For the final project in my group of four we created our film noir thriller style film opening and based the narrative around a hitman who has been set up for a killing which in fact was his next target.
Before the project a background research and a blog task I studied two examples of previous film noir openings. I chose to do both Double Indemnity and D.O.A, for the task I analysed how each builds tensions and shows the audience messages through clever cinematography, also I touched on how each manages to create an enigma which attracts the viewer to want to find out how a situation has been started in the first and inevitably how it is resolved. In Double Indemnity the start involves the main character Neff staggering towards his office and talking into a Dictaphone which acts as a voice later into the film and through the titles a shadow of Neff in shown walking on crutches in the background which is a further enigma instead of just being words on a screen so this is an example of using cinematography to attract audience. Also what is clever about the film is as well as using a non-linear narrative it also shows in the first few seconds of action via a roadside sign having light applied to it which in turn reveals the setting of the film which is Los Angeles
Whereas in D.O.A a man walks into a police station and through a long corridor during the titles until he reaches the Homicide division and declares to the officer in the office that he has been murdered which to the immediate jump of the music creates and enigma. This film as with double indemnity makes use of a non-linear narrative and uses mise-en-scene in the early few shots in the costumes of the actors being police uniforms to portray to the viewer that the man is in a police station.
So for the final project my group looked follow these classics examples whilst modernising them as well to fit the aim of the task. Therefore we decided to use just as in my idea for the opening a non-linear narrative to create an enigma. The enigma was the female laying on the floor of the dark room and cleverly the final shot of the opening is the reveal showing the face of the female. Just as in Double Indemnity we decided to have an attention grabbing start from the first shot which showed the female laying on the floor with her back turned which is intended to attract the attention the viewer just as the car weaving between other cars at through a road on Double Indemnity and Neff on crutches in the background of the titles. As with many noir thrillers the enigma used in our film opening was based around death/murder and this was central point to our storyline how the woman came to be killed.
Also the femme fatale in our film opening is a typical character as well as the male character being in the wrong place at the wrong time and one mistake leading to downhill spiral. To create these typical characters it was important the mise-en-scene was accurately made use of so that the audience saw the characters how we envisaged. So the femme fatale wearing the fur coat and dress helped to create the appearance of this typical noir character. Whereas the black jacket worn by the male character in the sequence was used to present a sense of mystery and wrongdoing to the audience.
As I mentioned a non-linear narrative was used for the opening sequence as well as using flashbacks to create the narrative also. Editing was therefore important to ensure the flow to the narrative made sense to the viewer so continuity editing used to achieve this with jump cuts being used also in a few of the flashbacks to help establish to the viewer that it was a flashback scene. Titles were used at the start and end of the opening and titles were edited over the final shot of the face of the female.
For cinematography in the sequence it was to focus on adequate camera placement and framing to ensure that the visual representation to the audience was good. As cameraman for the shots in the dark room where the female is laying on the floor I made sure I used the rule of thirds to frame the shots such as the shot where the male hitman character is shown examining the body to see if it matches the picture he has. In this shot it was important to use the lighting and setting as well as of course framing the shot to give a satisfactory representation.
In terms of sound the music used was slow starting but then becoming more upbeat to meet the action and tenseness of the opening. Police sirens are used at the end again in order to make the audience realise the hitman has been set up. A further use of sound is the voice over used throughout which are spaced out and in keep with the action going on for instance when the hitman receives the folder the voice of “that was supposed to be my last job” alerts the audience that either it wasn’t his last job or something went wrong along the way which therefore helps to create an enigma which the viewer will hopefully want to know more about.
The opening worked in developing ideas for classic noirs and updating them further into more broad readings. An example of this is the body at the start of the sequence which is used to immediately attract the attention of the viewer however using this at the start does differ slightly from noirs such as Double Indemnity and D.O.A more hinting and talking about death with the body actually being shown to the viewer. Another instance where the noirs conventions are developed is in the flashback showing the exchange of the folder which evidently also introduces another character to the audience in the character shown giving the folder to the hitman makes may make the viewer think he is masterminding the set up. This use of another characters differs from both Double Indemnity and D.O.A. which mainly establish one or two at the most characters so having three characters in the sequence all of importance develops the perhaps more common approach.
In the production of the sequence it was vital to establish what kinds of people were going to be presented in the opening. So we decided to use more working class characters just as many classic noirs had previously done in the past. The three characters in the opening very much challenge the classic examples of noirs in that they are different to more typical types of characters seen in noirs.
The hitman is seen as the more up to date character in his role, rather than wearing a suit and formal shoes, he is shown wearing jeans and casual shoes. This type of mise-en-scene was used to fit in with the more everyday teenager of today but at the same time the black jacket and general dark clothing acts to show the viewer that perhaps there has previously been a darker side to the character.
Moreover the femme fatale challenges classic examples of this type of character in that she is red headed whereas most femme fatale were seen to be either blonde or dark haired such as Phyllis in Double Indemnity being blonde. Although shown as being ginger not much else is revealed about the female character and there is a real sense of mystery surrounding the character only her clothing and back of her head are shown in the early shots and the face is not shown till the very final shot of the opening. This worked well I think in creating an enigma around the character.
As for the character shown on the phone to the hitman and exchanging the folder a further example is shown of challenging noirs conventions in this character being of an ethnic background which gives the opening a more modern and contemporary feel to it. However on the other hand the role in which this character was cast was intended to be more stereotypical is that the character is seen to be the instigator of the set-up which perhaps gives a questionable broad look on society in general.
As well as the choices having interesting points behind them and differing from for classics types of characters; using these types of characters does give the opening its own unique twist rather than just copying previous example. Additionally the narrative being revealed in a saturated flashback through editing helps to reveal more about the characters. As I mentioned costume helps to create character images and the sets chosen being streets and a park in particular help to relate to audience. Showing the opening from the point of view of the hitman using flashbacks and voiceovers does also aid in creating an effective visual representation for viewers.
Furthermore as my group were all young we made use of the types of characters which young people or teenagers maybe likely to be in a film when casting roles, such as the hitman getting tangled up in the wrong kind of surrounding, this did however work though as it linked well to the target audience for the opening which are also teenagers. In addition I do not think that not having older characters would have added to the effectiveness of the finished production as the plan behind our sequence was to have a young environment where a teenager being the hitman has somehow got caught up in and is now trying to escape from.
The idea of the sequence was aimed to create a feeling of an unknown underworld being the hitman and the boss like character or client of the hitman. This view of crime going on through teenagers is similar in a way to Brick (2005).
Furthermore the ideology behind the opening was based around classic noirs where the central character makes a mistake and the past catching up with him which was the hitman not being able to leave his past behind him and instead being set-up for a killing. The message therefore is that life will eventually catch up with you and you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Additionally this is shown with the hitman hearing the siren with blood on his hands.
If we were looking to distribute our film opening as an entire film or short film to the general public and more mass market finding a distributor which is likely to support a film of this kind would be important. Therefore I think that distributors such as Vertigo films and BBC films maybe the kind if companies that could help as primary resources.
Vertigo films were involved in distributing Outlaw which was a successful film in terms of the UK market and is based around crime just as my groups’ film opening, also the director of “The Football Factory” Nick Love was part of the creation of the company, and the Vertigo has gone on since its creation in 2002 to now produce low budget films.
BBC films are responsible for being the film making part of the BBC and targets bringing the best of British talent to the public. They have worked in films such as Fish Tank and StreetDance UK the former being based around teenage life and crime similarly to our production. Fish Tank was funded by both BBC films and the UK film council which develops and promotes the UK film industry from financial sources which includes the national lottery.
So if possible to entice companies such as the two I mentioned although their work with previous films is on a larger scale it would be a way into the more mass market for UK films. Also as with Fish Tank using two sources of funding to create the film could be helpful.
On the topic of distribution considering types of cinemas/festivals which are likely to promote the movie and/or show it to the public and more importantly where the target audience can be best reached is also crucial. For such a low budget film to get anywhere in the UK market targeting the correct of way of the film getting viewed is important this is because the film is not going to be able to get into major cinemas or necessary to a mass audience straight away so thinking about how to access to market will be something to consider.
As with low budget British films such as Colin (2008) which was made for just £45 but went on to be shown at cinemas following success at film festivals which lead to it being shown at the famous Cannes film festival in France similarly with our low budget film festivals would be the likely first choice of distribution. In terms of reaching the target audience using the national film week as with Fish Tank could prove helpful, if the film could get shown where teenagers are likely to be such as part of the film week this would allow teenagers to view it and hopefully obtain feedback also, however screenings at festivals would be the most likeliest resort for success for the film.
So therefore looking at using local festivals or even festivals from further afield would be the objective. Making use of the internet would help to locate these festivals and creating a website about the film or putting on a website could prove effective. Using similar to YouTube to stream the media may attract the audience although it would be difficult with the competition and if the intention was profit YouTube would not to the best option.
As for TV as an alternative source of distribution for the film, it would again be essential to think about what kinds of channels are likely to show the film, and indeed if these channels are likely to be view by the target audience of the film. Channels like E4 and BBC3 would therefore be the best choice as these channels have a mass teenage audience but it would though have to be considered what time the film could be shown. Although the violence is not mass in the opening and would not be particularly high in the rest of the film, it would still have to be thought that a film of this nature being a crime thriller is going to be shown at later in the day or night time, this may constraint the teenage crowd slightly but would reach the majority I feel. Dead Set was a spinoff series from Big Brother showed on E4 in 2008 and later channel 4 which was at night and although being about zombies it did appeal to youths particularly because of the violence showed. I think therefore if our film was to be shown on either BBC3 or E4 there is an audience for it and also it would differ from other shows as there is few if any examples of crime thriller with an entire teenage cast on TV.
Additionally analysing the target audience for the film was necessary in defining what sort out people would be most interested in watching the film and which it would appeal to the most. As the actors all are teenagers in the film we felt that teenagers as I mentioned previously should be the target audience.
Demographics and with marketing anything needed to thought about. So age would be teenagers likely to be around 15-20 as the high action, locations used such as the park as well as the hitman would hopefully find it interesting. Gender had to be considered also although as teenagers in general was the prime target market this was not so important however that said male may be the more likely as the crime side may appeal more to them but I do not think there would be a huge difference in the amount of male viewers compared the female as teenagers are the most common visitors to cinemas anyway and viewers of channels like BBC3 and E4 that I mentioned. Income would not be such a major issue unless the film made it to a cinema where prices can sometimes be high but teenagers generally go to but festivals would to low cost if any and most people have access to BBC3 and E4 on TV. Social class would be likely middle class but there is no particular target in this area. Lifestyles would be maybe teenagers to go to cinema are a responsibly regular basis or just have an interest in this type of film.
Socioeconomic status for the film would be again likely middle though it may appeal to lower and high class also. The majority of teenagers would probably fall under middle class as this class is perhaps the class reflected with the characters and surroundings in the film.
Another thing to consider in targeting the audience for the film is VALS (values attitudes and lifestyles). This can be broken down into different types of consumers under different categories. For this film as a teenage audience is the target I think firstly thinkers would be interested in the film, this is because there are many enigmas and twists to the narrative and the opening, so people you like to think about situations may enjoy this film. Strivers are a further section of audience who may favour a film of this nature, the story behind the hitman as with many other noirs is centred very much around money and wanting to escape a dangerous crime world, therefore people who strive for monetary success could be drawn to watch the film and plus youth such as teenagers will likely aim to be rich when they’re older. Believers may well also want to watch a film like this as the film is based on the beliefs of the hitman in thinking that he can escape the crime world he finds himself in with one last job, only to find that it is not that easy, so the messages in the film may speak to believers who may think crime does pay.
Further to this when targeting possible audiences of a film the type of viewer in terms of passive or active thinking must be considered. An active thinker will try to understand the narrative, messages and values which are in a film while a passive thinker will just watch the film and the action and may not think to greatly about what messages the film brings. With a film of this nature though I feel that an active audience who get more out of the film although that being said a passive viewer may enjoy some of the action as well as it is a thriller. However as thinkers may well enjoy this type of film due to the hidden readings in the narrative; it is likely there that an active audience would be more inclined to enjoy the film.
It is important to note that any film which is created and designed for viewing for the general public in cinemas must be reviewed first by the BBFC. They will examine the film and its contents and determine which rating is suitable for a film of its nature. For our film I think that a 15 rating would be the likely outcome of a review by the BBFC the violence in the film is not major but there are elements coupled with being a hitman in the film which may be seen as suggestive for an audience younger than 15. It would however be crucial if the film was released to ensure that the film meets 15 if not a younger age in order to be able to be viewed by as many teenagers as is possible which could mean that changes would have to be made to achieve this rating after an initial review by the BBFC.
Following a screening of our film opening to the rest of the media class we able to gather feedback on elements of the film which went well and which could still do with some improvement. This was helpful as our media class is of the age of the target audience of the film.
For editing the group liked the jump cuts are the hitman and unknown separately approaching the bench as they felt this broke up what could have been long drawn out footage. As for cinematography the shot zooming out on the female femme fatale character’s face worked well according to the group along with the establishing shot of the bench working to set the scene effectively. Mise-en-scene feedback was that the femme fatale’s fur coat was effective in creating the desired opinion of the character although with the fact that she was red headed worked in challenging noir classic, lighting works in noir style when the hitman finds the femme fatale and also there was good feedback on the lighting when the hitman puts the photo back in his jacket, the unknown character being ethnic the group thought was interesting casting and worked in creating a realistic storyline by this. However the group did report that the weapon the hitman is holding when entering the room where the femme fatale is not very visible and most of the group said they did not see the weapon on first viewing of the opening. In terms of sound the group said that they thought the music work well in the establishing shot of the bench and added feeling to the shot.
After assessing the ECMS of the opening the group went on to look at the production values or the professional look of the footage. They thought that that opening had generally good production and said the bench shot worked sound with the hitman approaching and unknown in the corner of the shot with the bench establishing shot looking professional also. Though they did point out there were some rather amateurish elements to the opening which could have been cleared up in production. One occurring when the shadow is seen in the corner of the seen as unknown approaches the bench and another being the jumpy shot as the hitman enters the building. These were spotted on editing by our group but we did the shadow was to important and the entering seen was only shot once and not realised until the editing was virtually finished though on reflection these were major errors by our group which should have been amended.
The group gave a satisfactory review of the narrative saying it was clear although character development of the hitman for instance getting into character for the hit on the femme fatale may have helped the narrative but otherwise they thought it was good.
Characters and representation revealed that not seeing much of the femme fatale character and particularly not seeing her face until the end worked well creating a mystery or enigma. The unknown character was said to be effective in his role in the opening also.
Genre feedback said that the “going too far” voiceover at the very end of the opening was effective. The lighting was said to help to sequence feel like a noir and cinematography in parts such as the scene with the hitman and femme fatale also helped to do this.
Then the group was asked to vote on what audience they thought the opening was aimed at and 15-25 was the result of voting. So this is pleasing that the group thought not only teenagers would be interested in watching the production but also 20+ people which would broaden the films potential markets.
For feedback the last section reviewed by the group on our noir was whether it worked as a film noir opening. This revealed that it was pretty successful as a noir opening. So the readings by classmates were generally in sync with what as a group we had hoped for.
Attracting the audience to the opening is vital so therefore there needs to be elements to the film which will achieve this. The narrative in the film involved thriller like action from the start which is aimed at addressing the needs of the target audience with teenagers being young a not necessarily wanting to watch of long drawn out opening to a film. Despite this action throughout the opening feedback still revealed that the narrative was easy to follow. Moreover the characters in the sequence relate to the audience further and although constraint on the casting with just four members of our group I think the characters portrayed teenage stereotype characters.
The themes, messages and ideology within the film very much worked alongside convectional noirs to address a younger audience such as teenager by the way it is represented. The essential idea behind the film is one wrong decision and showing what can happen in a life of crime this could relate to some teenagers in a similar situation therefore there even could be an educational reading of the film.
Additionally ECMS was used to attract and address the audience. Editing involved a lot of continuity editing and the generally quick pace editing to in keep with the thriller theme of the film. Jump cuts were used in the bench scene which feedback revealed worked well. The titles are interesting and put over the action mostly to avoid long drawn out footage in the sequence. Cinematography was effective throughout the style of the film was matched well by the shots and visual representation particularly in the bench scene and room scene with the hitman and the femme fatale was a scene which I shot in which we focused very much on representation. Mise-en-scene entailed focusing on costume which feedback showed was in fitting with the theme of the opening, each character was presented to meet the characteristics of them, and this worked successfully to address the audience in showing the personality of each character. On the subject of sound the most notable uses of it in the opening were the voiceovers and music which were both praised in the feedback. They made the sequence more interesting than just action and ensured the crowd were kept interested in particularly the voiceover so they did not lose interest.
In order to attract the audience and create audience pleasures set up the story of the film in the opening was crucial. To achieve this using enigma throughout the opening proved helpful, using shots such as in the opening the first shot of the female and the phone call shots, these both set up the story and tell the story through shots rather than dialogue.
When looking back to the first task of the year which was the preliminary task I feel I gained vast knowledge and understanding when comparing it to the work completed on the film opening. The most notable error which was made on the preliminary task was not shooting enough shots which resulted for not planning thoroughly enough before the task and thinking about what shots were needed. A further errors made in the preliminary was poor sound quality, visual representation and not taking enough care on the setting on the task. These errors in the next task the exchange were generally eradicated although errors picked up in this task were namely poor choice of music and not clearing enough narrative.
Moving onwards towards the film opening I made sure that adequate planning was carried out on this task in order to avoid making mistakes similar to those in previous tasks. So for the opening planning was made more in depth about what shots we wanted on the day of the shoot although we did go onto shoot further shot to add to the sequence at a later date. When shooting the shots shot length and quality needed to be considered in order to create a greater visual representation and make the sequence look like a noir which I think we were able to do. The setting of the opening was also carefully considered and making sure the set for each shot looked realistic and achieved what was desired for example when I shot the scene in the dark room I made sure the subjects was the most notable features to the scene and the setting was set up satisfactory.
As for sound in the opening I think the music we picked worked well and the research me and another in my group carried out to find the music was in the end worth the time invested. The voiceover which I had chosen for the opening ended up clear and worked well in sync with the action taking place in the opening. Although as feedback showed and similarly to the exchange task there was an error made by the group in the narrative, the wire held by the hitman was not visible to most viewers first time, which was similar to the mistake in the exchange where what was exchanged was not noticed. So I think planning about what weapon the hitman should use the sequence more carefully may well have paid off in ensuring more clarity to the sequence.
The planning which was carried in the task included writing a storyboard and script which I mentioned I completed as well as thinking of setting and whether it is accessible of the shoot day although with safety also, costume and other mise-en-scene elements such as lighting. These tasks were important to ensure that on the day of the shoot we as a group were prepared and this in turn helped to make the shoot day more organised, as we knew each task that needed to be carried out which helped with time management as well, so we did not run overtime.
As in the previous group tasks each member of my group had a specific job within the group which each required different roles. My job in the group was that of director which meant I was responsible for tasks such as the script in pre-production and writing the director’s part of the treatment. Perhaps through my most integral role was that of cameraman for much of the shots on the shoot day. As director I had to think more in depth when planning the scenes in the opening and how to structure in the script. I found on of the more difficult part to writing the script was deciding where to put the voiceover in the script, and it was important the script was accurate as that would be what we would use as a group as a guide to the action although with the storyboard which helped to create it, the script was though amended following editing to cater for the extra shots and changes in idea we had on the sequence. My director’s part of the treatment was also crucial as it told of the cinematography to be used in the opening and how the intended visual representation of a thriller would be achieved through the shots used amongst other things. As director I shot the beginning of the sequence as cameraman, however although I did shoot some of the flashbacks scenes such as the phone call I was also acting so I had to make sure the others in the group carried out the script and storyboard accurately when filming, meeting the mood of a noir of the day by using the shots we had planned was an important. Additionally I did pick with another the music to be used in the opening and edit some of the start part of the sequence.
The skills have I learnt during the production include how to write scripts by using the program Celtx. This proved helpful for my group and it was also the first time in which a script had been used in a task. In the production itself I furthered my camera skills shots some shots I had not before such as the close-ups at the start. Developing my skills with the camera I thought was the area where there was the most improvement also as director I was responsible to shoot a lot of the shots although everyone in the group shot parts of the sequence as they were required to in the task criteria. Using the lights to add effect and mood to shots as in classic noirs where lighting was a prominent feature to the productions was also a new skills I picked up during the task. I had not used the lights before in any of the previous tasks so using spot lights in this task was a new experience and I think the lighting which was an area praised in feedback worked very well in the opening. Lastly I picked up some more editing skills in editing part of the beginning of the sequence such as using the cut tool to split clips when editing on the timeline.
From the preliminary task at the starts of the year I feel that my understanding and use of EMCS and forms and conventions has developed greatly. It was vital to focus of the representation of the opening was required to be of the noir nature. So doing my research tasks on my blog following the preliminary task I feel helped massively in forming a greater understanding of what a noir style film is like and how contemporary examples have challenged previous examples. Looking back to the preliminary tasks areas such as mise-en-scene and sound were not focused on greatly but were vitally crucial in making the opening look and feel like a noir. In order to achieve this costume, props and setting were all important as well as lighting as I stated. Sound for the production required music to match the action and make in feel like a neo noir of sorts and voiceover to tell the story of the protagonist from his point of view. So when thinking of the voiceovers which me along with another did and I had to integrate in the script as dialogue it was important that the story, messages and values were all thought all also.
The academic and analytical which have learnt throughout the year and from the preliminary task include thinking in depth about what is intended by a piece of media and the readings behind it. Also understanding how different shots can be used instead of dialogue in order to address the audience of a media product. I have learnt as well how mood can be added to pieces of media through cleverly using ECMS such as lighting and mise-en-scene being combined together to add mood. When it come the film opening task thinking about how the messages and values could be instituted in the sequence was important and the task contrasted greatly from the basic first task of the preliminary. Using past classic and contemporary noirs as precedent for the production proved helpful in devising exactly how to go about approaching the opening.
The RAILING concepts were also something I thought about when planning the opening. The representation and institutions needed to resemble a thriller and look authentic. Audience were a key thing to think about also and there were presented by using the characters in the sequence. Language needed to be thought about and I think the voiceover used in the production were clever in that they contrasted to the type of voiceover that were heard in classic noirs and yet still reflected them such as “the worst thing about going too far is not knowing you already have” this is a contrast in that the characters often knew what they were doing was wrong in classic noirs. Ideology I think came across well and it was much clearer what had gone on in the opening compared to the preliminary task which was more of a quick random meeting in comparison. Narrative was clear enough I feel in the production and my understanding of it has I think greatly increased, which was shown in having the opening told in non-linear narrative as I had planned in my own film idea, a term I had not heard of at the beginning of the year. Finally genre I think was clear to see a crime thriller with a noir like twist to it which I think worked well, using knowledge from the reach tasks helped to achieve this feel, whilst adding the scenes similar to my idea with the body of the floor I think tells the viewer that the film is a the crime type.
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