Final Piece

Here is the piece we ended up with-

Music Choice

In the editing suite nearing the end of completeling our piece, we had to find a piece of music for our project, I had tried to find piece on Myspace and other places on the internet but none of which seemed suitable for the imagery we were trying toget across, each piece of music that I had fgound I put on the film, there would ber a large clash and Jon told us he thought we may need to hunt futhur. We ended up finding the most unlikely piece of music for our film noir, it's a song called Snuff by Slipknot, and slipknot are a well known band with the younger generations, it may even appeal to them when watching the film. The lyrics are about love and drinking to cover your sorrows, this definately fits with the theme of our project.We then had to apply for permision to use the music, we have to pay for the royalties to use it.


We visited the PRS website, this is an example of the form we would have to fill out;
Film Title- Imposter
Context of music use - audio for the background of the opening sequence
Actors involved - Charlotte Bale, Declan Appleton
Overall budget - £16
Territory of exploitation - worldwide
Rights required - Cinema, DVD and TV
License term - In perpetuityMusic Title - Snuff
Artist- Slipknot
Writer - Slipknot
Duration of music - 3 minutes

This form is sent to the people at PRS and they meet with the artist and talk about costs and rights.

Audience Feedback

Today we presented our final piece, ‘Imposter’ to the rest of our class to receive some feedback, we were given comments on forms and conventions (Editing, Cinematography, Mes-en-scene, sound) the narrative, characters, RAILING (representation, audience, ideology, language, industry and use of the genre).

Our audience, the class, was a brilliant way to see if our film really conveyed what we set out for it to do, it was a chance to hear our opiniomns, and if they understood what we were trying to portay character wise.

Most people thought the editing worked well, however some did not like how grainy and realistic we had made the sequence; they would have preferred a crisp smooth product. However, it was a 50/50 split and a number of people liked how raw it appeared. Although it has this rtaw appearence we think it may have been due to the lighting we had used in Charlies bedroom rather than an effect we had added too it when editing.

The titles were not really commented on, a few said they liked the font as it was simple yet stylistic. Various members of the audience said the cinematography was high quality, they really enjoyed the extreme close-ups and they heighten the tension and emotion in the piece, the shots were realistic just like most film noir’s and not too impracticable similar to action or horror films.

On the other hand, they did not like how it ended,as I has said previously we had ran out of time to film the other shots, we also hasnt realised that we hadnt got any suitable toa ct out any of the other parts. The feedback included that they thought there could have been some shots of the other person watching her in the room, and because we didn’t see them it made our sequence edge towards the horror genre. Numerous shots were a success with the audience, favourites include the “camera as a mirror shot” and when the girl is writing in her diary and it changes into the wedding register.The location worked well, the wedding looked realistic and they enjoyed the modern twist on it, with the costume; females in the audience were fond of the pixie boots and unruly hair, not a typical traditional wedding. Using stereotypical features, such as the actress downing the bottle of alcohol was effective as the audience obviously guessed she was depressed and upset. Nevertheless, they thought the bedroom was quite bare, ideas to improve this included placing a wedding photo or more makeup and little pieces would make the room look more 'homely'.Sound in the piece went down extremely well, it’s was obviously not a typical noir theme, yet everyone thought it added to the emotion of the piece, the lyrics went well with the storyline, as well as the voiceover. The title and voiceover added to the enigma as the piece, it wasn’t too dramatic.The characters we used weren’t too stereotypical in appearance but students agreed they would definitely relate to the target audience (15-24yr olds), the storyline is quite complicated but many of the audience got the main ideology of it and thought we used the conventions of film noir suitably, and liked how we had challenged them using modern costumes and a contemporary sound.The audience watching concluded they would like to watch the whole of our film and we effectively filled our brief given at the beginning of the project.

Editing And Titles

Editing And Titles

Today Charlie and I discuss her ideas about editing and titles, we figured out who would be what role, and went off our seperate ways to write on our specialty subject, the writting below is what she wrote for our preproduction.

After watching many traditional and contemporary films noir's I noticed the main feel of the editing was a fast cutting pace to emphasise the tension and to keep the audience on edge throughout. They create an intense atmosphere giving a stylistic appearance and to heighten the emotions of the viewer.We want the flashbacks to start by showing most of the clip to reveal, and then start to decrease the length of them to make them appear almost frantic showing that the actor is feeling emotional and all the memories are slowly coming back.The cuts between the flashbacks and other shots we will use a sweeping transition which was blurry to contrast between what is actually happening and what is a just memory, moreover to demonstrate the change in location. By editing all the flashbacks to be in black and white this will show that she is recalling her deep rooted memories; another way we can convey this is making them quite grainy to show they were from the past, she only can recall flickers from the day. By putting these in black and white, it is using a traditional film noir feel to the sequence as they tend to be filmed in this way, especially the earlier ones, because of the equipment that was available to film with in. I don’t want the transitions to be that noticeable and dramatic, I don't want them to look strange and out of place.After much trial and error with our storyboard, we have decided to place the titles at the end of the sequence, the main title ‘Imposter’ will be shown just before the last clip, i don’t think they should be during the sequence as this could break up the action and the audience could lose interest. All the titles will use the same font to connect all of them together; this continuity is used in a range of films, not just film noir. We will use a black background with white stylish writing, this will link with the film noir theme.

StoryBoard

Media Evaluation

Media Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, developor challenge forms and conventions of real media conceptions?

To create our media production our aim firstly was too use various forms of research for us to understand codes and conventions apparent in the film noir/thriller genre. First in class was to do primary research which was conducted in the form of viewing films such as Double indemnity (1944), and Brick. All the moves we had viewed in class meant that we were able to get a rough idea of what particular specific film noir characteristics we must add, and the observations we made a note of, and hopefully would find a way to incorporate it into our piece. The narrative and generic conventions created more depth to form the basis of our ideas.

Our group’s ideas from class were contemporary and fresh, but yet simple and linear narrative helped to draw in the audience, including them. The use of enigma was present at the end, using common convention drawing and capturing the audience. During our ongoing research for our project we managed to create representations of the main characters, including the introduction of a femme fetale in the first scene of our project, playing on codes and conventions using the femme fetale meant that we had added an element of mystery and gloom to the piece, which is intriguing and would provoke a reaction.

2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media represented social groups in a through way throughout apart from that the older social groups, such as 20-25 had a poor reputation as there; our femme fetale is an alcoholic.

Our media product didn’t have many varied social groups or classes in it; it obtained the average, everyday working class, yet also higher class. The couple who were getting married were the couple of a higher social status, and the woman who decided to steal the bride’s identity was the middle class woman, wanting to ruin the marriage for not just love for her, but the wealth in the family. The location of which we filmed looks quite grand, for a family who have a lot of wealth.

We were trying to represent the woman who stole the bride’s identity more of sad lonesome woman, of lower social class although this probably isn’t portrayed well in the project, it was the initial idea. The costumes that we have used throughout the media project have all been those of a higher class status, as the imposter wipes off her make up in one of the scenes she is wearing a well fitted black dress, it shows how she’s used the wealth of the family on herself. The bride and groom are wearing traditional wedding outfits.

3.What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

I think our projects would be distributed on such TV channels which are the ones that are less popular, one for a specialist subject. I think Film 4 would suit our target audience. If our film were to be shown it would be in a small art house theatre as it’s a very small budget film. Somewhere such as the Ipswich corn exchange it may be shown, it wouldn’t attract a huge audience, but some of the public. Our film opening obviously wouldn’t have subsidy as we wouldn’t have the funds, so for people to watch our film it would have to from word and mouth from people who has already seen it. To hit our target audience, the main way of getting them in would be too be a school showing rather than out of choice, unless they already knew what film noir was and found it thrilling, but many from our survey didn’t quite understand. I would suggest that perhaps Blue Dolphin would be a possible distributor for us. www.bluedolphinfilms.com being an Independent distributor. Blue Dolphin has distributed films for over 25 years. The company also co-produces feature films and television drama.

'Blue Dolphin PR & Marketing is a division of Blue Dolphin Film & Video, one of the UK's longest running independent film distribution and production companies. We specialize in arts and entertainment publicity for feature films at cinemas, DVD and Video releases and for TV programmes and music PR.
Blue Dolphin first branched out into publicity and promotion in the mid 1980s. Our ethos is built around our passion for the entertainment business in general, our highly knowledgeable members of staff who bring various positive skills to client briefs, strong client servicing and formidable results that often exceed client expectations. That is why our clients include major film studios, terrestrial and non-terrestrial broadcasters and independent distributors and production companies in the film, music and TV business. They have included BMG, Island Records, MGM, Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers and BBC Worldwide.
Blue Dolphin PR & Marketing operates as a separate business from Blue Dolphin Film & Video and Blue Dolphin Productions but draws upon the invaluable experience, connections and contacts from its parent company's knowledge of the film, music and television business.'

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

The typical demographics of our audience will be all genders, ethnicities and within the 15-25 age bracket. Initially our media was aimed at 15’s and over, as an age rating, but now looking at the video finished, it was quite advanced so it would be aimed at much of the public above fifteen too. Although I do not think many people below the age of 15 would have the strategic to work out what was going out, and would be able to settle down for long enough and figure out the film, the characters and the plot.

While learning about the BBFC we realised that the lower the age rating you put for your film the more likely it’s going to make more money due to the amount of people being able to come and watch it, older ages would restrict many of the audience viewing this film.

A passive audience sits back and observes while an active audience participates. I would say that aiming the film at fifteen year olds and above we would have a range of a passive audience the older they were, yet the younger ones would become more engrossed with the media product.

Our group created a survey of sorts on what film noir was, and the characteristics of noir, many of them had barely any knowledge on the subject meaning that they wouldn’t quite realise what a noir was unless the film was black and white. To find out how to make our film have a noir quality a lot of our research was done on the internet and reading up on history of previous film noir films.

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract the audience, you must have a soundtrack which would complement the actors and how and what they are doing in the piece. Our feedback from the film was that the soundtrack was a big positive, relating to audience pleasure it made a few of them cry. It was almost like the audience was able to relate to what they were seeing on screen, and the song would help the atmosphere in the piece. Film noirs are tense, dark and ambiguous, this is what makes them a genre of their own and they create this effect by using shadows and noises. To attract the audience we used young people in our piece, a young couple who had just got married, now too people from 15-20 it may not appeal so much, but those above that age would appreciate a couple getting married. As I have said in the above our location was well suited to our story, yet it was set in a fairly old grand place. Not something of modern society, yet it is where a marriage takes place and you would think those of 15 and above would understand this. A percentage of the audience would have a thrill from watching film noirs on a screen, during a scene of action, as it has been proven too increase heart rate and adrenaline rush to the viewer; this is known as audience visual pleasures. This also offers escapism as a diversion and offers surveillance and voyeuristic pleasures.

Our piece wasn’t that which would attract teenagers off hand; if they could appreciate the characteristics and style of film noir I think they would have more positive opinions on the film.

Our main storyline will hopefully have attracted the crowd, it is a fairly complex story but one of which people would hopefully be interested in the sense that it has much too it.

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

During the research stage I have come to find a lot of information which has been useful to me during my making and coursework for our film noir project. I have used various websites such as YouTube, Google, MySpace just the internet in general along with the library.

These were all too finding initial ideas for the piece and were set as homework.

In the planning stage for our piece I used blogs to read up on how other people had gone about creating their film noir pieces, or things which were similar. Windows media came in handy, and although I didn’t have a lot to do with editing the movie, I was always there to watch what was going on, a lot of which seemed confusing. We used windows media to get our music from.

I was the main director for our project; I was using a Canon HV30 DV, a YOGN shotgun microphone, boom pole, headphones and a Velbon DV 7000 tripod. Using this equipment we created flashbacks will be used throughout our opening sequence, and we hope to achieve a cold and gloomy effect during the flashbacks to make it uncomfortable for the audience to look at, this is because traditional film noirs use effects to make the audience feel uncomfortable to create tension, this is one of the things you can do to get the audience glued to the film. So to make this happen I had to use the editing suite, but before this as we captured the footage we just did clips of 10 seconds along, perhaps a bit shorter, when put on the computer we used a dissolve effect to make the flashbacks merge into each other. We were able to create this using Adobe Premier pro, by compressing files from the camcorder. Using Adobe Premier Pro, Charlie was editing using transitions, cutting straight from one shot to the next directly replacing one shot for another, we used them during flashbacks, which were dissolves. The last scene was a fade, where it faded to black. The soundtrack we came to use was a track called ‘Snuff’ by slipknot, I would say this was parallel sound, reflecting the action in our film.

Have to use 3 point lighting was a lot harder than we had originally thought, in a small room, having oto much light can easily overwhelm it, not having enough you can’t quite make out the character.

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

From the last preliminary task I have seen vast improvements in what we have now created, I think being in a different groups really have made a difference, by working with people who are more willing to compromise. Although I do say this I will be slightly contridotory in the sense that I feel one member of our group didn't participate as much as he could have, and showing the will too, never acted upon it.

In our preliminary we hadn’t taken enough shots too put onto the computer. The performance throughout the opening sequence was subtle, there wasn’t an overwhelming large amount of faces being shown throughout but more, little parts of what they were wearing, such as the props. Realising we hadn’t taken enough shots and the preliminary exercise not flowing as much as well as we would have liked it too, we took this into consideration, although we may have done that, again, our shots were lacking in handles and lacking in shots altogether. It was a large flaw. This has happened because we didn’t manage our time efficiently, we paid more attention n collection props and deciding where too film our scenes rather than getting down to it, and ending up filming it, when we had gotten to the location we had to set up the camera and the actors has to get dressed.

Our preliminary exercise we has also lacked time, yet we were able to rush it more as it wasn’t so important we managed to add handles to it, but has a large lack of shots, this time we has improved it slightly. For our film noir piece we thought we had arranged the time in a suitable way, yet we were sadly mistaken, I think we could have added more to the ending of ours, but weren’t able to because of time. In our film noir project we has used a voiceover, this was something that we has never done before but the script I had wrote I was able to hear back, as someone spoke it. As the director and scriptwriter I wish we had been able to collect more shots, there was a lot of potential with our ideas, and we didn’t quite push it to the full extent. During my time of filming this I have learnt how to prepare for filming using the microphone and checking it’s the right sound level or if the sound is even working, and using the camera, there is a lot more detail too it than one might think.

There was a lot to dead space in the preliminary, and I made sure I was using all teh space I had in this. Although I had used many mid/close up shots, too many, I would have rather included some other shots as well.

The aim of this production was too create our own take on the contemporary film noir genre; I think our group successfully composed this, even if we could have made many improvements.

5th Production Meeting

Today we edited the rest of the sequence, we put the camera footage from Charlies bedroom onto the editing suite and merged it with the voiceover, it ended up sounding really good, and matching well with the footage. It was a lot better than we all anticipated.

We decided to re write the end of the script to help the audience understand what is happening better and also to add to the enigma; we realised that what i had origninally wrote was starting to sound like a poem, and the audience would probably have a hard time understanding the storyline.

"Karma comes back around (a knock on the door) and I can't hide any longer..."
Too this line there is a knock on the door she looks up, worried, and the shot becomes blurry, it gives the intention that someone has come to get her. Also this way the audience are intrigued, and we've left it at a dead end.

I think the whole group were dissapointed with the end shot, we figured there could've been alot more if we had bene more prepared and organised, it's fairly short, but we haven't had the chance to film more, than edit it all.