Powerpoint Presentation

This is the Powerpoint Presentation we used when we pitched our film opening idea to the class.

Scarlett

These are the notes that helped us while we were presenting:

Script

This is the script to the opening of our film "Scarlett". It has details of everything that will be happening in each scene, including the music and dialogue.

Shooting Schedule

This is the redrafted version of the shooting schedule after we finalized the murderer and did a reccy on each location to see whether it was suitable for our opening sequence.

Audience Research

In order to learn more about the preferences of our target audience, we conducted survey of 10 people aged 17-22 , asking them various questions that would help us during our planning.
8 out of 10 people have previously watched a film noir some time during their life, meaning that they are aware of the genre and its common conventions. All those that have watched it said that they enjoyed it, with 7 people saying that they would like to see more noirs produced. From these two questions we learnt that film noir is popular amongst our target audience , giving us confidence about targeting our film to such an age group.
When asked the question "What did you like most about film noir?", we got the following results:
2 people : tone/mood
4 people: storyline
2 people: characters
2 people: lighting
The storyline of film noirs seemed the most appealing element to our target audience, making us re-evaluate our initial idea and develop it further so that it would captivate our audience more.
The question : "What do you think is the most important element of this genre" produced these results:
1 person : non linear storyline
1 person : femme fatale
2 people : low key lighting
3 people : ominous shadows
3 people : male protagonist
With the two most popular answers being ominous shadows and male protagonist, we have decided to focus on those two elements the most. Our detective's character has evolved after conducting this research, we have come up with new shots revolving around the detective which highlight his importance in the storyline. We will try to create ominous shadows where possible and use low key lighting to create an eerie atmosphere.

Locations, Cotumes, Props and Actors

Actors:
Jack Harris will be playing the hardboiled cynical detective. As well as being available and reliable, he has Media experience which we think will help us when we are filming the detective scenes.

We have casted Alex Johnstone as the murdered. As we are only him from the waist down, we won't see his face. As he's in our Media class he is reliable and eager to make an appearance in our film

Kate will be our captured femme fatale. She fits the conventional femme fatale look i.e. has curls and the body figure.

Locations:
After doing our reccy we have decided to film certain scenes (the murderer walking and washing his hands & the femme fatale tied up) in an old bathroom in our school.
We think that this location is suitable because:

• We will have access to old fashioned taps
• This toilet is no longer used, therefore we will not be interrupted whilst filming
• The room also has terracotta tiles which will produce echoing footsteps when the murderer is walking, creating a eerie atmosphere.

The rest of the scenes will be filmed at Kate's house and Yulia's stairwell. It's possible to do lots of interesting shots in the stairwell for example a low angle of the detective's hand gliding on the banister.

Costumes:

So that it's easy to identify the detective, he will be wearing a trench coat, trilby hat and braces as this is the typical style of clothing an investigator wore in the 1940's era. The costume of the femme fatale is quite simple ; a short revealing dress and high heels. We are going for the more obvious look so that the target audience recognizes her straightaway and will question why the dangerously seductive woman has been kidnapped. The murderer will be wearing trousers and shirt, his outfit is plain because we wanted him to look ordinary so that the audience is shocked when they see him washing blood of his hands.

Props:

For the scenes with the detective the props we will need are:

• Old fashioned telephone
• Notepad
• Pen
• Roll up

Red food colouring will the used when the anonmous stranger is washing his hands. To show that the femme fatale has been kidnapped we will use a rope to tie up her hands and a white band to put around her mouth.

Feedback On Our Pitch And Idea

We presented our pitch to our teachers and our class. They gave us some helpful feedback so that we could improve our presentation for the real thing.

What we did well:

• Thought about genre and characters typical to the genre
• Thought about costumes and props
• Thought about possible locations
• Didn't read off the powerpoint
• Used media terminology well

Improvements and things to think about:

• Make a script and memorise what you are going to say
• Make your powerpoint presentation visually pleasing, by using pictures
• Add photographs of props, costumes and locations
• Finalise locations
• Make sure actors are reliable
• Do audience research
• Is there a modern audience for a period noir film?
• Look at Coen Brothers film: The Man Who Wasn't There

Our Pitch

For our pitch we have decided to do a powerpoint presentation which will include any pictures that we feel are relevant and bullet points that our class can read in order to follow what we are saying.

Narrative:

Our narrative will be of the film noir detective genre. The basic story outline will entail a detective answering a phone call that is a lead to where a murderer is hiding - with the captured femme fatale. We think that this is a good story line because it is simple, yet has many enigmas and does not give away too much.

We will show a rough storyboard that we have drawn up so that the class can see the different types of shots we plan to use, the lighting we think will be effective and the props and locations.

Characters:

In our opening we will have the three most typical characters of the film noir genre: the detective, the murderer and the femme fatale.

The detective will be wearing attire typical to the 1940s, including a trench coat and trilby hat. We have decided that our detective will be Jack Harris (one of our group members brother) as he is 18 - but looks older - and also looks a lot older than anyone we could have cast from our 6th form. Jack can also legally smoke and will be useful as the typical 'detective' from 1940s noir films normally smokes and tends to look quite rugged and unshaven.

Our murderer has not been officially cast yet because we will only need a pair of hands and a male shadow. However, he will need to be quite tall and broad in order to cast a big enough shadow. We think that we will ask the a level drama group as we know many of them will be interested in our project and they won't be nervous in front of the camera due to previous experience.

The femme fatale will be played by Kate (at the moment) as she looks the part. We will dress her in rather revealing clothes as she is supposed to be a sex symbol.

Location:

We haven't yet decided on all our locations but we have the following:

• Kitty's bathroom has old fashioned-looking taps and plenty of space to film so this will be suitable for the shot of the murderer washing his hands.
• The scene of the detective talking on a pay phone has not yet got a confirmed location, however, a dimly lit road with a lone telephone box would look very effective - especially if there was a street lamp lit over the telephone box. Furthermore you will be able to see the full attire of the detective. Although, this will hard to find as we live in a modern part of London so we would have go to a more up market place in London in hope of finding an old telephone box.
• The scene of the detective walking into the abandoned building will be shot in the stair well of Yulia's building as this is dimly lit and would cast shadows.

Props:

The only props we will need are:

• 1940s style cigarettes (roll ups - as they do not have a filter)

Target Audience:

We have already stated that we will target our film at an older audience as they will appreciate film noir more.