Juxtaposition of Main Characters

We decided to make our actress Kate Fox look as much like a typical femme fatale as possible. Therefore we dressed her in a tight black off-the-shoulder dress to emphasise her female figure and curled her hair. This glamorous look appeals to the male audience and was inspired by the following actresses : Mary Astor, Veronica Lake and Jane Greer.

Unlike the mysterious, double-crossing, predatory, irresponsible and manipulative femme fatales represented in old noir films, we chose to subvert the stereotype and represent Kate as defenseless and fragile. By placing her on the floor, the audience is made to feel puzzled and confused (why is this beautiful woman tied up?). Furthermore, when the murderer walks past her, we see how he is in control and has more dominance than her, this reversion of power subverts how femme fatales are typically shown in films i.e. instead of being manipulated BY her, she is the one BEING manipulated.

Conventions Slideshow

Conventions

Technology

Youtube

We widely used Youtube to research our chosen genre and find out more about its common conventions. Youtube made it possible for us to view short snippets from popular noir films that we would have not been able to see otherwise. Rather than renting or buying the film, we were able to conveniently see the clips in the classroom. Lastly, we were able to carry out individual research at home due to its accessibility.

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Distribution

The potential distributor of our film would be Entertainment Film Distributors (EFD) which is a British distributor of independent films in the UK and Ireland. They also distribute films made by the major Hollywood studio New Line Cinema as well as other various independent production companies.

The task of choosing a distrubutor of noir films was substantially difficult because not many are produced in this modern era. However, EFD is the perfect company as it distributes a wide range of products such as the award winning Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Since 2000 the company’s releases have totalled a groundbreaking thirty-six Oscar wins and twenty BAFTAs.

The institution distrubutes films from a variety of genres which includes comedy (Run Fat Boy Run), fantasy (The Golden Compass) and thriller (Pathology).

















In 2001 they dstributed "The Man Who Wasn't There" which played a large incluence on our film opening because it is a neo-noir film. It showed us that even though the "Golden Era" of film noir has died, the market for this type of product hasn't completely disappeared.

The Departed is a crime thriller that plays homage to several noir films such as the "The Lady From Shanghai" (the famous mirror scene) and "The Third Man" (funeral scene).

Their website: http://www.entertainmentfilms.co.uk/

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Screening Feedback

Thursday was the day on which we screened our film to the class and teachers. Here is the feedback we received:
Good points:

• Good variation of camera angles and sizes
• Great costumes e.g braces
• Effective flickering lights
• Interesting framing
• Created a cliffhanger at the end
• Looks very film noir
• Good music
• Thought a lot about the mise-en-scene
• The sink scene was impressive
• Liked black and white effect
• Good voiceover script (1940's era is obvious)
• Great mise-en-scene

Bad points:

• Need to turn up voiceover
• Seems like it's finished when credits roll
• Stairs scene was too long
• Cuts during the stairwell scene felt awkward
• Sound editing could be neater
• Maybe add close up of femme-fatale
• Credits need to be throughout the opening

Things we will change:

We will record the voiceover again and make sure that Luke is closer to the microphone because before he was quite far away from it. Once we have recorded the voiceover, we will then edit the sound and make it more precise and stylish. Also, we will add dramatic music after the murderer scene as we were unable to find suitable music before the screening. The main thing that we need to change is the credits. Instead of having them at the end, we will place them between some of the scenes. This in turn might be a solution to the awkward stairs cutaways. We will cut down the scene where Jack is walking up the stairs with his hand on the bannister because the majority of people have commented on the length of the shot. At the moment we are not sure whether we will add a close up of the femme fatale as it might make the whole scene less effective if we have cutaways to Kate.

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Process Update

Recently we finished filming all scenes at Yulia's house, however after watching the footage we noticed that Jack's costume looked too modern and unconventional of the noir genre. Therefore decided to reshoot the scenes and change the costume i.e. black blazer instead of the coat.
When we were filming for the second time, we decided to add a few extra scenes in order to make the storyline more clear and the opening more effective. Originally, Jack was against the wall during the telephone scene, however when we were reshooting we decided to place him next to the window (which had venetian blinds). We decided to do this because Jack could then look out of the window as he was talking on the phone, making it seem as though he suspected the caller to be outside. Furthermore we added a new scene where Jack puts the telephone down and the camera follows him as he leaves the room and slams the door.
On the following day we filmed the murderer scene. When we were on location we decided to flicker the lights when he was walked towards the sink and past the femme fatale in order to create an edgy atmosphere.
Apart from these changes we kept the rest the same.

Posted by Yulia