Identifying an Audience for our Fairytale Neo-Noir

Making sure a film has the correct film rating is very important especially to parents that want to protect their children from sexual scenes, violence and disturbing images. Film ratings provide parents with advance information about the content of films to help them to determine what movies are appropriate for their children. In the case of films shown in the cinema, local authorities have the final legal authorisation over who can view a particular film. The majority of the time the local authorities have accepted the Board's recommendation for a certificate of film. However there have been some notable exceptions such as Last Tango in paris and The Exorcist in the 1970's that were classed as an X certificate, but the local authorities chose to ban the films. 

These classifications above are the regular British Board of Film Classification that were changed in 2003 compared to the ones that were in tradition since the 1980's. I believe that our film so far with planned it would come under a PG as there are no sexual scenes, just small talk and flirting. There is not much violence neither just a gun shot. However, some may say it will be a 12A or 12 because the storyline is about kidnapping. 

Props and Conventions of our Fairytale Neo-Noir

Autumn and I have decided that we wish to refuse the ideal general conventions of film noir and create our own neo-noir in the style of Little Red Riding Hood. We have discussed and agreed that we feel the photographs at least should be black and white with only red as the colour standing out. This is usually used to draw attention to the femme fatale, however it will draw more attention to Little Red, the innocent. We will edit the photographs on Adobe Photoshop together. The three photographs below are some quick examples of how we will use the red to draw attention:

The photographs are fully black and white only focusing on the red. We have decided to incorporate the convention of Sin City into our film. These images were taken in today's lesson when we were interested in playing around with colour. 

We have spoken about props for the photo shoot that is happening tonight and we have decided on using a long red skirt as a cape for Little Red. This will be in vibrant red in the photographs. We also believe that Little Red should have red nails and lips too. This may make the audience believe at first that she is the femme fatale. Leading it to mystery.

For the wolf we had rummaged through the drama studios and found a furry hat and a leather look, old waist coat. This waist coast looks dirty which is great for the wolf as he is supposed to be a wolf that is used to the great outdoors. We wanted the wolf to be walking around with a cigarette as well to show he is supposed to be the femme fatale as he will also be flirty towards Little Red. 

We are still unsure whether we are going to have the gran in the story and whether we are just going to leave her locked in the wardrobe screaming telling Little Red to run away and hide from the evil wolf. However, if we are to use the gran in the story we could use a soft, knitted shawl as it is a stereotypical grandma type of clothing. We could also add some big glasses too.

For the axe man we have decided he must have some kind of tool on him to show the film is modernised and because he is the girl next door saving the day. We think he should wear either tartan or blocks to make it seem like they are really in the forest. He should wear rough jeans and should have a dirty face and be tired out from all the work he has been doing all day.

The four photographs to the right are of some of the costumes we will be using to try and set the scene properly. This photograph was taken by Autumn.

Fairytale Neo-Noir Script Work

Autumn and I have started writing up a draft script of when we film our short film next week. We have decided to keep it short but sweet as we do not wish to make it too long, only a couple of minutes to keep the audiences attention. Here below are some photographs of Autumn's note book of the draft:

As you can see we have colour coded it. The red pen is obviously for Little Red Riding Hood, orange is for the wolf and blue are the stage directions. We found this much easier to coordinate when running through our lines. 

Reflective comment:
I still believe that we need to tweak this to give the short film it's full potential and to making it slightly longer. We also did not know what the wolf should say to Little Red because he should be flirting with her to get what he wants (her as his dinner). We also need to add much more detail and media terminology to create the best effects. I enjoyed this task because we could add our own imagination and how both Little Red and the wolf should act.

Planning Fairytale Neo-Noir

We have decided as a group (Autumn and I) that we are going to create a modern 2015 neo-noir of Little Red Riding Hood. To do this we will need to add film noir aspects into the short film therefore we have decided to change the characters around so that they are stock characters: the everyman (anti-hero) will be Little Red who is harmless, the wolf will be the femme fatale and the axe man will be the girl next door. We have decided to have Little Red as the everyman because she is very quiet and does not get into any trouble therefore having the femme fatale as the wolf trying to seduce her into having her as his dinner works perfectly because he is top of the food chain and that is his plan after all. The axe man in the original story ends up saving Little Red and her gran from the wolf so I have decided to make him the girl next door. Obviously the characters being different genders makes it slightly neo-noir. But we would like to get creative and make the film and photo shoots black and white and only have the red cape of Little Red's that is coloured a vibrant red, we realise this will be very difficult to do for the entire film. We have created a storyboard that can be seen below: 

These are photographs of the storyboard Autumn and I have drawn up about specific scenes we would like to include in our short film.

Scene 1: 

Little Red Riding Hood leaves her house. We have thought about using my front door as the setting and have it set in the evening when it is dark and gloomy. We want to capture this scene very mysteriously and would like to play with shadows.

Scene 2:

Here Red Riding Hood will be skipping into the woods, we have decided to use the Sprowston woods outside my house as it is hidden and discreet.

Scene 3:

Red Riding Hood bumps into the wolf and he startles her. This is where the scene will become much more dramatic and the audience will start to realise the stock characters. The expression on Red's face will need to be a dramatic shocked face to represent what will be coming soon.

Scene 4:

The wolf tries to seduce Little Red showing once again who the stock characters are with the wolf being the femme fatale this shows how we are creating this much more neo noir than original. I believe that the wolf should be smoking to create the atmosphere and seductive femme fatale.

Scene 5:

Little Red ignores the wolf and carries on her journey not aware that the wolf is behind watching her every step. We are thinking of eyeline-match here to show the wolf constantly watching her every move and many shadows with him in the background. This will create a dramatic yet horrific atmosphere for the audience.

Scene 6:

This will be our continuity task of having Little Red walking through a door and greeting the wolf in her grans rocking chair and having a short discussion. This will be a trial and we will most likely take this in the photography block and the studio.

Scene 7:

This is where the wolf if in the grans living room and is sat in the rocking chair still trying to seduce Red to be with him, when we all know his plan is to have her as a meal. Rather than a date. Here we could use many shadows in this scene and the smoke from the cigarette the wolf is smoking.

Scene 8:

This scene is when gran is screaming from the wardrobe that the wolf has locked her in. She is screaming for her granddaughter to run away and hide.

Scene 9:

The axe man turns up at the grans house as he hears the screaming and rescues Little Red and the gran. In this scene we could use many close-ups to show intimacy and the courage from the axe man.

Scene 10:

This scene will include a happy ever after for Little Red as we believe the everyman should get his chance with the girl next door. This scene will also have close-ups and focal zooms, for intimacy.

Reflective comment:
The next thing we will be doing is looking at writing up our script for the actual film we will create ourselves. However I will need to create the photo shoots over the week too as will need to create some photographs in the evenings in our spare time.

Job Roles in the Media Industry

I have been researching job roles in the media for some time now and realising just how many there are, thousands of jobs just in the media alone. So many are jobs the usual people do such as accountants and receptionists, even caterers. Therefore, I have put together a small Prezi about three of the most interesting roles I believe there are in media: unit skills photographer, make-up and hair artist and armourer. Please enjoy my Prezi.



Foleying

Foleying is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film and video in post-production to enhance audio quality. These sounds can be anything from footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. Every film uses foleying especially animation as the videos are created with no sound, the sound and effects are added on top of the video afterwards. Therefore I have found a foleying example that is also one of my favourite films. This video below is of foleying directed in Toy Story, how they do it and the importance of foleying. Please enjoy.



Reflective comment:
I have never heard of foleying before and just thought that the sound effects on films and episodes were real. I would like to create a short video of making a sound effect without use of any software such as shooting the sound of a gun shot. I believe that foleying is extremely interesting and must be a skilful job. I would like to watch some more foleying videos on the technique and on some of my other favourite films too.

Freeze Frame

The Great Gatsby Synopsis

Midwest native Nick Carraway arrives in 1922 New York, he is in search of the American dream. Nick moves next door to millionaire Gatsby and across the bay from his sweet cousin Daisy and her manipulative husband Tom. Therefore, Nick becomes drawn into the world of wealth and as he witnesses their illusions and deceit this film leads a tale of impossible love, dreams and great tragedy.

In the frozen photograph you can see both Gatsby and Daisy, Daisy of whom looks very lustful towards Gatsby as she is resting her fragile hands among her lips. Gatsby is positioned on the left in the frame, however he is not in focus. I believe the photographer has done this purposely because it shows that she is constantly on his mind, whether he likes that or not. Throughout the film the colour is very saturated this is usually done to show age to the film and they do this with camera effects and the colours that characters dress in. The distance between both Gatsby and Daisy shows they are now intimate and have been so before, Gatsby is longing over her as he is not focused. This is an over the shoulder shot which also shows he is watching her, gazing almost in this scene. I believe the shot is composed over the shoulder and with Jay Gatsby not focused because he has loved her all his life and all he wants is her back, throughout the film you can see all he does is try and win her over. If the shot were not composed from this angle I believe it would not be as capturing towards the audience. By the mise-en-scene of both characters in this freeze frame you can see both are wealthy, however both are not happy. The jewelry and elegant dress shows that she is a modest woman and is quite infatuated towards Gatsby. Lastly, the focus of the scene would be Daisy as she is in focus and so we can tell she is either about to start dialogue or there is meaning behind her smile.

Neo-Noir Film

Other than film noir there is also a much more recent genre that is extremely similar to that of film noir: neo-noir. This genre is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that use elements of film noir, but they have updated themes, content, style or media that were non-existent in film noirs in the 1940’s and 1950’s. We have looked at some neo-noir programmes and films that have many conventions of a film noir but sudden twists such as:

• Misfits Zombie Noir
• Bound
• Sin City
• Blade Runner
• Red Riding

Reflective comment:

I will adding an emaze of each film opening we have watched and include media vocabulary. The emaze will have all the conventions and unusual conventions of each film and what makes it so different to a film noir.

Film Noir General Characters

Throughout Film Noir there are a handful of characters that are especially important to the genre and the narrative. Each character plays a vital part of setting the scene and the script. The general characters are as follows:

The Everyman:

The everyman is often an ordinary individual that seems rather dull and has a normal profession such as a salesman. However, this individual gets less dull throughout the film as there is always a woman that distracts him and gets him in trouble. As the everyman is an ordinary character it makes it easy for him to be identified in the real world. When the genre of Film Noir first came about the men were often intrigued by these new American films because they can be relatable to them, (especially profession wise) making them feel they can do anything. An everyman often holds the role of protagonist but he is no hero, he is also often the narrator for the action.

The Femme Fatale:

The femme fatale is a stock character of a mysterious and sexy young woman whose charm ensnares her lovers. This character is linked with the everyman as she seduces him to carry out her little plan, which is often to kill her other half for his money. The femme fatale plays an important part of Film Noir because she is there to portray how many men thought women were acting after the war. They believed that they needed to send out a warning to men that all women should be brought back into their places: stay at home and look after the children whilst the men did all the work again. As you can see the Film Noir genre did not change this as many women now tend to have working roles. The femme fatale is often very flirtatious towards the everyman to make sure that she can keep an eye on him and keep her plan running smoothly.

The Girl Next Door:

This character is also typically a very young lady however; the girl next door is often polite and better for the everyman than the femme fatale is. Many get the two mixed up during the start of Film Noir films but towards the ending it is obvious which lady is who as the femme fatale often ends up killed, in danger or in some kind of trouble but the girl next door generally leaves the film harmless and possibly with the everyman.

The Henchmen/Henchman:

A henchmen is a faithful follower especially one that is prepared to engage in crime or violence by way of service. In Film Noir the henchmen are the typical gangsters of the 40’s/50’s who tend to follow the villain by way of order. For example the henchmen in The Killers are Al and Max who serve their leader and decide to murder ‘The Swede’.

The Villain:

The villain in Film Noir is the henchman’s leader and he is the one to order them to engage in crime or violence. The villain is usually against the everyman and is filthy rich with a powerful ego. The villain is often the femme fatale’s husband in some ways in which she wants him murdered to gain all his wealth, this is where the everyman comes into the scene.

Reflective comment:

Eventually I would like to add some photographs or examples of each character from both neo-noir and just film noir films that we have watched as a class. 

Generic Conventions of The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia is a neo-noir crime thriller based on the murder of Elizabeth Short, of who was the victim of a much publicised murder in 1947. Her death is one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in Los Angele’s history and he body was left mutilated and sliced in half at the waist. The film takes interest in the investigation of her death.

Composition

This photograph below is from the 2006 version of The Black Dahlia featuring Scarlett Johansson. In this scene Bucky realises that he actually loves his LAPD partner’s long-time girlfriend Kay Lake and not actually the femme fatale of this film, Madeleine. Kay however is said to be the girl next door in this noir film. He has come to be with her, where he feels he belongs. This is the very end of the film.

The way Kay is looking back through her apartment it is as if she is asking for forgiveness from Lee as she is now with his partner. Now this composition is very different to that of a general film noir in the 40’s/50’s as usually it is the everyman in the foreground with the femme fatale or girl next door in the background. In the usual noir the everyman would be in the foreground as though the other woman is in the back of his mind or as though she is always watching him. Whereas, this is a different snap shot for a general film noir, as is that the film is actually coloured (saturated) rather than the typical black and white.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene in this film is rather typical to that of a normal film noir as Kay and Madeleine both have cigarette holders and the smoke from them trail their posture in a glamourous way. The photograph of Madeleine in the photograph below shows the costume she wears almost throughout the film.

Her hair however compared to that of a typical femme fatale is rather flat and pulled back when usually it is all tied in curls. The cut of this shows very much of Madeleine’s curves and cleavage to make her seem sexy and exotic, making men surround her. Similar, to that of the mythical mermaid sirens. The men all wear suits and costume in this film as well due to them being in LAPD uniform making them look smart. Even though this is a very new film noir (2006) the costume and acting is that of the same as the typical in the 40’s/50’s. The femme fatale is extremely independent and feels powerful, she believes throughout the film she will get as she wishes.

Narrative Structure

The narrative structure of The Black Dahlia is very similar to that of a normal film noir as you have all the characters needed: everyman, femme fatale, girl next door and villain. The film starts with the ending but not in the way that typical film noirs do because they do not have the slow flash backs as such. However the ending where the femme fatale gets murdered and then the everyman ends up with the girl next door is the approach of film noir films, generally speaking.

Reflective comment:

I will need to add a sound caption and a small amount of music from the film such as when the femme fatale appears and it is more of a seductive feel. I would also like to add the trailer or short clips of the film itself.

Generic Conventions of Double Indemnity

I have created my first Emaze, I created a presentation using this software as I wanted to learn some new skills and software bases. This is all about the simple conventions throughout the film, Double Indemnity. I have added many photographs to this to make it slightly more visual and for the sound convention I have added a two-minute video from Vimeo as an example of the voice-overs that Walter had done throughout the film. This merges real-life with memories for him. 

Reflective comment:
I understand that the Emaze is slightly too big for the page and so i need to work out how I am going to make the size a lot smaller. Also I never added anything about the editing from Double Indemnity as I didn't know what to include. using Emaze was very difficult at first however, once I had the basic skills it was easy to create something like this. 

Generic conventions of Film Noir

The generic conventions are split into five different sub-headings: Camera and composition, editing, sound, mise-en-scene, narrative and characters. We have watched three Film Noirs so far which include: Double Indemnity, The Killers and The Black Dahlia and so with these we have looked at their generic conventions.

Camera and composition

‘Composition’ describes the placement of relative objects and elements in a work of art. It is about the angles that the photograph has been taken in and how props have been set-up. A good composition is one that has enough detail and has a good balance. However, too elements can be distracting and lead the audience’s interpretation to confusion; meaning that the correct props for the storyline is vital.

For example, the photograph to the left is one that I had taken recently with my Sony Cyber shot. I had taken this photograph with her back towards the camera to show her flawless skin and the pearls around her neck. The pearls are part of the mise-en-scene though as they are props. I had taken this at such an angle to show her ‘pouted’ lips and that she was either in part-shock or slightly scared as this was taken outside in a graveyard. I could have made this slightly more Neo Noir by adding red lips (like Sin City) on her or a slight saturation of colour on her dress, which was navy.

Editing

Editing in media is all about how someone combines the clips together, how they are joined together, what software they use and special effects that may be added. I had played around with this slightly when I made my Media and Me vlog but I only used Moviemaker, I would like to try other software when we create our own project, perhaps iMovie.

Sound

Sound in media is all about what you can hear whether it is music, voices, voice overs and sound effects. Many film industries now use folioing  Anything can class as sound on a film, whether it is Film Noir or not.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is the arrangement of scenery and props for photography or in the media industry, therefore the setting of the scene. ‘Mise-en-scene’ in French means ‘telling a story’. When applying the term to media and the film industry it refers to everything that appears beyond the camera including, make-up, costume, props and composition. In Film Noir the main things they tend to focus on is the costume and make-up of the femme fatale and cigarette smoke.

On the photograph to the left there is a photograph of a typical femme fatale, this was taken off Pinterest. The typical mise-en-scene for a femme fatale would be having smoke around her for the seductive atmosphere. She would be wearing heavy make-up and typically red lips, especially in Neo Noir film. The femme fatale is also often skinny and white, as she is to represent the women during the war being far too evil and getting their own way, as many of the men did not enjoy. The lady on the photograph to the left has longer hair than most femme fatale’s however the other costume and make-up makes up for the longer hair. When it comes to creating photographs and the beginning of our film I really want to play around with the costume and make-up of a femme fatale.

Narrative Structure

There is much narrative structure in Film Noirs and typically all fit in with each other. The most important storyline and structures would be that:

· They start with the end, often with the protagonist broken

· They usually include flashbacks or voice-overs

· The start often gives the entire plot away, making it less mysterious

· The characters however have their own mystery and stories

· It is usually from the protagonists perception

· They tend to have slow motion scenes

·The femme fatale usually ends up either being killed or in a lot of trouble

· The everyman ends up in trouble

· The femme fatale seduces the everyman making him do things he will later regret

Conventions of Film Noir from kellymorris92

I used the SlideShare above to see the typical conventions of Film Noir, I found this really useful however I do not agree with Character slide because I don't believe in every Film Noir there is detectives as the protagonists or corrupt police.

Reflective comment:
I need to add either my own Slideshares or Prezi's about each film we had watched and about their conventions. I also would like to find some video examples possibly on Youtube about the Titanic folying as could not do so on the school computers due to it being blocked. I would also like to blog about the different type of characters in Film Noir. 

First look on Film Noir

What is film noir?

Film Noir means ‘dark film’ in French. This is a term that is used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas; particularly those that have sexual motivations. The term Film Noir first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946. It was in France during the post-war years that the term was used to describe a certain set of Hollywood films that were saturated with a darkness and cynicism that was not seen before. These movies include: The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), and Murder My Sweet (1944). Many of the classic Film Noir films are classed as melodramatic.

How did the films reflect the war?

The films reflected on the war as it was a run-down time, Film Noir show the insecurities and tensions throughout these Hollywood films. As it was the time of the World War people were feeling much more aggressive which lead to the crime and thrillers of all these early films. Some of these films have a moral to teach to the audience, that they believe woman and men should both get back to their original gender roles.

Primary moods of Film Noir:

• Depression
• Suspicion
• Paranoia
• Evil
• Guilt

Introduction to film genre study #1 film noir from shanovitz

This Slideshare was the first one I looked at to understand the use of Film Noir and about characters as a short introduction to this unit.

Reflective comment:

I would also like to see what I can find on Youtube or on Vimeo about Film Noir and the characters. 

My Top Ten Films

I have made a power point from Microsoft about what my top ten films are, who films in it and a rough draft of the plot. I understand that the plot is a large chunk of information however as I am so indulged in all these films that I cannot possibly shrink the information down. I have added this power point onto Slideshare to add it to my blog. I have also used animations in the slides to make it a bit more exciting as there is a lot of information so it was to try and break it down slightly. I believe my teacher had set this task to get used to adding slides and power points onto Slideshare as I am still getting used to all the functions and adding to my blog.

As you can see there is a pattern of genre going on as I am very much into romance films and chick flicks. This isn't the only case as I love Disney films and action films such as Rush Hour that is in there. I like to be able to sit and relax in front of my TV with a good film and popcorn, but it is usually a romance or very sad film. Many of the films in this Slideshare are from the novelist Nicholas Sparks who wrote books such as Safe Haven, The Lucky One and The Notebook. Nicholas tends to have the same kind of storyline: there is a girl and a boy, they fall in love but many scenes happen where they just can't be together. The storyline often ends with the two in love finally coming together and not worrying what others think. I like a film with a happy ending. Enjoy.

My top ten films from CharlotteLouiseB

23/10/15

Hyperlinks of the best or funniest parts of each film:

• Rush Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-bA9FYB8HY

I particularly love this part of the film as the song is so repetitive and catchy that it just gets everyone watching, singing it together. It is just funny listening to the different cultures and accents trying to sing this. The song is called War by Edwin Starr.

• The Vow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1IL6aH-GIA

The wedding scene is my favourite because the small things just show how compatible the characters are such as both writing their vows on the their first date restaurant menu. The composition of the camera angles are immaculate especially during their kiss. I also like how they vow to always remember and love each other as this is a good foreshadow of what is to come.

• The Notebook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4HfU-CVQw4

I absolutely love this scene because it is so romantic feeding all the beautiful doves, even after everything they have been through you can still see the chemistry between them. Towards the end of the scene here when Allie asks Noah why he hasn't written and discovers really he has and still loves her; it makes me weep. They both realise their undying love isn't over.

• Safe Haven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBcV3aooZpA

Just before this scene Alex realises that Katie has been lying to him and his family about her past and abusive relationship. She doesn't want to put his family though the pain of what her ex partner would do to them just to get back at Katie for leaving him. Alex declares his love for her and tells her stay.

• Step Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-apLT6Ot3s

This is my ultimate favourite scene of this film as it is a scene that anyone could remember due to it being so hilarious. The two step brothers do not understand the concept of living and so act like children. Once they have made bunk bed they then have an accident. This would not be most peoples favourite scene as there are so many to choose from in this film, really worth watching.

• Dear John: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhevO6RxNuo

This is a very emotional scene after spending two weeks together John has to leave again and so Savannah writes him a letter to take with him. The letter is telling him that 12 months is a long time and that she will see him soon, and it would have any one welling up with tears.

• Fifty Shades of Grey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sm39UR1ZIE

Many like Fifty Shades just because it is raunchy and a new type of film. Where I had read all books before the film and so I understood everything and the reason why Christian is like who he is. It is a beautiful yet thrilling storyline. This part is my favourite romantic scene as it is so attractive that Christian can drive a helicopter, so to speak. Parts like these and with Ellie Goulding's chilling song in the background shows their love for each other not just their lust.

• The Time Travellers Wife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4Xk_bsqFDw

Knowing she can't see him when ever she wants to when she can she makes the most of it. In this scene Clare hears Henry say a final goodbye to her and their child, I couldn't choose a favourite scene in this movie as it is all just so sad as it happens throughout her life from childhood.

• Toy Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blwzc3zisRg

I could not choose a favourite scene as it is one of my best films, and so I had found a mash-up of good pieces fro the film. There are so many quotes that you cannot forget throughout this film. This is a film to watch when you are sick or just feeling a little lonely.

• Titanic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MDPeL8lpzo

This is my upmost best part of the film as she decides to choose Jack over the ever-so rich Cal. Knowing that a third class person can find love with an upper class person just makes life more realistic and that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Such a romantic scene from this movie, as are most scenes.

Reflective comment:
If I were to do this Slideshare over again I would change it so that the plot was shortened down drastically. I will also add some hyperlinks to this at some stage if needed of the favourite or funniest parts of each film.