snap shot effect. This adds to the sinister atmosphere as it almost dehumanises the victims. It also build up from the intro/title shots as photos of the victim are shown then in the hands of the killer.

 

 Having a mid shot that transitions into a wide shot allows for the audience to see both the details of the body when close and the position of the body in the overall scene. It also allows for the action of the next shot to bee seen.

 

Following on from the wide shot, a mid shot of the detectives walking whilst having a conversation is used. This allows for the detectives outfits to be seen along side their reactions. This shot clearly shows the codes and conventions through the characters outfits.

 

 

Having an extreme close up of the letter from the detectives point of view allows for the audience to see what he see's and build a relationship with the character. It also makes the message appear more sinister as it allows for the audience to be in the detectives position, this builds tension.  

 

A low angle mid-shot is used to look up at the detectives as they're the good guys, people should actually look up to them and aspire to be like them. it is used to signify them being the protagonists of the film.

Over the shoulder, shot reverse shot is used during the detectives conversation as this shows that they're the ones having a conversation. These shots also show the characters point of view giving the audience a chance to see the action from their eyes. this builds audience and character interaction, making the audience feel closer to the characters and more easily relatable to them.

An over the shoulder shot is used to show the detective pointing out the femme fatal, this show the direction of the shot and also gives the audience the first look at the femme fatal. by having this wide shot of the femme fatal first it doesn't give the audience a clear image, building to the characters mystery.

A tilt shot is follows the wide shot, this type of shot is another way of building mystery as it doesn't give a clear image straight away. It also allows for more close up details to be seen as it tilts up the entire body.

A close up of the femme fatales face is last used, this is accompanied by the detectives voice over. this shows the characters lack of emotion and gives the audience insight into her character.

Production Schedule

 

Date	What I did	Why I did this
Monday 19th January	I drew a new story board and created a new scrip to match it	I wanted to create a more classic film noir as I felt my first film opening wasn’t that strong. I created a story board with a range of shot types. My new script also showed the codes and conventions clearly as it included film noir classics such as voice overs.

Friday 23rd January

Filming my new opening sequence

I decided to film a new opening sequence as I was not happy with the final product of my first film. Also the weather on this day fit in with the whole mise-en-scene of my film as it was a gloomy and grey day- fitting in with the atmosphere I was trying to create for my film.

Tuesday 27th January	Editing my footage- In this session I went through all of the clips I filmed, naming and deciding if they were useful. I then placed them in an initial order on Adobe Premier pro.	By putting them in an order I looked to see if there where any inconsistencies in my film. This also gave me a chance to see roughly how long my film would be.
Friday 30th January	Editing my footage- clipping my shots to make the film fluid. I also added the first few transitions.	During this session I focused my editing on the film its self, ignoring the sound for now. I made it so the movement between shots was successful.
Monday 2nd February	Editing my footage- sound editing and voice over.	I recorded my male detective’s voice over because the sound of the original was poor. Also voice overs fit with the codes and conventions of a film noir. After creating the voice over I spent the remainder of the session editing the audio grain to make the sound clearer and appear more professional.
Friday 6th February	Filming a title sequence- my movie footage was slightly short so I decided to make my title sequence part of my film.	The title sequence is filmed from the femme fatales point of view and gives the audience insight into her mind. It also adds and builds tension.
Tuesday 10th February	Editing title sequence- Because my title sequence is short I was able to edit both the footage and the sound in one session.	I wanted to ensure that the quality of my title sequence was high and appeared professional. Both the audio and visual aspects had to flow and fit the genre.
Tuesday 17th February	Going over final product and uploading- I spent this session really trying to find and faults. Once I was happy I exported the file	This allowed me to really get my evaluations done, as although I had started some, I was unable to complete all if my evaluations.

The Fifth day- Audience & representation of social groups

Audiences & representation of social groups

My media product is aimed towards young adults, as this type of thriller often gratifies their need for an adrenaline rush, without isolating them with stereotypical teenage pursuits for example clubbing. It creates and builds tension in them and allows them to experience the pleasure of an adrenaline rush and the euphoria one would bring on afterwards. The darker shots in the beginning are used to build tension, they show the femme fatales inner darkness, the twisted mentality of her character. It sets the dark tone and creates an enigma from the get go- Who is in the images? whose hands are shown? Whose lips? 

By first opening the film with a mixture of point of view shots from the femme fatale (Josie Lovel) and titles I aimed create an enigma for the audience. It allowed them insight into the characters dark mind and showed them the depth of her characters personality. However it is not initially clear that it is her characters point of view, this adds to the enigma, the only things that are clear is that the character who's hands and lips are shown killed a girl. It's the subtle hint towards it being Josie that builds drama and mystery.  This dark representation of a female femme fatale meets the conventional codes and conventions of a film noir. Femme fatales in classic film noir films are shown to be beautiful, naïve to the world and in need of a 'hero' this is part of their allure that reels in the detective in the film. 

My Femme Fatale

This is done in my film and shown clearly in the voice over when detective Greyson talks about feeling 'like a fly lead by a spider' They are usually beautiful, wearing the latest high fashion clothing and quite often speak with a upper crust English accent. Although my character is not actually shown to be talking she is shown to be wearing a nice coat with a fur hood outline. This fits to the characters codes and conventions. These attributes all add to the audiences opinion of the femme fatale, they make her appear intelligent, classy and almost too good for the detective. This innocent persona is usually seen through quite easily, revealing the femme fatale to be dangerous, selfish, cunning and manipulative.

The stereotypical classic femme fatale- (shot from the Maltese falcon)

 This would make the audience especially females feel a little empowered but also resentful towards the negative stereotype. Especially as in today's society women are striving for gender equality. 

This negative female representation of a femme fatale is juxtaposed by the female detective in my film. By having both a negative and positive representation of females in my film opening i'm trying to both show the codes and conventions and but also a modern woman who is more relatable to the audience. By having a female detective which is a stereotypically male role the typical codes and conventions of a film noir are being challenged. the two role female detective and femme fatale oppose each other, showing two sides of women. The female detective is also used in my film to represent a side of reason, she's not going to be fooled by the femme fatale like the male detective.

Female Detective

I also decided to make the female detective paper more modern in the way she dressed, by wearing a leather coat instead of a typical trench I hoped to make the character more easily relatable to a younger audience as her attire would be something they would wear.  

The male detective in my film noire is a classic detective based on classic detectives such as Sam Spade from Maltese Falcon or a more modern Detective William Somerset from Se7en. I wanted to keep to the codes and conventions with my male detective to show contrast between the two detectives. The female was more modern whereas the male was a more classic representation. This is clearly seen in the mise-en-scene as he wears a classic fedora and suit- the fundamental detective uniform. By making him quite classic the male audience would not really be able to see him as relatable as her although played by a young actor is representing an older persona.

Coursework feedback

You have chosen to film footage again which is commendable as your lighting issue were preventing you from achieving your potential. Time management is now key to ensure that ll aspects of eth coursework are complete.