Evaluation

Question 1:

Question 2:

Our film challenges the generic look of a male protagonist in a film noir which is shown as this intellectual male adult with a comb over and all the women falling at his feet, rather than use this pre-conceived image of the character we decided to use a male teenager. This is because we chose to dispute codes and conventions of our respective genre to show that everyone can do something great regardless of their class, ethnicity and economical background. 

Another element of film noirs is the generalization made toward women being deceitful in the form of a femme fatal. So in our film we decided to go against the very patriarchal views which most film noirs share, so instead of casting a woman as the victim reaching out we made them a male. This is due to male members of society not having to conform to gender roles as a man can play the role of a femme fatal with no questions being asked but if a woman was to play the role of the male protagonist this wouldn't sit right with a lot of male viewers. This shows the naivety of male audiences as they dont except gender equality in the film world. Another convention we challenged is the fact that in the film industry they try and hide violence to children so in our film when you explicitly see a child get shot, this will be controversial as it brings a dark issue to the forefront of the viewer's mind as they all understand that violence does happen to children but sometimes refuse to accept it. Therefore this shows that no matter your age you can accept responsibility. 

The majority of film noirs today only ever represent adults as doing something so we decided that using a teenager in our film will not only appeal to a wider audience, but actually get more exposure. It has been proven in recent times that using such young protagonists and antagonists is a successful formula through films such as the 'Hunger Games' series and the 'Divergent' series, both of which are now extremely popular and have a cult following of young people who find them easy to relate to.   

This film is aimed at children and adults, its aimed at children to inspire them to do something adult like and accept responsibility from a younger age. Its aimed at adults to change the preconceived ideas they have about children doing noting other than being a menace to society. People talk about how our generation will be the ones ruling the country in years to come but why not start early and show that we are more mature and can act like adults? This looks at teenagers, and represents them in a completely different way and allows audiences to view them in a positive manner rather than negative.

Question 3:
Our film would be distributed by dimension films and troublemaker studios as they were the companies that worked together to produce the sin city films. This company would produce our film
as sin city is similar to our film in the sense that it features some traditional film noir conventions yet has a post modern spin on the classical genre as does our film. This shows they have an interest in a modernistic contemporary view on a genre that's been around since the golden age of Hollywood.

 Troublemaker studios most popular releases which they've had a role in are the spy kid films which would help our distribution campaign as its another series of film which show children partaking in responsible tasks and promote a more positive view on children in films. Although the spy kids films are more innocent in comparison to our film they still try and carry through the same message.

Dimension films are a studio which seem to produce more dark films scream 4 and other horrors. Again this would be good as our film is quite dark and has underlying horror roots which appear in the film.






Its hard to say what production company are stereotypically associated with film noir in modern times as these films aren't seen as very popular anymore so therefore aren't released as much as other genres which production companies know will be a huge success. Our film would be more of an independent film as with a smaller budget it allows for a bigger profit to be made and due to the genre of which it is there isn't a huge production value again in comparison to other genres such as the action genre.

Question 4 and 5:
Audience profiling:
Age: 18-29
Gender: Male
Political Stance: Left wing 
Hobbies: Video Games 
General Interests: Movies, Music, Entertainment. 
Most likely pet: Cat 
Describes themselves as: Clever, Intellectual, Interesting 
Favourite Films: Maltese Falcon, From Dusk Till Dawn 
Media: Read the Empire and the Guardian

Film noir has always debated who their target audience is, many people would say that film noir is focused towards 40-80 year olds because this is the age group that would have grown up with film noir movies, however other people may say that film noirs interest the younger generations because they are interested in the 1940s and how crime has developed since then. However it can be argued that recent film noir films are not suitable for the younger audiences because of their age rating of 18+, mainly because of the large amounts of violence and sexual content. The target gender audience for film noir is male, this is shown by the history of film noir and how film noirs have been made over the years, this has been achieved by introducing an attractive femme fatal who generally falls in love with the main protagonist in the film, however sometimes this may be the other way round. This attracts a male audience in the same way a bond girl attracts a male audience. So we chose to not use a femme fatal as we feel women were used in these films in a very patriarchal way. Our film would be aimed at a teenage to adult audience as we have incorporated modernistic aspects which make the film more appealing to the younger audiences. 

Our films target audience is quite broad due to the genre as many adults would want to see it as this could of been a very popular genre when they were of a younger age. The film also appeals to younger audiences because the film features younger actors, which give the audience something to aspire too and possibly relate to aspects of the character's personality. Our film would be mainly aimed at a male audience due to the gritty violent undertones that re occur through out the film. We feel this would be more appealing to a male audience rather than a female one. This is proven through many action films such as the die hard films having an established male following in comparison to the amount of women who would watch it. Our film would appeal to all ethnicities but would mainly have a white following due to the actors being of that ethnicity, meaning people of other ethnicities would struggle to make a connection with characters due to the lack of similarities they share with them. This doesn't mean that other ethnicities would watch the film because that would be a naïve thing to say, just that mainly people of a white British ethnicity would make up the main body of the audience. Another reason why it would mainly apply to this ethnicity is because of the fact that other ethnicities wouldn't of been able tow watch this particular genre when it was at its most popular in the golden age of Hollywood. Our film would be rated a 15 as it has strong language and violence on three different occasions. The general income bracket of the people watching this film would range from B-C2 (middle class to skilled working class), as well as there will most definitely be E class people (students) who will watch the film as well. Usually the film noir genre attracts C1 middle class but due to the upper class portrayal of the main character as well as the use of intellectual themes in the film we feel that may also attract C2 middle class so we expanded the target audience bracket further. 

Question 6:

The different settings that we could use on the camera allowed us to take advantage of this and make it fit our film genre in a better way. This meant that we also could use a tripod to make our footage steady instead of the camera moving around and not being stable. Therefore this helped make the film improve its quality. For the editing aspect we used adobe premiere and this allowed us to learn new techniques for improving the film. An example of this was when we turned the flashback scenes into black and white. We also used the green screen to add in gunshots to make the film look more realistic to engage the audience more. We have used blogger on Google throughout all of the coursework to show our research before carrying out our final piece. This shows our progress throughout and it enabled us to embed videos and pictures as evidence for our work.  

Question 7:

From the preliminary task, we have learned many techniques with editing as the preliminary task was only a basic edit as it was the first time editing a piece. Also, we have learned and used many more shots than we did in the preliminary task as we gained a better understanding of how to use the camera as it was also shaky in the first preliminary task. We also learned about advertising our product and to what audience so that we could base the film around them. Sound plays a big part of every film and from the preliminary task we learned how to make the sound either louder or quieter and we learned how to add music in so that we could add to the atmosphere of the film.

Final Edit for Blood Rose

We have now finished our final edit of the film and it is 1:23 seconds long. 

This is a screenshot of our edit and it shows the editing for the whole opening sequence. We are pleased with this final edit because none of our group have edited anything before other than the preliminary task which I think was a good help to get a good understanding of how to use all of the equipment.

The final film we have created has changed compared to our original ideas and our original timeline. We have kept the script the same and the only reason everything else changed was because we though of new ideas when filming Blood Rose. I am happier with our final film than our original ideas as the original ideas were very basic and the opening sequence would not have lasted as much time.

Original ideas for our film

This is our mid map of our original ideas when the task was first introduced. Our opening sequence ending up not being anything like we originally planned.

We then thought about new ideas and came up with this storyboard which is exactly the same as the online storyboard. This was our final ideas put together but we ended up changing a few parts when filming it because we thought of new and better ideas. However, we did stay along the same storyline.

Response to feedback

• What is the downton abbey analysis on your blog, it is not part of this unit
• No Seven textual analysis
• images required on the maltese falcon analysis
• storyboard - require more images and explanations as to what the shots actually mean
• Mind mapping of initial ideas required
• images, that will help illuminate the points you are making.    

•  (Still to do) What we now need is to see is your evidence:
• for designing and creating studio logo's and your understanding of the correct conventional title orders as studied in class (Skyfall)
• Some images are also required to enhance the look and design your blog. 

All of this feedback will be completed by Friday 19th February. All of the tasks that have been completed will be highlighted. 

Mr Judge Feedback - Provisional Mark/Level/Grade: Level 1: 7/20

In terms of an interim grade: Level 1 (7/20)

• Planning and research evidence will be incomplete; • There is minimal research into similar products and a potential target audience; • There is minimal organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props; • There is minimal work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding; • There is minimal care in the presentation of the research and planning; • Time management may be very poor.

Medal: Since the last feedback you have added some new elements such the BFI analysis, script/synopsis, preliminary task assessment which has been a very good. Well done for those improvements: 

What we still need to add as (well as below) are:

• What is the downton abbey analysis on your blog, it is not part of this unit
• No Seven textual analysis
• images required on the maltese falcon analysis
• storyboard - require more images and explanations as to what the shots actually mean
• Mind mapping of initial ideas required
• images, that will help illuminate the points you are making.    

•  (Still to do) What we now need is to see is your evidence:
• for designing and creating studio logo's and your understanding of the correct conventional title orders as studied in class (Skyfall)
• Some images are also required to enhance the look and design your blog. 

Things tasks are an absolute must in order to get a good grade for coursework.

Please provide feedback, in the form of a new post, how and when you hope to achieve the tasks. 

	MINIMAL (L1)	BASIC (L2)	PROFICIENT (L3)	EXCELLENT (L4)	TOTAL
1.RESEARCH & PLANNING [20]	0-7	8-11	12-15	16-20	7/20
2. CONSTRUCTION – MAIN TASK [40]	0-23	24-35	36-47	48-60
3.EVALUATION [20]	0-7	8-11	12-15	16-20
TOTAL GRADE FOR FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO [100]					/100
Minus -39 = U	40-49 = E	50-59 = D	60-69 = C	70-79 = B	80-100 = A

Production Schedule

Location	Type of shot	Props	People required	Time of day	Deadline for completion
Tamworth Car Park.	Establishing shot.	Non-required.	Cameraman.	Daytime.	28/02/2016
Wiggington Park.	Over the shoulder shot (detective POV).	Costumes, bullet, body bag/ blanket.	Cameraman and two actors.	Daytime.	28/02/2016
Wiggington Park.	POV shot of the murderer.	Gun and costumes.	Cameraman and two actors.	Daytime.	28/02/2016
Landau sixth form.	Medium long shot to close-up.	Phone and costumes, document looking materials.	Cameraman and one actor.	Daytime.	28/02/2016

Script for Blood Rose

Fade in:

Ext. Wiggington Park-Daytime

Establishing shot of the crime scene (Wiggington Park.)

Ext. Wiggington Park-Daytime

Were looking at two detectives inspecting a dead body.

 Jamie: Looks like he’s been shot.

Harry: Another messy murder.

Jamie: Same murder as last time. Reckon it’s the same guy?

Harry: Seems that way.

Ext. Wiggington Park-Daytime

Flashback to the crime scene where the victims alive.

Will: No, no, no please! Just give me more time.

Killer: Times up.

Gun holder pulls the trigger and wills falls to the floor in a heap dead.

Ext. Wiggington Park-Daytime

Were looking at the scene from the detective’s point of view. Bullet is coloured to show that it’s integral to the story.

 Harry: What’s that over there?

Harry walks over to the bullet and picks it up using a handkerchief. He inspects the bullet, and then tucks it away in a pocket.

Harry: We’ll send this to forensics.

Fade out.

Int: Landau Forte Sixth Form- room that looks like an office.

We are looking at the one of the detectives sat in the office looking at the bullet. The phone rings and he picks it up.

Jamie: Harry, there’s been another murder. (Voice muffled through the phone.)

Harry: Looks like we got a serial killer.

Jamie: We need to find this guy and make him pay.

Fades out to the opening sequence. 

Synopsis for Blood Rose

In our film noir "Blood Rose" there in an underlying tone of mystery through the anonymity of the murderer. This hooks the viewer in because they want to see who it is. The scene opens with an establishing shot so the scene is set for the viewer and they have established a link with the location. The shot ends and were introduced to the murder scene and the two protagonists of the story (Jamie and Harry). They are inspecting a body and the viewer is given a POV view of the scene making them feel like they are truly there. Then dialogue is exchanged between the two of them and we learn that this isn't the only killing of this nature of late. Then you're given a flashback of the scene earlier in the day where we watch the murder taking place and are again given a POV shot but this time in the antagonists view where watch the killing. The flashback ends and we are taken to the office of the detectives, where the phone rings and we learn again there is another identical murder, music begins and the opening title screen fades in.  

Title Sequence of Blood Rose

This is our title sequence for Blood Rose and all of the titles are in the right conventional order taken from the film Skyfall. This helped me understand what titles go where and why they do that certain order.
2R products is the name for our studio and we decided to make a very basic studio logo so we could have more time to film and edit the overall piece. Over the top of the titles we decided to add music so that it creates a better atmosphere. We decided to choose that music because it matches the opening sequence and it also links to the fact that it is a film noir.

This is our studio logo that we decided to use.

Conventions of an opening sequence

BFI data - Genre

From the table, you can see that the Thriller genre is the most popular in terms of the number of films released compared to the Horror genre. There were 64 Thrillers released in 2013 such as 'Prisoners', which was the top performing title of the year (ranked by gross box office) released in the UK and Republic of Ireland. However, only 37 Horrors were released. In terms of profitability, the Horror genre actually earns more money as Thriller genres only made £29.1 million whereas the Horror genre managed to make £57.5 million. This shows that the Horror genre is more profitable.

From this table, you can see that the Horror genre had a larger average number of sites at the widest points of release than the Thriller Genre, even though only 37 Horror genres were released whereas 64 Thriller genres were released. The fact that Horror genres used more sites such as cinemas explains why the Horror genre had higher profits than the Thriller genre.

Stereotypical Representations in the Thriller genre

In the thriller genre, there are many different representations of gender and ethnicity such as culture, gender, heterosexual and many other stereotyped representations.

Cultural bias is a very common stereotype in the Thriller genre. In the film 'Se7en' (1995), Morgan Freeman played a smart, intellectual, senior, detective. This had always been represented as a 'white' actors role but his role as Detective Somerset was different. Hollywood has always been a white centric company and the black ethnicity usually plays the minor roles in films.

Gender bias is also a very common stereotype in the Thriller genre. In this genre, females have  played the victim role, or the femme fatale, which portrays that women should not be trusted. For example, Jodie Foster played FBI agent Clarice Starling in 'Silence of the Lambs' (1991).

Heterosexual bias is not as much of a common stereotype as cultural or gender bias. Having a homosexual protagonist is almost entirely rare even in liberal Hollywood. The idea of a leading male detective, in a film, being openly gay is unheard of.

Storyboard for blood rose

Maltese Falcon

Within the credits sequence at the start of the film it has a black background with a picture of the Maltese falcon in the background, which could symbolise what could happen later on the film. This shows many conventions from the typical film noir such as the black and white theme, the way they dress with the top hats and they all smoke.
After the credit scene there is an establishing shot of the city to show the typical place where a film noir is set. This allows the audience to know where the film is set and it allows them to have a quick overlook of the city.

Throughout the conversation with the two private detectives and the femme fatale there are many close up shots to show the emotions the woman has to show she is genuine about the current situation and gains the detectives’ trust. The woman is taken by the man, which shows the power men have over woman in the genre film noir, which provides an argument for woman against film noir nowadays. The men could not keep their eyes off her and they were instantly attracted as they kept looking up and down at her. This shows that men just see woman as a piece of meat based on their looks. They looked even happier when she gave them money, as the male would usually earn the money for the woman at this time.
There is low-key lighting when the phone rings to show something dark has happened and something has gone wrong. This is because his partner was just murdered by the man they were meant to be watching and following. He then calls the woman on the phone angel, which is ironic to what has just happened as angels are there to protect people from bad things happening but it is the woman’s fault he was shot.
He plays the typical detective at this time, as he knows the police well and he drinks all his problems away and asks the police to drink with him to get them off the fact of them thinking he is a suspect.
The film likes to use private detectives instead of normal cops as it makes it more exciting because private detectives can do thing their own way instead of having to follow specific orders.
As the typical film noir film the femme fatale plays a devious, lying character and plays the spider and the fly with the two private detectives to trick them. After she has left the room from having the same conversation with the two detectives they both argue over her like children to show they have both already fell for her.
Throughout the whole film a slow instrumental, orchestral sound of music is playing. The sound of the music is shambolic which could represent what life is like in the city.
The protagonist does not change his tone of his voice so this shows he has no emotions, which is good for a typical private detective.
In the detectives office it is a typical setting for a detective as it shows old newspapers and a handkerchief on the table, which usually symbolises people from the older generation to show that is it set in the time of the film noir.

Christian Metz - Theory of the horror genre

Certain representations have now become stereotypes (a widely held but fixed and over simplified image of a particular type of person or thing).

Christian Metz in his book language and cinema (1974) explored the development of genre film and suggested that genres pass through four phases of existences:
1) The experimental (The cabinet of Dr Caligari, 1919)
2) The classic (Hollywood films such as Dracula and Frankenstein, 1931)
3) The parody (Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein, 1948)
4) The deconstruction ( Se7en, 1995)

The experimental = This means the early phase of films which explored and experimented with the horror theme.
The classic = This is the phase of films that established the narrative. the horror genre was the most successful.  
The parody = Films that mimicked the horror genre.
The deconstruction = Films that include two genres together for example a horror mixed with a thriller.

Se7en

Se7en was made in 1995. It is an American Thriller. A lot of David Fincher's films are related to serial killers. David Fincher has been very successful and released the film Alien 3 in 1992 which then grew into what we now know it is Aliens vs Predator.
The opening credits are quite disturbing with the things that the character does. For example, he is shown cutting off his finger print. Already this shows that he has done something and he doesn't want to get caught for doing it. At the start it opens up with a sort of old fashioned timer that is going tick tock. This make the scene feel very eary for the audience and it makes them want to watch on. There is not a certain soundtrack for the credits but there are lots of uncomfortable sound effects. This makes it hard for the audience to relax due to the suspense of the sound effects as they grow throughout the scene. These sound effects match the images that are on display as they are also mysterious and disturbing. The camera angle never shows the identity (the face) of the character so he remains unknown. This helps create suspense in the film as the audience will have to wait to find out who this mysterious character actually is.
The credits end with a high tense sound which then transitions into a long shot of the city where this film is set. It then has diegetic sound of police sirens in the city so that this creates an atmosphere.
The two protagonists are detectives, Detective Mills and  Detective Somerset. Both of these characters have completely the opposite personalities. Detective Mills is a hothead and is a character that is not respected. He always wants to fix everything. Detective Somerset is a nearly retired detective that only has 7 days left on the job hence why the title of the film is Se7en. He loves his job and throughout the film you get to know the real Somerset and not the Detective Somerset. This is shown when he goes to dinner with Detective Mills and his wife.

Preliminary task evaluation

1.What is the 180-degree rule? A match on action? And eye line match? And a shot-reverse-shot?

The 180-degree rule is a rule that should be followed in all aspects of film making. It is a very important rule. It is the idea that you can only film on one side and not the other so none of the props and characters look like they have changed position. 

A match on action shot where one bit of the scene is split into two different shots to show it from a different angle. An example of a match on action shot is someone going to pick up there phone in one shot and then changing to a different shot when he has got his hand on it. 

An eye line match it where the eyes have to be level in the shot. For example if there is two people talking to each other in a scene, it has to look like they are looking into each others eyes. 

A shot-reverse-shot is where one character is shown to be looking at another character and the other character is looking back who only has the back of their head shown usually. helps create tension and an element of suspense.

2.Describe how you incorporated (the shots above) into your final film?

We used the 180-degree rule throughout the whole film as we filmed it all on one side. We used the match on action shot when the phone was exchanged from one character to the other character. The first shot is a two shot and then changes to a low angle shot when the phone is being passed over. We used the eye line match and a shot-reverse-shot in the same scene when the two characters are speaking to each other. This was good because it showed the focus on the characters face after being told what to do.

3.How did the film making process go, in terms of filming shots from the storyboard and filming around college?

The film making process went well because we had planned using a storyboard beforehand so we all had a clear idea of the storyline and what our roles in the film were. For example we planned a close up shot of one of the characters opening the locker whilst the camera was in it so this helped boost the intensity of the scene. However, whilst we were filming around the college we though of new ideas which helped improve our film so some of the shots were not presented on the storyboard. The area we used in the college was suitable for the film and allowed the filming to be done at a higher quality. 

4.What did you learn about video editing on Adobe Premiere?

I learned how to edit clips and put them together into an actual film. This included adding in transitions and music. The music and sound affects we added in were suitable to the film and it helped create suspense. We also learned how to add titles to the end of the film so we could have credits to shows who had which roles. We learned how to put the whole film together in one piece.

David Lynch - Blue velvet

In the opening scene of blue velvet it shows the happy, suburban America in around the time of the 1960s.  At the start of the scene there is a white fence with red roses and a blue sky, which is the typical red, blue and white American flag.  The roses shown in this shot could represent love, which could represent what could happen later on in the film.  However it could also represent loss of love as it is a mysterious scene and doesn’t give away much for what could happen next.  The yellow lilies represent death which could also link to what happens later on the film. The lilies contradict the scene as everyone seems happy and the jolly music shows the positive atmosphere.

Everyone seems happy which shows this is a safe place and everyone is friendly which shows the ideal, peaceful America at this time. This is used to hide the other side of America as this is the typical stereotype of what America was like. Other sides of America are not portrayed as they don’t want America to be viewed like that. This is because there was lots of gang crime at this time. Even when the fire engine passes the house the firemen wave at people and he has his dog on there with him, which shows there is never any danger and there is no rush to get around. However the scene does show it patrolling around so it therefore forebodes that there is danger around. The fire engine is also shown driving past the house which shows that it might be needed later on in the film to help. It is an old fashioned fire engine, which give the audience a feel for what time period this is set in.
It then shows a normal male who seems like he is a late adult doing the gardening peacefully and nicely. However he gets the hose pipe tangled in the bush and the atmosphere seems to change. This is because as soon as this happens the happy music seems to get quieter and the tone of music seems to change.
When the camera goes through the house it shows a gun on the TV which could show what might happen later on in the film as the music seems to stop for a second when it shows the gun.
When the camera goes back out of the house it focuses on the hose to make it seem like that is going to cause danger for the man but it becomes irrelevant it shows the man fall to the floor instead. The director keeps it mysterious as to what happened to him so it makes the audience want to watch on to see what happened. After he has fell, the dog jumps on him and starts drinking the water aggressively in slow motion which could also link to the fact that they don’t have to keep an eye on their dogs as they know nothing will happen to them. As it focuses on the dog it could also show the lack of importance the man has in the film.
After the man has fallen the camera starts to go through the grass and then tense music starts to play but before you get to the end, the scene ends so it puts the audience at ease to carry on watching it.