Dear Moderator,

This blog belongs to Jennifer Hutton and I worked with Darren Parker and Pauline Wiley to create an opening sequence of a film noir genre lasting approximately two minutes including titles. You can use the pages I have created at the top of my blog to navigate my research, planning, construction and evaluation. I used Wix to present my evaluation and this is nest viewed using CHROME internet browser. I hope you enjoy my work.

Regards, Jennifer Hutton

WIX EVALUATION PRESENTATION

Wix Evaluation

QUESTION 7 - FINAL (VIDEO)

QUESTION 6 - FINAL (GLOGSTER)

QUESTION 5 - FINAL (PREZI)

QUESTION 4 - FINAL (POWERPOINT)

QUESTION 3 - FINAL (PREZI)

QUESTION 2 - FINAL (GLOGSTER)

QUESTION 1 - FINAL (VIDEO)

FINAL CUT

I find the material is suitable for the target audience and task because our target audience is mainly 25-50 year olds in which I believe the final cut is suitable.
For my primary research we sent out a questionnaire to all students of Hartlepool Sixth Form College to get their opinions on how they prefer Film Noirs whether it be old fashioned or contempory (neo-noir). With this research we discovered that 16-18 year olds prefer neo-noirs such as Se7en. To incorporate the opinions of 16-18 year olds (students) to 25-50 year olds (staff of college) we have used young actors and a modern storyline to appeal to the younger audience and we have also put our film in black and white to add that old fashioned noir convention to appeal to the older audience.

I feel that the use of titles have been successful. After studying the title timeline of Se7en, we found how films put their titles at the beginning in a specific order, in which we copied and replaced with our own names for our sequence. All of the titles are the correct time apart and show the relevant jobs we all participated in. 

The sound we used was created on GarageBand and then submitted to sound cloud to be used in our sequence. The instrument used was a piano, used in a low key to add effectiveness to the sorrowful mood we were trying to create. The music I feel fits well with the way I have edited the sequence, in places (e.g. The mirror dropping scene) the music was put to silent to enhance the sound of the mirror almost smashing, I believe that was a clever technique. 

Some of the shots in the sequence represent film noir well, for example in the opening scene after the graphic match from the wanted poster to the kidnapper, the kidnapper is just a silhouette, with just a noticeable outline of his trench coat and trilby hat. We have used this shot because you can see the kidnappers face with is a convention of film noir as it has kept the antagonist's identity a mystery. This shot was also taken at a low angle to show that this antagonist may hold more power than the other characters. 

We have paid a lot of attention to mise en scene in our sequence with it being a film noir, they have more specific costumes that a horror for example. We have used suits and dresses appropriate for the sequence and the time period to make it seem more realistic to the audience.

QUESTION 7 - Rough Edit

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

I feel that from the prelim task, the majority of shots I have used have definitely improved. Specific shots such as low angles, long shots etc. have improved dramatically. This is noted through the steadiness of the camera throughout the sequence. For example in the opening scene where a graphic match occurs, even though a graphic match is considered editing, we still had to line up the shots of the picture of the wanted poster with the low angle of ‘the bad guy’ and I think that those shots and the zoom was very successful and there is an evident amount of progression from the prelim task.

When using the equipment for this sequence, it was only the second time we has used it, first as the prelim task, however when it came to filming we were much more confident when using the equipment. I think we were more confident because we have learnt from our previous mistakes that we made in our prelim task. An example of us using the equipment better is the noticeable improvement in continuity. E.g. the running away scene is very smooth and is easy to understand and follow the storyline and what is happening to Nancy.

The brief for our coursework was to create an opening sequence of approximately 2 minutes in length of either a film noir or horror genre. Our opening sequence was a film noir of 2:13 minutes in length. I believe that the sequence meets all of the criteria asked in the brief. To state that the genre was clear in the opening sequence we have used several conventions such as; matches, black and white film, low angles, silhouettes and a strong declaration of power.

 The planning stage in the research into the genre was crucial to understand what elements we needed to put in our opening sequence. To comprehend the genre we presented the research we found through looking at old and modern noir films and see what they had in common and what they challenged by putting it on a Prezi so it was like step through step guidance of how successful noirs were made. Detailed planning helps produce a successful film, like ours, by making sure you don’t step over into another genre. The detailed planning not only gave us conventions to use but also specific shots that label a noir clearly. All of this planning helped the process in whole a lot smoother, which always leads to a successful film.

This question will be presented through an online slideshow presentation to take the audience through our answer step by step.

QUESTION 6 - Rough Edit

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What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

The strengths of the camera equipment was that it was portable so we were able to move easily with the camera, without using any added equipment such as a jib, also a very good battery length which meant we could record for a long period of time without needing to stop and charge the batteries. However, the camera equipment was not waterproof so if we wanted to film when it was raining we couldn’t. The quality of the camera wasn’t the best meaning the film lacked a professional graphical quality. During our time of filming the opening sequence we faced a few problems, but the main problem was trying to find the right date and time that all the actors could make, as we scheduled a few times before our final filming process that had to be cancelled due to the actors saying they couldn’t attend to film on that day. Furthermore, another problem was that the weather delayed our filming time; due to the fact that it was snowing and the cameras were not waterproof this meant that we struggled to hit the deadline but we managed in the end. Our original idea for the opening sequence was going to be well over the set time, so we decided to cut bits of the opening sequence out which meant it would shorten the length. When we filmed the final edit of our opening sequence we didn’t use and new equipment to enhance the film due to the lack of time we had and the fact that we didn’t really need to use any of the equipment because the film was of good standard. The editing software we used to produce the final cut of our opening sequence was final cut. This software was good enough to produce the type of project we wanted to create. We have learnt how to change the saturation of the film by putting it into black and white we also learnt how to use the software appropriately and to a good standard. I found the software Garageband easy and useful after I got my head around how to use it; Garageband has set loops that I mainly used to create the soundtrack for the film. The challenge I faced was finding the correct loops that would be genre specific to the film.

This question will be presented through a video, to show the audience our examples while we explain the point.

QUESTION 5 - Rough Edit

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How did you attract/address your audience?

My production is aimed at 25 to 30 year old males, this is because this is the average age of a film viewer, we aimed it at this audience because it gave us a larger chance of attracting viewers; and also the classic noir films are seen to be viewed by a more mature audience. The femme fatale would appeal to the men because she plays a seductive and sexy character. The use of violence in the film would appeal to the audience because it is natural for males to like high fighting and violence scenes with guns and knives. The audience are able to put themselves in the position of the young and vulnerable girl, they are allowed to witness the possible kidnap of the young girl but in the opening sequence it is not clear whether the girl is captured or manages to escape. This has the impact of suspense for the audience and they are on edge throughout. The incidental soundtrack, low angle shots and low-key lighting built up the suspense of the film throughout. Although the majority of the people we surveyed were aged 16-18 we chose our target audience to be 25 to 30 year old males this is because the noir genre is more suited to a mature audience. From the feedback we received most people wanted our film to follow the narrative of detective and crime so following the data we received form this online survey we plotted and crated the film to this favorite narrative and we have received positive feedback from doing so.  

This question shall be presented via prezi, we are using prezi to easily show the audience the flow of the answer.

QUESTION 4 - Rough Edit

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Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our media product is 25-30 year olds; we chose this age group because Noir is more of a sophisticated genre. We think 25-30 year olds will most likely understand a more complex storyline compared to teenagers. This links back to question 2 about age because adults are expected to understand it better. Films that are similar to our opening sequence ‘The disappearance of Nancy Adams’ are ‘The Big Combo’ and ‘Se7en’. In my audience research I found out that Se7en is the most popular film Noir preferred by my audience; we incorporated this by making our opening sequence more modern. Both these Noirs link into ours because they are also aimed mainly at adults because of the inappropriate violent scenes shown; this type of genre will be enjoyed and understood a lot more by an older audience. Another Noir is LA Confidential, which is actually what our opening sequence is based on; the target audience for this is around the same as ours because again there are a lot of inappropriate scenes such as violence. In my audience research I also found out that most people prefer crime and detective type themes, tried to incorporate our film by creating it with that narrative. I also found out that my audiences wanted to see a busy city for film Noir therefor we tried to use sounds to make it seem like a busy city as we don’t live in one and also they preferred it to be set in New york but as we could not make that happen, we tried to use accents. 

This question will be presented through an audio tape of us explaining more about the audience.

QUESTION 3 - Rough Edit

What kind of Media Institution might distribute your media product and why?

--> My media production would be something that could be produced by a Hollywood studio because the story line fits the iconography of the genre that we chose to produce our final edit of our opening sequence by the mise en scene. By the costume of each character the audience is clearly able to see that the film is of the noir genre, for instance the villain wears a suspicious coat, the young girl is the femme fatale who is a promiscuous trouble making cheat, this is highlighted by her short dress and her constantly checking herself in the mirror which suggests she is image conscious. The opening sequence is mainly shot in low-key lighting this is because it portrays the stereotype of the genre. It is also filmed in black and white, which highlights the fact that it is a classic noir film. All these conventions would make a solid noir film that any big studio would want to produce. The film that we created has good potential to become a film shown on the television because the visual styles of a stereotypical classic noir are clearly shown within the final edit of our opening sequence and it matches the criteria of the genre this makes the film appeal to the target audience. This film would not be released on the Internet only because it has great potential and could bring in high revenue streams. The film would be released because it offers great opportunities for franchises and companies to create products of the film such as merchandise ranging from DVD’s, posters, t-shirts and other consumer goods. This would make an added profit for the film. In conclusion, the key visual styles of the genre are low-key lighting; this creates a mysterious and sinister mood. On the dominating male character a lot of low angle shots are used this is because it gives a sense of power and authority. A shot of characters reflection in a mirror creates suspense and shock to the audience. The time of a classic noir film is usually set in the 1940’s/50’s this is the iconography of the genre so our final edit needed to look and feel it was shot in 1950’s America. 


This question shall be presented as a Prezi, so we can vary our evaluation by showing a slideshow rather than an essay.

QUESTION 2 - Rough Edit

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How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our opening sequence, gender is represented in a stereotypical way because when they walk into the bar, you notice that the men walk in before the women; this shows that they are superior to Nancy and Rita. Also when they all sit down at the table, Walter stands up and asks everyone what they want to drink, this is when Henry responds with ‘’we’ll have the usual’’. This shows dominance on Henry behalf because he answers before Rita has a chance to, it shows he’s taking charge.  I think Walter shows a sense of authority here because he’s the one who takes charge of asking/getting the drinks. However, dominance is also shown when we see a low angle of the bad guy, this shows ascendancy.

Also in our opening sequence, class is represented by how they are dressed, this shows that they are first class because the men wore suits and the women wore dresses. Class is also represented by the way the actors spoke, their facial expressions and the way they presented themselves.  Class is also shown with some of the camera shots we used like close ups,  we can see the expressions on their faces which can portray them as somewhat arrogant.

  

Age is also represented in our opening sequence; we used 17 year olds because they would be able to understand it more as it is more of a sophisticated storyline. We used mise en scene not only to show conventions of noir but to also make the actors we used look older than they really are by dressing them in suits and dresses. I also think some of the camera angles we used in our opening sequence show their class because

Race is represented in our opening sequence because we have used white British actors only. This challenges the conventions of La Noir’s because we usually see American actors only. 

Question 2 will be presented by using Glogster, this way we can easily show how each social group effected our film.

QUESTION 1 - Rough Edit

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In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products?

In this opening sequence we were trying to incorporate generic conventions of film noir and try to develop (modernize) them to make the sequence look more contempory.

In first scene after the graphic match of the wanted poster when we are first greeted with what we are led to believe is ‘the bad guy’, revealing a low angle of this ‘bad guy’ which is a generic convention on film noir as it shows that he may have the upper hand/more power that any of the other characters in the sequence because. In the same scene, the mise en scene shows a silhouette of ‘the bad guy’ and clearly shows the outline of him wearing a trench coat and a trilby hat to hide is identity further from the audience, which is another classic convention of film noir.

From the primary research I carried out by creating and sending out a questionnaire via email to students around Hartlepool Sixth Form College to find peoples opinions and preferences on film noir. We discovered that the audience prefers modern noirs such as ‘Se7en’ and ‘The Usual Suspects’. By using conventions of film noir we have tried to indicate that ‘Se7en’ has influenced our work; for example, we have kept ‘the bad guy’s’ identity hidden, which in ‘Se7en’ John Doe’s identity is remained a mystery until the end of the film. This is also a convention of film noir because it adds to the mystery of his identity.

The subgenre we have tried to aim for is a mixture between a detective mystery; this element comes from how Walter, Nancy’s husband, has gone to look for her, therefore he takes the role of the detective, and tries to solve the mystery of her disappearance. The other subgenre we are trying to incorporate is a suspense-thriller; this element comes from how the identity of ‘the bad guy’ is always kept hidden, therefore it builds suspense and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats wanting to find out more. When I showed the final cut to my friends, the shared comment from them all was that they all wanted to see more, more than an opening sequence. So to demonstration these subgenres we used conventions of film noir such as hidden identities, which involves the audience, perhaps by misleading them to believe and accuse the wrong character.

We have challenged classic noir conventions mainly my not including a main protagonist. In film noir, whether they’re contempory or old fashioned, a protagonist is always included, mainly a detective character; by not including one, we have edgily challenged the convention of noir as a protagonist is usually expected. However when Walter goes looking for Nancy he kind of takes over the role of the protagonist but it isn’t made clear, it is left open for interpretation.  

Our evaluation will be presented on a Wix in which we will present our Question 1 as a video, this will involve us showing clips of our film that we have used as examples in our evaluation and have us talking over the footage to explain why we have used these examples.

RISK ASSESSMENT

Risk assessment from paulinewiley

This is our risk assessment for our opening sequence, here we are evaluating the potential risks that could occur during the making of the opening sequence.

ROUGH CUT 2

This is the second rough cut for our opening sequence. This is labelled as Rough Cut 2 because even though this will be almost identical to our Final Cut but we need feedback so it can be improved to create our Final Cut.

BLACK AND WHITE

One of the final things I need to do to complete my final cut, changing it to black and white. I'm changing it to black and white because it is a classic convention of film noir, when someone thinks of a film noir, according to my primary research, is they expect it to look old fashioned and in black and white. By doing this I am achieving my primary research of what my audience are looking for.

ANIMATIC

This animatic is basically a spoken version of our storyboard which we have applied to our rough cut. Another storyboard and animatic will be made for our final cut.

FINAL SEQUENCE EDITED

The final sequence is completed pieced together, just sound and titles need to be completed.

SOUNDTRACK 2

Running Away by Jenhutton This is the soundtrack we are planning of using for the kidnapping scene due to the minor tone of the piano.

EDITING SO FAR

One of our last days to edit. This lesson I'm trying to get it all edited and in black and white and I will add the titles tomorrow.

PRE-LIM

This is our Pre-Lim task that we completed in October 2012, one of our first projects in media studies. This is an example of our work using different shots and techniques, some of which we will apply to our opening sequence.

EDITING

Day 2 of editing our final cut.

PROPS LIST

This is a list of the props we have used and are planning to use again for our final cut. The props shown have been used to apply relevant mise on scene for the Noir genre.

COMPACT MIRROR

This is a compact mirror which we used in the reshoot of our opening sequence. We used this for reflections and the way we have used is adds mystery on the main characters behalf.

SCREEN GRABS OF SOUNDTRACK 1

 This screen grab shows what we clicked on to get to the loops we needed to suit the opening sequence. These different types of music we have used are all of a Noir convention, suiting the time period as well as the situation.

 This screen grab show the loops we used to create the sequence of music. All of the sound we will used is original and created on Garageband.

 This screen grab shows the final sequence that we have put together using the loops found under the different genres of music. This is Soundtrack 1 that we will use in our opening sequence.

SOUNDTRACK 1

Theme 1 by Jenhutton This is one of our options for a soundtrack to use in our opening sequence. This was created on Garageband in the 'Jazz' and 'Solo Piano' sections.

FINAL SEQUENCE

This is the final sequence for our opening sequence, all of it has been rendered and ready to compress to quick time.

RENDERING VIDEO

Screen shot of our final cut rendering to this mac. I have rendered each bit of footage as I have gone along, instead of waiting until I have gathered all he bit of footage to make our title sequence and then rendering at the end.

EDITING

An example of editing on final cut when we were deciding on which footage to use in our rough cut.

WANTED POSTER

This is the wanted poster that we are using in our opening sequence to add more mystery and danger to the character of the bad guy. This was created on word using a coffee stain image from Google images.

FILMING

Today we are going to film some footage for our final cut. Luckily the weather forecast says that we are due for rain which is good as it is a convention of film noir!!

SCREEN-GRAB

This is a shot from a previous opening sequence I have done. This is the kind of look that we are aiming for, for our opening sequence.

EDITING

This is a screen-grab of our opening sequence while we were editing. The shot seen at the top part of the screen is the beginning of the opening sequence.

BAD WEATHER

Due to bad weather conditions we cannot reshoot our opening sequence. The reshoot has been postponed until Wednesday 13th March. I could not get to the place where we would be shooting and it was too windy for the sound to be picked up.

ROUGH CUT 1

This is the first rough cut of our opening sequence. This rough cut was noticeably too dark, by brightening it, it would make the footage more grainy, and would make it look like we have paid poor attention to the quality. Therefore we are going to re-shoot on Wednesday 13th March. We are not going to film inside anymore due to the location being too dark. This rough cut was shot at The Studio in Hartlepool.  

RED PINEAPPLE PRODUCTIONS

Our very own original Company Logo. The image was taken from Google Images and then it was edited on Photoshop. I changed the colours but kept the layout and added the writing. The company name 'Red Pineapple Productions' we got from a Name Generator because we couldn't think or agree on a company name.

EDITING

First day of editing our rough cut after filming the day before. With Friday being the deadline we've got a lot of hard work to do.

TEAM MEETING

We have had a team meeting about a re-shoot for our film. as the previous rough cut was too dark, we have decided to redo it again on Monday 11th March. The storyline has been changes slightly. It will be much better.

FIRST DAY OF FILMING

Due to our group having no free time all together to shoot our opening sequence it has been left until today, Monday 4th March, but the majority of filming has been completed so now we can begin to edit :)

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

This shooting schedule goes through each shot in a bit more detail, for example; the location and mise en scene are all included in the shooting schedule. Basically all a shooting schedule is, is the storyboard but instead of using pictures, words and descriptions are added. My shooting schedule ables whoever reads it to picture each shot and what is in the shot in their head before watching the clip.

RECCE SHOTS

The recce shots here give the audience an idea of actors and extras and possible locations for the opening sequence. The photos have been changed to black and white to add a noir convention to the planning.

STORYBOARD

These storyboards show all of the shots, angles and movements that we have taken into consideration and are going to be used in our opening sequence. By planning each step with a storyboard, this makes it much easier when it comes to filming because you are one step ahead as you know what to do and how to frame each shot.

TREATMENT SHEET

A film noir title sequence from deez12130569

The treatment sheet here shows all of the planning so far, showing the locations we have chosen, the storyline to our opening sequence. By revealing the storyline in the planning stage gives the audience more of an idea of what we are trying to achieve and what message and meanings we are trying to portray using film noir. This all becomes clear through the treatment sheet.

CALL SHEETS

Call sheet from jenhutton

The call sheets show what we have planned on the day of shooting, e.g. Location, times, actors used and also costumes. The call sheets show our organisation for our filming days and also showing our preparation for filming. This basically proves that we are going into this with out eyes open and are prepared for any obstical.

AUDIENCE RESEARCH - SECONDARY

Fbbbbb from paulinewiley

Secondary research is where we have used other sources other than ourselves about previous audiences views on Film Noir. We have looked at this through our target audiences point of view.

PAULINE WILEY - 9 FRAME ANALYSIS

This is Pauline's 9 frame analysis, by each member of our group doing research into different Film Noir's widens our research therefore we will know how the conventions are used in different films rather than just one.

AUDIENCE RESEARCH - PRIMARY

Add caption

From the first graph, i can see that se7en is the most popular film noir that my audience has seen. I will incorporate this by making my movie more modern e.g. making my film a neo noir like Se7en. I could do this by filming it in colour and using more modern language and settings. However to also incorporate the rest of the audiences' views of the the other films I will use techniques from those films too, including their themes and settings.

From the second graph I can see that my audience's favorite narrative is a crime/detective theme.  I will incorporate this by making our film with that narrative. Using this information from my audience I can now plan my opening sequence further by now having a theme. Using this theme in my opening sequence may now appeal to my target audience as it is their choice what my film is based around.


From the third graph, the main responses came from 16-18 year old however there was a response from each age group' therefore i will make my movie suitable for all audiences. However as most of my responses came from 16-18 year olds I will make my film appeal to mainly that audience however will also include elements for the older audience. Making my film appeal to a much wider audience than some film noirs.

In the first graph I can see that my audiences prefer a busy city setting for a film noir, I will incorporate this by using sound e.g. cars and people, to make it seem like a busy city because as I don't live in a busy city i will have to improvise with the editing I have. I can find busy city sounds on GarageBand and i will put them over the top of my film as background sounds.


In the second graph I can see that my audiences expect to see a detective and a femme fatale in a film noir I will include this by putting characters of that stereotype in my film. By using these types of characters I can link this is with the theme; crime/detective. By incorporating these characters into my film it will appeal more to my target audience because it has come from their choices.


In the third graph I can see that the most popular city for a film noir to be set according to my audience is New York. Due to budget issues, not being able to go to New York, we will try and make it seem like our film is set in New York by making our actors use an American accent to make the setting seem more real to our audience, that it is actually set in New York.

Primary research shows what we have found out ourselves about audiences views on Film Noir and what they would prefer to see.

TITLE TIMELINE - SE7EN

As part of our research I have taken a look at the order in which the titles appear in the opening sequence of a Film Noir; Se7en (1995). This will help us when it comes to make our film opening as we will be able to place the titles in the typically correct order, making it both marketable and distributable.

1.    Introductory message / messages of thanks / prologue / contextual information relating to film
2.    Production / distribution companies
3.    Film's creator and title
4.    Lead actors
5.    Supporting actors / cameos
6.    Technical roles (i.e. sound, casting, wardrobe, etc.)
7.    Senior technical roles (music, photography, editors, screenplay writers, producers, always ends on film director)

DARREN PARKER - MICRO ANALYSIS

Shield for murder opening sequence analysis from deez12130569

This is Darren's micro analysis. By adding more research from different films we can see how the conventions of Film Noir is used by different perspectives.

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

By Pauline Wiley and Darren Parker
With this institutional research we can now see the success of the genre and when it was most popular. From this research we can see that Film Noir is a dying genre and the highlight of its time was in the 1940's.

9 FRAME ANALYSIS - THE USUAL SUSPECTS

9 frame analysis from jenhutton

This is my 9 frame analysis. By doing this I can see how even in every frame of a film noir, a convention has always managed to fit in, to make an appearance in every scene.

MICRO-ANALYSIS OF 'M' 1931

This is my micro analysis. Through this I have described each convention I had seen in this opening sequence.

CONVENTIONS OF FILM NOIR

A BRIEF HISTORY OF FILM NOIR

BLOG HUB

http://hsfcg3212011.blogspot.co.uk/

BRIEF

Create the opening sequence of a fiction film, including titles, lasting approximately 2 minutes.

MY GROUP

Pauline Wiley
Darren Parker