Final Product

This is the final outcome of our media coursework.

There was certainly some aspects of the film that could be improved but overall I am very happy with what we produced and what we have achieved in making this film opening.

Evaluation Question 7

Question 7:

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Our preliminary task required us to film a few scenes of someone walking down a hallway, opening a door and entering a room, sitting down and talking to another character using dialogue from a script, then getting up and leaving the room. Before we did this we were required to go through two stages, which was Research and Planning and Construction and Evaluation.
We had to create a storyboard on how we were going to film, basically a brief plan of our actions and how we were going to film them, we were also required to write a description of each scene along with the predicted camera shots e.g. pan and zoom.
This task also had another motive which was to introduce us to the more professional side of filming and editing and to get us familiar with the equipment, such as setting up a camera on a tripod and using the boom mic.

The camera shots we learnt about during this task includes shot reverse shot, match on action, the 180 degree rule, which is the line between characters which the camera man cannot cross as the perspectives of the audience would be wrong, and more common shots such as close ups and panning the camera, examples of these from our task are shown to the left.

These helped with our main production because we learnt how to do the shots properly and not make many mistakes, although it was still rather difficult to get the shots right.

The script used in our task was:

Person A:  Hi I've lost my memory stick, I thought I left it in IT but it is not there.

Person B: What does it look like? I think I've seen one around here before.

Person A: It's silver.

Person B: No, I haven't seen it. Sorry.

This task was not very difficult because of previous experience with a video camera, although some of the shots were difficult to get right on my own, as the angle or perspective would be wrong, but with tasks like these, practise makes perfect.
What I learnt from this task was how to control the camera, how to mount it up on a tripod, how to operate the boom mic, basic editing, story boarding and scripts.
I was taught how to control the camera and mount it up on a tripod by Mr. Corby who was our guide through this task, he showed me the different adjustments of the tripod to make it taller or shorter in order to capture a specific angle and how to make the panning motion and other movements smoother when using a tripod.
The operation of the boom mic was relatively easy, as the boom extends out to quite a long length which gives extra stability and the ability to hold the microphone over the character from a distance, this was quite hard to do at first because the mic would get caught in the camera's image, but with practise it became easier.
Basic editing was quite difficult at first, because of the amounts of options available made the software quite confusing but the basic movements of editing such as cutting out a take and dragging it into the production was quite easy, simple to do and accurate, this was all that we learnt from the task in terms of editing so far.
This then became a little more complex as we went into our main project I started to learn the more intricate side of editing, such as transitions i.e camera flashes and how to put them into your production and make them seem realistic.
The story boarding was simple to do, what we had to do was to draw a picture in the box provided of what the scene will contain, we then had to describe the scene and list the camera shots we were going to use, we had to do this for each scene.
Scripting was a little difficult when we learnt how to do it properly as the layout intended for scripts is different to that of regular word documents, but like many other things this became simple to do over time as we got used to the layout.
The script we used for our Preliminary task was only small and very simple and easy to learn quickly for our camera takes.

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Question 5:

How did you attract/address your audience?

During our planning process we interviewed one of our target audiences, Mr Healy, we interviewed him because he fitted within the estimated range of our target audience, which is class A/B, 35+ and male.  

The results we gathered from the end of the interview was a range of different opinions and interests on particular films.

This is a video of the interview that took place with Mr Healy.














The Questions we asked:

• What do you like seeing in a Noir film?

Mr Healy likes to see very well acted out characters, he stresses that this is the most important thing, he also likes to see characters that you can relate to empathize with.

• Which character stereotypes would you prefer?

Mr Healy believes that a Film Noir needs heroes, villains and love, he also thinks that a reluctant hero is very good for a Film Noir.

• Which Noir films would you consider your favourite and why?

The Big Sleep because it is very well acted, you can relate to the characters. Sin City because it is a more modern Film Noir and appeals to a more wider audience

• Are there certain types of sub-genres that you would prefer?

Mr Healy likes the original gangster film Noirs, he also believes terrorism is a more popular topic for film Noir e.g. like in Sin City, if you can bring in some sort of crime, make it modern like today, you can make the film Noir successful.

• Are there any types of favourite actors that you have from watching Film Noir?

Humphrey Bogart is Mr Healy's favourite actor, he described him as a legend.

• What are you bored of seeing in a Film Noir?

If you try to overdo the film, make it too popular or add too many special effects, it takes away from the film.

• What sort of signs would you associate with the Film Noir genre?

The black and white is a typical sign, it doesn't have to be done in black and white, the mood of the film such as it being sincere, the film shouldn't always be a happy ending, the ending needs to leave you thinking about the film.

• What would you prefer to see more of in a Noir Film, the action side or the romance side?

The film needs to have both sides, the main character has to be involved in the action, but at the same time has to get or not to get the girl.

The results we gathered gave us a new perspective on the genre as we talked about his likes and dislikes of the genre Film Noir we learnt not to put certain aspects of editing into our film opening, for example special effects are to not be put into the film, as it makes it too unrealistic or fake.
The results we obtained from this interview and previous other includes:
We have been given a few ideas to do with music, movies and TV. These ideas include keeping the music of Film Noir relatively traditional and original although there is the idea of mixing a modern techno style of music with the classic jazz to create a sub genre of music as they create a tense atmosphere.
We have also found from our results that Action movies are also favoured e.g. Indiana Jones and Bladerunner, and the least favoured movie genre to Noir watchers are horrors such as Insidious.
The main type of TV genre that we have found appeals most to Noir watchers is deduction or detective stories such as CSI or Sherlock Holmes, the least favoured are programs such as soaps.

This means that we tried to keep our film opening as original as possible and not using many aspects such as editing effects to make it look too modern.

The features we used within our film opening to excite or intrigue our audience includes regular conventions such as enigma, to interest the audience and win them over through curiosity, there are also those who love some form of graphic scenes such as bloody wounds, aspects such as these are used to draw in the audience in order to get them to watch more.

We would promote our film inside independent theatres, on posters, on the Internet e.g. Facebook page or running a blog and using YouTube, we would also use certain features of the opening to create a trailer to create more awareness and to also alert the mainstream audiences of this film in order to try to get some to watch it and see if it within their taste. 

The characters in our film opening were very traditional to the Film Noir genre, being relatively reluctant to being the good character.
The location of our film opening is widely based in a city area, or suburbs type area, but some is out in the open countryside, we did this to give the audience a sort of fresh view on Film Noir, as most typical films noirs take place in the inner city.
We used a closed narrative to create enigma and mystery, we did this using short sentences e.g. the first thing our main character says in narration is "I've had enough", this brings questions to mind such as What is he so fed up about?

We were planning to appeal to our targeted audience through enigma and graphic scenes shown to the left. This movie is meant for over 15's so we strive to add some bloody violence to the film opening to excite the audience, and create mystery around who the murderer is to pull in the audience and make them want to watch more.

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Question 2:

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents the White British ethnicity as all of the characters are within that group, there is a mixture of genders which are portrayed as they would be in a normal Noir Film.
The reason why there is just one ethnic group is because it was quite common in the 40/50's to have Noir films entirely focused on the upper class (A/B), which rarely contained any other ethnic groups apart from White British, in this case, we thought it best not to challenge any stereotypes.

The mix of genders portrays the female gender being played as victims (two) one of which is the main focus in the film, this could be classed as seeing the female gender as weak, whereas the male gender represents both good and evil, being the murderer is exploiting the female gender, and the detective is attempting to save them, this could also depict the female gender as weak as in many Noir films there was always a damsel in distress, this could be classed as a negative representation, this is very stereotypical for that era.
In terms of ethnicity this film opening has been made to copy the usual representations of Film Noir, meaning the majority are of white ethnicity, this shows whites as the dominant race, as was typical in 19040's Britain and America, this is obviously a very negative representation as it does not show equality and is very stereotypical of people's attitudes and behaviours in that era.
In terms of age our film opening is also very stereotypical of films from that era, as ours shows a middle aged upper class white male as the main character, this, also is a negative representation for gender and ethnicity, we also picked out the older age as the main character would have more experience in what he does, it was very rare in the 40's that anyone of a younger age, this is a negative representation because yet again it represents inequality through genders and ageism.

The clothes the characters wear are very stereotypical to the film genre, men wear suits, women wear dresses, the locations the characters are in are also relatively stereotypical to the Film Noir genre as the main victim is in a dark, derelict area where she is killed by the male murderer, as is the other female victim who is killed outside of a Cathedral, which is often judged as a quiet and unvisited area. Whereas our male victim was killed by the side of a river, in a relatively public place, this could be seen as a daring act by the murderer.

Because this film is aimed at the A/B class, it's character are also upper class as to have similarities to the audiences watching the film, we show this mainly by clothing and presentation of that character e.g. no scruffiness and the characters always have their appearance enhanced e.g. make-up or hair do's.

The music to represent each character varies e.g.Samantha Scarlett (main victim) has her own music track when her murder scene plays, this represents that she is unique or of importance to the film.
The lighting is relatively low key when the scenes take place inside representing negative moods, natural lighting is also used which tends to be bright, but can also be shady yet again representing the presence of negative emotions with each character.