Film Noir Test

I did some experimenting with lighting in my house part in preparation for the indoors sequence of our thriller film. In doing this I discovered that taking advantage of lighting and shooting through internal frames makes the shots more effective.

Thriller Planning: First Update

Setting:

St Andrews Car Park:

We chose this car park for several reasons:

• It is located in Norwich which is an easy place for every member of our group to access
• We scripted a car in our scenes which makes it a realistic place for a person to be parking
• There was a nearby lift that could be used 
• It has some lighting so it was possible to film even after-hours during 

The lighting was absolutely ideal as the nearby street lamps were quite modern and cast a white glow over the mise en scene which gave the floor and nearby objects a slick, shiny glow - reminiscent of film noir.

It was important to film during the evening hours for several reasons:

• This area can be busy in the afternoon which would dis-interpolate our audience 
• The darkness helps create a more film noir ambience
• Later in the day is usually a more convenient time to film

Costumes:

Shot from our film

• The main characters are wearing relatively formal attire which connotes wealth
• The main male character is wearing a suit jacket, shirt and hat combination which is typical for thrillers and film noir in particular and helps to establish a sense of professionalism and power. It is also an archetypal costume for professional criminals in thrillers which will make first time viewers question their role in the narrative.

Essex Boys: Case Study

Thriller Planning

One of the most important shots in our thriller will be the "trunk shot" which was popularized by Tarantino and used in several of his films. We have decided to use this shot in our thriller as it is being shot from the perspective of the person who ends up in the boot and can be used to create a connection to him.

Another shot we will use is is inspired by the eye shot which dissolves into the blood going down the drain in Psycho (1960). In our film this will be used to show the eye of our character which subsequently dissolves into a tracking shot of a car wheel. The effect in which this is used will create a connection between reality and the "dream world" of our diegesis and show that the dream is occurring in real time.

After some discussion, our group decided that a shot similar to that in the film Insidious (2010) would allow us to show the potential killer sneaking up behind our victim. This is a classic example of foreshadowing as it gives the audience information that the character isn't aware of and helps generate a feeling of hopelessness - nothing can be done to help them.

 The above shot will be incorporated with a circular tracking shot that does a 360° movement around our main character which subsequently reveals the presence or our potential killer. This can be used similarly to an establishing shot but with more subjectivity as it gives us a view of the subjects surroundings.

Once Upon A Time In America - Case Study

The most promiment locations in crime thriller films are those which are closely associated with underground criminal activities, such as speakeasys and opium dens. Sergio Leone uses an opium den to give us the idea that crime and subsequently corruption is prevalant throughout the city - and isn't limited to certain ethnicities or classes. When we see Noodles smoking opium it demonstrates to us that as a character he has negative aspects and drug use is one of them.

Another generic location particularly in crime thrillers is wet, dark urban streets - this location is heavily used in Noir films and it is very clear the Leone took influence from these. The high contrast lighting which literally reflects as a white shimmer off the streets gives it a slightly surreal edge. In Once Upon A Time in America, the scene occurs in a flashback from Noodles in the opium den, and is therefore presented in a more dream like manner - with slow drifting camera movements and slow cuts - which demonstrates to us further that Noodles is under the influence of opium.

Identify two generic character archetypes:
The 'femme-fatale' archetype is used extensively in crime thrillers (translated in english as deadly woman) and is usually presented as being seductive, manipulative and somewhat evil. In this film, the femme-fatale is played by Eve and is killed off within the first few minutes of the film - which could possibly suggest changing attitudes towards presenting main female characters in this way in comparison to the 50's and 60's where this archetype was used promimently. More contemporary examples of these include Irene Adler in 'Sherlock Holmes' and Kelly Van Ryan in 'Wild Things' - although they are slightly different as expected with social changes in western culture.

Another Archetype used is the 'Anti-hero' who usually has many good qualities but has some significant flaws - such as a lack of confidence, drug use, lack of ambition etc. One example in modern film culture is 'Sherlock Holmes' himself, who I mentioned as similarly to 'Noodles' is known for his drug use.

'God Bless America' is used as an ironic statement as it was written by Irving Berlin who was born in the Russian Empire and the song itself is played before the femme fatale Eve is shot by several policeman- the corrupt nature of this suggests that the values in the song are wrong since america is riddled with corruption. When Noodles is in the opium den a telephone is ringing throughout which adds to a sense of mystery as to who could be calling.

Evaluation - Preliminary Task

Q1: Planning:

Initially, we had to decide what storyline would be used as the basis for our short films and at first we came up with the idea that it should be based around the theft of an apple - of which we decided isn't really realistic and wouldn't be taken seriously. After some more discussion we decided to use all the same ideas but instead base the plot around the theft of a phone.

As a cinematographer, the first stages of the planning were getting an idea of which shots we were going to use and at which points they would be used in the film in order to ensure continuity throughout.

We initially chose a room in the school study hall for our shooting location but it wasn't deemed suitable as there was too much happening in the background of our shots and we were worried about it causing too much of a disturbance to the others around us - eventually we decided a computer room would be the most suitable location for our film as it was a more realistic place for the confrontation to be happen and didn't have many people nearby which made it easier to get the shots that we needed.

Q2: 180 Degree Rule: 

The 180 degree rule is used to ensure that the camera is always positioned on the same side of the action in order to avoid confusing the audience. Sometimes the rule is broken deliberately in thriller films to disorient the viewers (such as in Stanley Kubricks 'The Shining') but in circumstances such as football where following it is absolutely crucial to the viewers understanding, the rule is never broken.

Q3: Camera Shots: 

A wide range of shots were used in our film and were all used to achieve different outcomes. For example, in the opening shot we feature a birds eye tracking shot (with a black and white filter applied later) of our main character to create a sense that he is being watched - perhaps by a CCTV camera. During the shooting process we experimented with a similar shot which was slightly inspired by the opening sequence by the film 'Halloween' and to have the camera shooting through the window, but unfortunately there were too many reflections on the windows for it to achieve it's desired effect.

One of the most notable shots we used was a 'Vertigo shot' or 'Dolly zoom' which was implemented to create a sense of distortion and anger with a character. We were aware of this shot and had seen it being used before but didn't initially know how it was done but that was overcome quickly by experimenting with the zoom and focus of the camera.

Towards the end of our sequence we used a selection of Spaghetti Western inspired close ups on the eyes to show how the characters were looking eachother. This technique is easily recognizable and was most famously used in the final duel sequence of Sergio Leone's 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". The way this was achieved in the Sergio Leone western was by slowly cutting between close-ups of the characters eyes - so we decided to implement a similar technique (The images below demonstrate this)

Q4:  

I feel much more confident in using a digital camera now and learnt some crucial techniques during filming. Adobe Premiere is extremely user friendly but I feel creating the thriller film will be a much smoother process now we are more acquainted with the equipment that will be used in future.

Summer Task

In the following I am going to discuss the similarities and differences between the opening/title sequences of LA Noire, a 2011 video game published by Rockstar games and LA Confidential a 1997 crime drama.

Themes:
Both of these clips contain voice-overs which are presented as being very similar to traveling ads. Despite having been released on different forms of media, these scenes appear to be very similar. Firstly, they both start off with a idealistic view of 40s/50s LA and have strong emphasis on promoting the American Dream. Both the clips place strong emphasis on freedom as being a defining aspect of LA. One of the clear differences is that LA Confidential is more interested in showing the more natural scenes such as orange groves, beaches and gardens and  uses the phrase "the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see" whereas, LA Noire is more interested in presenting the city's urban features and interestingly uses the phrase "A city that has no boundaries, that stretches as far as the eye can see".

LA Confidential gardens

LA Confidential Apple groves

In the opening of the LA Noire sequence it places strong emphasis on the car as a symbol of freedom "A city, based not on the man but on the automobile".

Both of the clips place strong emphasis on productivity and movement throughout to promote the idea that LA is a lively city with lots jobs and productive output.

Mise en scene:

In terms of mise en scene, both of the clips are extremely similar in what is shown in the shots. Firstly, The buildings and scenery generally feature warm and natural tones whereas the colors of cars, clothing and other man-made objects are in typical 50s style and comprise of bold and vivid which creates a contrast between the two. Some of the included scenes in LA confidential are black and white to give it a sort of found footage feel throughout.

The clothing the characters wear in the sequences are very similar and they are mostly showing wealthier citizens in formal attire and what at the time would have been fashionable new fashion to which suggests that LA's citizens are generally very affluent and modern people.