Main Production - Diary Entry 2 - Scene and Script

This lesson was to review what was said and proposed last lesson while making a few minor adjustments.
I was then fully updated on the proposed idea and thinking about how we could make all the scene and script possible for filming, as well as a group discussion about it to make everyone on the same understanding of what we were all thinking and so we all thought the same thing.

Chris then took the plan home that night and done an initial and basic script, which was our version one of what the character does, which was possible as there is only one character and also no dialogue.

Michael found a original, working old typewriter so we could use it as a prop in the scene, so it is more realistic.

Similar Products - Film Noir Posters

From this poster you can see it is set in Hollywood from the "a Hollywood Story" below the title and with the film strip where the title is, it reinforces that it is set in Hollywood. The evil glare that the women has at the top of the screen could suggest that she is the villain and evil during the film, she has a pale face with bright red hair and red lipstick, and red, this could symbolise blood or danger to the people she is staring at. The couple are holding each other and look worried in the film while staring up at the female so this could reinforce that she is the villain.

This poster shows clearly the two main characters in the film, they look like they are deeply in love and have been for a while, although, it also shows a third person in the poster staring at them which could represent a love triangle. The words "from the moment they met it was murder" and also the male in the two has a gun in his hand, this shows that maybe the second male to the right could be the one who has/will be murdered. This has a good way of getting the audience to go to the cinema to watch this film, at the top it shows the actors second names in bold capitals, this could mean that they are big stars and people will want to watch the film just because of them playing a main role.

Straight away when you see this poster your eyes are directed to the female in the middle, this shows that she will be a main part of the film. Surrounding her is several males which could show that they are all battling over her as they are all looking at her. The male on the left looks like a detective and a good person, but he has a gun in his hand which could show the audience that he might kill someone during the film. There is a black mystery figure in the background which could mean he will be the villain and is very mysterious and cautious on what he does.

Similar Products - 3 Film Noir Openings

Sunset Boulevard - Film Noir Opening

This opening shows all of the conventions of a Film Noir film. First of all it shows where it is set, as it is set in Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. This is the first convention, in america, usually it is Hollywood or New York where Film  Noir films are set. Another straight up convention that is shown straight away is the long scene where all the characters and actors names come up, this is very unlikely to be shown at the start of a movie in this day and age, so it is unique to this genre. After the credits are over then the film gets into its next convention of Film  Noir,  a crime or disruption, this is usual in all Film Noir films due to the detective work post to the shock.



Double Indemnity - Film Noir Opening

Straight away you can see that this film is set in a City - this is a convention to a Film  Noir film and is usual to every film. The fast paced music can inform the audience that something is wrong or someone is in a rush, then you are shown that this guess is correct by the car speeding and could give an in site to the whole movie ahead. The car is speeding and the "stop" sign is shown with plenty of time for the car to stop but he does not, also not caring about the rules of the road and nearly crashing shows it is urgent. This all emphasises that the character is daring and a risk taker. It does not indicate clearly who this man is, which means they use the enigma code theory to get the audience wondering and keeping their interests.

The Third Man - Film Noir Opening

The opening scene starts off with music playing, the music goes from slow to fast which could indicate how the whole movie will develop, from slow, to going fast paced. Also, the music is not your typical music, and seems like it is joke music, so this could show a potential theme in the movie of having a slight comedy side. Once the credits are over then it goes straight into the set of Vienna, a man talks in first person about the "Old Vienna" which shows that Vienna has recently changed and could give another hint about what the movie is about.

Similar Products - List of Film Noir Movies and 5 Film Noir Plots.

Film Noir Movies consist of;

• Sunset Boulevard 
• M
• The Third Man
• The Maltese Falcon
• Touch of Evil
• Notorious
• Ace in the Hole
• Double Indemnity

Plots of 5 Film Noir Movies:

The Maltese Falcon

Spade attempts to track down his partners killers, but then he gets involved with gangs trying to get a falcon sculpture known as the Maltese Falcon, he looks for clues for the murderers of his partner but during that period of time he gets more and more involved with the gangs and the hunt for the Maltese Falcon.

Sunset Boulevard

Set in Hollywood in the 50's, this movie is about a women named Norma Desmond. Norma thinks she is like a goddess and is really important, but once she gets hit by reality it changes and she turns into a nervous wreck.

M

Set in Berlin, there is a mass murderer loose that is killing all of the children, fast pace and intense, the police search for the killer through the film. With the increase in police the normal criminals who commit crime regularly  are getting worried they will get caught, so they help the police out so there is less patrols of police on the streets once the killer would have been caught.

Double Indemnity

Set in 1938 around a character called Walter Neff, which was part of an insurance company and very experienced at his job. Walter then meets his clients wife who immediately tries to seduce him, which leads to the wife having an affair with Walter. The wife then proposes to Walter that she will kill her husband so that she can inherit a big insurance claim, but doing this Walter then receives twice the amount.

The Third Man

Based on the character Holly Martins, he arrives in Vienna just after the war. Vienna suffered from being divided by the allies. He decided to go to Vienna from a invitation from his friend  Harry Lime, but once there he discovers that Harry has recently died in a traffic accident.

In all 5 Film Noir films I have noticed a common thing of death throughout, whether it is natural, an accident or even murder. In some of the films the relationships between the men and women is vital to show passion between the two genders and throughout the films, the passion between the men and women is normally the cause or reason for the death that occurs. Mostly all of Film Noir films are set in america, but as "The Third Man" shows some can be set in Europe which can be different to the stereotypical america set. All the films are based on detective work or investigation work, this makes it interesting to find out what has happened once you find the cause of the detectives working. 

Similar products - Conventions of film noir

Conventions of Film Noir consist of;

• Lighting
• Location
• Costumes
• Characteristics of actors
• The camera angles and shots.

Film Noir can be easily recognised by its popular colour scheme, usually black and white.

The lighting in Film Noir is normally dark with a few dim lights around where the writers and producers want the audience to see, everything in the films would be placed purposely so the lights would be there to indicate or show a certain part of the scene which can also hide oblivious messages or hints which could influence the enigma code theory onto the audience. 

This poster shows the lighting effect, the characters are dark so that it brings mystery to them and also gets the audience thinking who they are - yet the mist has lights behind it showing that it is not clear where they are, which enforces it being a complete mystery.

The location of Film Noir genre is usually in a city, out of the proportion of films this is normally in New York, this can influence the type of sub genres you see in the Film Noir movies, as crime and corruption is shown through several movies, it is stereotypical of them to be in a big city.

Costumes in every Film Noir movies are usually all the same, they are important to the film, and also hint to the audience key characteristics by what the characters wear. It is usual for the male characters to be wearing suits, with a coat and a top hat whereas for females wear wealthy clothing, which contributes to them being attractive. 

In Film Noir the camera work varies, the camera work is not normal compared to movies now and usually have strange angles/scenes, the camera angles they use are the Dutch Tilt, Wide angle, and also low and high angle. The camera angles have to coordinate with the lighting to create the desired effect that the producer and director wants.

In Film Noir it is certain that during the film a character/characters will be smoking a cigarette or a cigar. This throughout all Film Noir films is stereotypical.

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Main Production - Diary Entry 1 - Original Ideas

When we first got told about out main production about making an opening to a Film Noir task i was unable to attend the lesson. My group is Michael Raucci and Chris Howard. In this lesson they were told to brainstorm inital ideas to get a basic view of what the Film Noir opening would consist of.
The Ideas that were finalised are;

• A Simple Scene with a little action.
• The scene should be one place with possibilities of two scenes being used.
• The main character is rich and well known but then takes a dramatic event and his reputation is lowered.
• Male voice over as they will develop more mysteriousness.
• The voice over will be important to the scene and inform the audience what they need to know.

This is the basic plot that was come up with and with the consideration of the opening being developed into a feature film then it can easily be transformed.
Once i was able to see the plans then i agreed and thought they all were very good for initial ideas.
For the agenda of the week ahead then we will try and finalise all pre production that we need, which consists of characters, characters names, costumes, location, script, risk assessment, and a RECCE.

Similar Products - A definition of Film Noir

Film Noir was created by the French in the 1940s. A general convention of film noir was that they were detective/crime based or american thrillers. Most film noir movies were based in America.

Most film noir movies do not have much colour in them throughout as well as low lighting.

From seeing an opening to a film noir movie it was easily evaluated, you could analysis the clips by identifying the character types, oppositions and also enigma codes throughout. It also gave you a good indication of how the film will develop and also how the characters develop.