Main Task- Montoya Downfall Evaluation

Main Task- Montoya Downfall Final Edit

Main Task- Montoya Downfall first edit

Preliminary Task- Gemini Evaluation

Preliminary Task- Gemini

The chase

Gemini Video

This is my preliminary task video- Gemini

Film Noir- Research

For our media production we have been set the task to film a 'Film Noir' production. The style of the genre is usually a hollywood crime drama and we decided to follow this convention and use it for our production as it makes our production stand out clearly as something in this genre.

Through reviewing and comparing over film Noir's we decided to base our production around 'Gun Crazy', this production is a 1950 film noir feature film starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall. This production is a story about the crime spree of a gun toting husband.

We wanted to follow along the lines of having a gang, who is being hunted down by a detective. These would typically follow conventional plot lines of a film noir production. Our production doesn't have a husband and wife but does have a gang leader and femme fatale that mildly link to these roles. however the main thing we took from this production is the gang culture.

From watching this clip,It emphasised the fact that hwe would need a femme fatale for our production. We decided to dress our film noir like that in this production, our femme fatale crystal is wearing a glamorous dress that makes her look elegant and dominant. Also from looking at this we found that all male characters must be wearing suits. So this made us want to use a gang as in conventional american gangland most of the males wear suits that are similiar to the suits seen in film noir.

From looking at some pictures we found the location we would want to use in our production.

 

From looking at a range of film noir's we think a bar scene is best. We had our main character 'Tony' walk up to a booth where the femme fatale and gang member are sitting to discuss his missing drugs. We think this is conventional for the genre and provides a conventional storyline with a slight twist in it as seen in our production.

Film Noir- Production Contribution

My production contributions are:

• Editor of 1st draft 
• Cameraman
• Storyboard 
• Part Shot List 
• Part production Schedule
• Producer of our production

Our group has worked well together and split roles equally giving everyone a fair chance to get good marks. This works well as everybody has similar amounts to do so isn't under as much pressure to get things done. We were very organised and on point especially on production day as we knew exactly what we wanted to do so did it swiftly and effectively in just over an hour. We finished editing quite early as we knew exactly what shots were needed and i labelled them accordingly. Altogether I think we all gave similar contributions to the production. Some of the aspects i left to my team members Stephen and Sam as i was away on a school trip, such as the sound for the production and the completion of the second draft.

Film Noir- Montoya Downfall First Draft

Film Noir- Post Production- Diary entry 1

   So far we have completed our draft edit for our production and left some faults so that we can make some improvemtents for our final video. I have spent quite a bit of time editing due to the other two memebers in my team not knowing much about the editing software adobe premier pro, and because i've worked with the software in year 10 and 11 it seemed obvious that i would do the bulk of the editing.
At the moment we are waiting to upload it to youtube but it keeps on freezing on upload so we are going to try another method to make sure we have it up by tomorow.
   To do with the editing all I need to do now it to add the music to the film, as the sides have been reformatted already. This won't take long at all therefore I will complete it after I get back from the school trip I'm on this week

Film Noir- Evaluation

My evaluation. I'm not here next week so had to do it early.
Jake Howells Film Noir Evaluation

Film Noir- Diary Entry 7

Over the past few days I've been working on my evaluation, I've had to start it early as I'm not here for most of next week so It must be completed and on youtube by tuesday for me.
The problem with this is i can't get any feedback from the class on our product to add into my evaluation which may cause me to loose marks. However I'm going to include this in my evaluation so the examiner knows i couldn't get the feedback and wont lower my marks due to not having any

Film Noir- Risk Assessment

Below is the risk assessment for our production, uploaded late due to lack of time.

Page 1 risk assessment

Page 2 risk assessment

Film Noir- Shoot pictures/info

These pictures show us setting up on the day of production on location at Sawtry Workingman's Club.

Picture of one actor and two of our crew setting up for shoot.

Similiar to previous picture just from another angle showing us setting up.

Film Noir- Props and Costumes

Our femme fatale was played by Emily Read. She will be wearing a black dress which fits the appearance of a conventional female character in a film noir production. Her appearance will be beautiful and striking to the audience which again fits the conventions. As important as the detectives and their hats, the femme fatale's hair needs to fit the 1940/50's look, this is key to producing a realistic attempt of film noir, it will also allow the producers to follow the typical conventions of film noir.

In Order to follow the convetions of a film noir production we must follow the males character. For our production we used what most males who acted in film noir producitons would have be it cigarettes. This is key in gaining the typical 1940/1950 look.



We Also decided that it would be appropriate if our lead character tony montoya would wear a trench coat, we all agreed that this would make our film look like it was set in the 1940/1950s which is most off all what we wanted it too look like. These are appropriate as most male characters in film noir movies would be seen wearing one.

Preliminary Task- Diary entry

During production me and fellow student Raja often stayed behind after school to edit and improve our blogs to achieve maximum marks on it.
When editing me and Tom both worked on it together to make sure we didn't forget anything such as cuts between scenes or music. We also stayed behind a few times to finish editing as we didn't have enough school time to complete it.

Film Noir- Location Conformation Extra Task

We planned to film at Sawtry Workingman's Club and as I live nearby I went to the club to receive conformation to film. I asked the manager/owner to sign a slip saying we could film which showed them we are professional and not joking around.

Film Noir- Recce

Below are some shots taken out our filming location indicating what will be done when we film our production. The shots were taken before filming and the location was chosen by us after seeing it as a worthy place to film.

Mid shot of booth where Crystal will sit

   The shot above shows where we will film most of our production.

Opening shot

This shot is where we will establish the characters and where the detectives first voice over will occur.

Film Noir -Storyboards

Below are the storyboards for our animation Montoya Downfall, created by myself.

Film Noir- Diary Entry 6

Today I stayed behind after school to continue the editing on our film 'Montoya Downfall'. In lesson we arranged the clips we needed and began to edit our film but I stayed behind and have almost completed the editing for our first draft.
Tonight I will also be uploading our late recce as I keep on forgetting to upload it, along with the storyboards and filming conformation. Risk assessment will be up tomorrow as we didn't realize we needed conformation from Mr Sheppard our teacher.

Film Noir- Diary Entry 5

Yesterday we filmed all of our production at the Sawtry Workingmans Club. It went well and was finished in about an hour due to most of our film being a continueous shot. The Club were fine with us filming and we took in place all safety cautions before filming. The risk assessment, storyboard, conformation to film at the club and recce are all done too and will be uploaded to the blog today or tomorow.     

Film Noir- Character Info

This is the list of the main actors in our production, their roles, gender, where they live and their mobile numbers.

Chris Lawrence (07889244844)-
 Male, 17, lives in Sawtry, plays Tony Montoya

Emily Read (07951485817)-
Female, 17, lives in Gidding, plays Crystal

Daniel Oloafe (07713587067)-
Male, 17, lives in Folksworth plays Hugo

Ollie Howells (07895393523)-
Male, 14, lives in Sawtry plays Support Henchman

Ryan Smith (07958312025)-
Male, 17, lives in Sawtry plays Detective

Film Noir- Shot List

Below is the shot list for our film Montoya Downfall

Film Noir- Shot List

Film Noir- Production Schedule

Below is the production schedule for our film Montoya Downfall

Film Noir- Production Schedule

Film Noir- Diary Entry 4

Me and Sam have just finished up the shot list and production schedule given to us by Stephen. We will upload them to the blog as soon as possible but at the moment are working on the storyboard and recce for the production.

In lesson work: Lighting workshop- lights

Key Light- This is the main light, the strongest and has the most influence on the look of a scene.

Fill Light- Secondary light and placed on the opposite side of the key. This usually has the scrim on it.

Back Light- Behind the head of the actor in shot.

Using Scrim- When filming a femme fatale scrim is ideal as it softens the shadows and lighting and gives a suave look to them. In the shot below the barn doors have also been partially closed to give a mysterious effect.

Lighting a villain- When lighting a villain you want the shadow to be large and the angle pointing up to make them look bigger such as in the photo below.

In lesson work: Lighting workshop

In the second lesson of the lighting workshop we learnt the different positioning of the lights and how they can portray your characters, along with some more rules listed below-

Lighting Safety:

1. NEVER mount one of the lights outdoors without someone manning it at all times
2. ALWAYS switch the light off when not in use
3. ALWAYS make sure the light is parallel with one of the legs
4. The lights are HOT so ALWAYS wear gloves
5. NEVER look directly into the light
6. ALWAYS warn people when you're going to switch the lights on
7. ALWAYS work with lights at a low level to start with
8. ALWAYS use a surge protector
9. NEVER try and replace a bulb
10. REMEMBER to include the lights in the risk assessment.

We learnt about the standard method of lighting in video film and photography, this is known as three point lighting.

The technique uses three lights, called the key light, fill light and back light.

From our group Stephen nominated to do the lighting workshop as only one person from the team needs to pass the workshop. Therefore Stephen will be in charge of lighting on shoot.

Film Noir- Diary Entry 3

Stephen has started on the shot list and production schedule, which we will finish tonight as we need to establish when we will be filming. Tonight I will also start the storyboards with Sam, Stephen isn't available due to work commitments.

Film Noir- Character Bio's

Here are the character bio's for the four main characters in our production. Tony Montoya the gang leader, Detective who is working undercover in the gang, crystal who is Tony's girlfriend and Hugo the lead henchman.

Character Bio of Gang Leader Tony Montoya:

Character Bio of Crystal Tony's Girlfriend:

Character Bio of Detective:

Character Bio of Lead Henchman Hugo:

Film Noir- Diary Entry 2

At the moment i am working on the character bios and have almost finsished them. As soon as i do i will upload them so the other members of the team can get them on their blog. Tomorow Sam is coming round so we can do the recce, storyboard and shot list for our production.

Film Noir- Diary Entry 1

Today me and Sam begun the character bio's, they are quite short as there isn't to much detail about most of the bad characters as we want them to be mysterious. We need to add pictures to the bio's but so far we aren't sure who our actors are so we are going to wait until we have definate actors before adding their pictures to the bio's.

Film Noir- In lesson work - Lighting workshop

In our last lesson we begun the lighting tutorial that gives you the information needed to use the lighting kit for our production. So far I've learned how to set up the lighting kit and how not to kill myself in the process.

I've learnt all the names and equipment that are included in the kit, which are:

-2x Redheads
-2x Stand
-2x Barn Door
-2x Bulb
-Power Lead
-2x Power Surge
-Gloves
-Set of Clips
-Set of Gels


I've learnt the uses of the kit, for example the scrim is used to dim out the lighting, which makes shadow less upfront and causes the light on the face to be duller.

Next lesson we are finishing the tutorial as we still have more to learn about the lighting kit. Below is an example of scrim and the typical lighting kit we will use in our production.

Film Noir- Similiar Products- Script Second Draft

For our second draft we changed the last line of the script because you cant really tell who that the detective is undercover, so we thought adding this line would make it perfectly clear that he is.

Montoya Downfall Second Draft

Film Noir- Similar Products- Script First Draft

Montoya Downfall Draft 1

Film Noir- Similiar Products- Questionnare

Below is an example of the questionnare I used to determine the style of film noir that would work best for my target audience.

Example of questionnare

From looking at hte results of hte questionnares I have a pretty clear idea of what characters i want in my film noir and who should be the main character in the opening. The chart below shows that the most liked character is the Gang leader, and as the henchman in the least liked it would be good if he were to be killed in the opening.

This next graph shows the age of the people I questioned which gives me a rough idea of the age of the target audience

From the questionnaire and the graphs I can see that the audience want something with a twist in it or some kind of mystery, so I think there will have to be a detective character in the opening at some point.

It would be good to have it set in hte gang hideout or bar so that the gang leader, henchman and femme fatale could all be in the opening as well really portraying a classic film noir.

Film Noir- My group for Production

For the production I'm working with Sam Morris and Stephen Page

Film Noir - Similar Products- Film Noir Poster Analysis

I've analysed some film noir posters and the things I've picked up on is that most of them are cartoon like with no real life images. There is a lot of attention on the titles in the posters with bright colors used to draw your attention, along with this most of the posters are in color where as the film are in black and white. This is because if a poster was in black and white it would be dull and unattractive to the audience therefore producers made the poster colorful to attract people.

I've also noticed that the characters shown in the posters aren't looking at you, there attention is always elsewhere making you wonder what is so important in the film to grab their attention. Another film that is common in film noir posters is that an attractive female, or femme fatale, is always in them. This convention of attractive females in glamorous dresses is brought through to film noir posters showing the importance of it throughout the genre.

There are some unconventional posters such as the big sleep poster that is in black and white, this is due to a very well known actor of the time, Humphrey Bogart, featuring in the film which gives it the right to be in black and white as his name alone attracts people to the poster.

Film Noir - Similar Products- Film Noir Openings

Opening 1- Touch of Evil



What I like about this opening is the use of only one shot throughout most of the opening, which shows the conventional lack of editing in film noirs. This would be someone I'd like to use in my film for instance walking through a bar or down a back alley.Also, i like how you don't see the villains face and you see his shadow flash across the wall which is a great effect.
I also like how their is music in the background that draws you in, along with the fact that you want to know when the bomb planted in the back of the car will go off. This gets the audiences attention and makes sure they aren't bored, as you are gripped as you think the bomb could go off at any point.
                                           

Opening 2- Sunset Boulevard



In the opening of this for about half of it there's just the credits that nowadays you'd find at the end of a film, however with film noir it is conventional for them to be at the beginning, this is something that could be used but it would look better if something was going on in the background so you have something that is pulling you in. What i do like about the opening is the narrator that tells you the background the Sunset Boulevard, and the first shot of the police cars going past as it quickly pans round to watch them pass. The camerawork and editing in this opening is quite unconventional for a film noir however it works well with the narrator in the background. The use of editing in the opening wasn't to obvious with the clever narrator in the background and this could be an idea for my film noir opening.

Opening 3- Double indemnity



From this trailer the things i liked was that the sign said stop way before the car was near the lights but he still went on as he must have been in a rush. This though is a metaphor for the whole film as he had time to stop and turn back but he didn't, these little metaphors and hidden messages could be used well in my opening.
The main character in the opening that is the detective figure is wearing the conventional hat and trench coat that is a must have for our opening as it is a very well known convention of the genre.
Another good thing from this opening is the seen in the lift where the shot doesn't change at all throughout their conversation, this shows more the conventional lack of editing seen in film noir that I'd like to use in my opening, its also a nice shot after that as it tracks out with the detective to look over a workplace, very common in film noir but works very well as you don't really want the editing to stand out.

Film Noir- Similar Products- Film noir basic plots

1- Sweet Smell of Success
The film transforms New York City into a dystopia soaked with jazz, smoke, and criminals.  We follow Sidney Falco, a press agent without the burdens of morality.  He is hired by J.J. Hunsecker, New York’s premier newspaper columnist, to stop his sister from marrying Steve Dallas, a fresh, young jazz guitarist.  So, Sidney plants some reefer on him and spreads rumors that he is a Communist.  Things work at first and the relationship is destroyed.

But that isn’t the end for Sidney- he is summoned to Hunsecker’s penthouse only to find the sister attempting suicide. Hunsecker walks in on Sidney saving her and accuses him of rape.  From there, fates are decided and lives are destroyed as the truth comes out.  In this powerful film, nobody is innocent.

A shot of Sydney in Sweet Smell of Success

2- The Big Heat

The Big Heat is one of the most intense noir films ever made.  It all starts with the death of a police sergeant.  The detective assigned to the case, Dave Bannion, thinks that foul play may be involved.  Bannion has reason to believe that a powerful gang of criminals has infiltrated the police force and bumped the sergeant off.  But the department’s higher ups force the case closed and one of the only witnesses willing to provide information is murdered.  Enraged, he insults the suspected mob boss only to have his wife killed with a car bomb as a result.  This puts him on a war path of furious vengeance as he swears to take the culprits down.  Using every method at his disposal and the help of the gangster’s girlfriend Debbie, he cuts a path of violence and anger through all the obstacles in his way. It was daring for its time and still shocking for those who watch it now.

The Big Heat poster

3- Pickup on South Street

On a crowded subway in New York , a small time pickpocket named Skip McCoy steals a wallet.  To him, it’s no big deal.  After all, it’s just another job for him.  Unbeknownst to him is the fact that the woman he robbed was carrying a microfilm of stolen top-secret government information that was destined for a group of Communists.  With the incredibly vital information in the hands of a common thief, both the police and the Communists start to track him down.  Too bad Mr. McCoy doesn’t care about the welfare of his country or his civic duty.  To him, it is an opportunity to make a bundle from the highest bidder.  As he slips away from the police and the Communists, it is up to Candy, the woman he robbed, to find him and get the microfilm back.

4- The Killers

The Killers starts with one of the most famous opening scenes in film noir history where two hit men invade a small town and kill The Swede. The Swede used to be a member of a gang of thieves whom he was pushed into betraying by femme fatale Kitty Collins Colfax.  Like so many film noir characters, the Swede is fully aware of his transgressions and knows that he cannot escape his fate.  And so he greets his punishment like a man instead of trying to escape from it, as so many other film noir characters would.  We then follow an investigator and a police detective as they struggle to track down his killers and bring them to justice.  The Killers is a powerful story that fully deserves it reputation as a classic film noir.

The Swede and a female actress in The Killers

5- Detour

Detour features all the great noir clichés: a down and out protagonist running from his past, a foul-tempered femme fatale, stylized dialogue, and a moody, bleak voiceover.  It deals with a hitchhiker played by Tom Neal.  He hitches a ride with a businessman one night who complains about his previous passenger, a crazy woman who scratched him.  Much to the hitchhiker’s dismay, the businessman dies.  He panics and throws his body into the desert and drives off.  Too bad his next passenger is a fiery redhead who asks him where the real driver of the car is.  She threatens to blackmail him because she knows that he has stolen the car.  In that moment, their destinies become linked and they plunge towards a tragic outcome that they cannot escape.  A filthy, messy production, Detour's flaws become its greatest strength.  It achieves a kind of transcendent power by wallowing in the filth of its story and creation.

From finding the plots of the best film noir films ever made I noticed that quite a few are to do with tracking down communists or showing htem as the enemy, as in 1950 America they were extremely anti communist and this is shown alot in the plots.

Some other things I noticed is that there are alot of criminals involved in film noir, many being the main characters. Along with criminals there are the detectives tracking them or solving the cases they caused.

Many seem to have a depressing plot with many people dying and without happy endings, but this is a good convention of film noir that makes it more realistic.

Source : http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-film-noir-movies.php#ixzz1jKlSywb7

Film Noir- Similar Products- Film Noir Conventions

Below are the Film Noir conventions I could think of after watching some trailers :

• Interesting Camea angles
• Black and White
• Narrator
• America
• Central City setting
• Filmed at night
• Minimal lighting

• No handheld shots
• Urgent tone
• Flirtatious, glamourous female actors

From analysing posters I found these conventions:

• Posters in colour to make it stand out
• Titles all stand out
• All have men and women in the poster
• Actors aren't looking at you, they are all looking away as if what they're looking at is more important.