"Scarlet Red" storyboard

I created a storyboard based on the idea I had for the poster that I have designed below. Within my storyboard I have created, drawn and annotated key scenes within the film. The first and last images will be the beginning and ending shots of the film yet the other images in between are to showcase a variety of different shots and ideas that could possibly be used.

Similarities and differences between my poster for Scarlet Red and the LA Confidential poster

This is a short video of me discussing both the similarities and differences that I have spotted between my own poster and the one for LA confidential. Also I have added in what I would maybe add to the poster if I were to develop it further.

'Scarlet Red' Poster

This is the poster I created for a film that I came up with called 'Scarlet Red'. The film itself is based around the rough idea of a femme fatale, ironically named Scarlet Red who is wanted desperately by a local police/detective force. She plays a role in which see's her playing men for money and then changing her identity constantly as she tries to make a clean getaway from detectives to ensure that she will never be caught.

The film would include typical key conventions of film noir such as a love interest/triange, femme fatale and detective/authoriative role, aswell as including locations such as an office, bar, old style house and props such as venetian blinds, hat stands, old car radios and old fashioned telephones.

Yet the twist that would make this film different to the rest would be the reversed role of the femme fatale; she would have all key elements of a typical femme fatale yet she is the main culprit whom the police are after; prodimantly usually played by a male.

The poster itself was designed and drawn by me. I roughly sketched up an idea of how I wished the two main characters to be positioned. I had the femme fatale boldly at the front showing her dominance and rank of importance within the film, with the use of stacking behind her head to the right to show the main male detective who is after her; the positioning showing how she is always one step ahead. I felt that it was important to have the title of the film in red as this symbolises the idea of danger and love, aswell as ironically linking to her actual name. The caption "she's closer than you'd think" portrays the idea that although she is constantly changing her identity, she is actually under their feet the whole time and she may be closer to them than they are searching.

Group First Ideas

My group is made up of Rosy Vega, Dom Simmons, Toby Harvey and myself. We got together in our group and created a mind map in which we all contributed possible ideas for our Film Noir piece. These are the grouped ideas that we came up with.

What Is Film Noir?

I created a short introduction to Film Noir on Windows Movie Maker. I did some online research and found these general facts about Film Noir in which I feel has helped me to grasp the basic content surrounding what Film Noir is all about and where it originated from.

I also found this quotation by Vanity Fair in which I feel is a definition in which truly helps to defy Film Noir for what it really is.

“Between the Great Depression and the start of the Cold War, Hollywood went noir, reflecting the worldly, weary, wised-up under current of midcentury America. In classics such as Laura, Sweet Smell of Success, and Double Indemnity, where the shadows of L.A. and New York pulse with killers, corpses, and perilous romance, failure is not only a logical option but a smart-talking seduction.” – Vanity Fair March 2007

I feel that the comment above by Vanity Fair shows a short and snappy insight into the world of Film Noir. It explains exactly how it lifted up people after a long "great depression" and the "start of the Cold War". When reading it, the final line stood out to me as it provokes the idea that alongside all of the enigma codes and secrets involved in stereotypical film noir's, perhaps the femme fatale is the cause of all corruption and how perhaps the majority of the time the obvious answer to all the crimes (femme fatale) is staring at us point blank in the face.

Stereotypical conventions of Film Noir

• Conventions example/description
• Femme Fatale
• Hero/Anti-Hero/Private Eye/Morally questionable
• Dark themes/Alienation
• Archetypal characters
• Dutch angles/Devices of disorientation
• Mirrors or other distorting objects
• Blinds
• Urban settings
• Cigarette smoking
• Flashbacks or other specific editing techniques
• Omniscient voice over
• Night time action/Extreme weather

This is a short video of me explaining the list that is shown above and examples of film noir's that have used these conventions.

History of Film Noir