Filming day 3

Today we re-filmed the scences in which were set at the pub involving the characters played by Rosy and Jake. After a previous group discussion we decided that we needed to include more close-up shots and camera movements in order to show a wider variety of shots within our film. We therefore did shots that involved a tracking shot that moved from the outside of the pub to the inside which then panned round from Jake's face to the opposing side of Rosy's as they sat at a table. We also did close up shots of their eyes, lips and hands which created an emotive effect which linked in with what they were speaking at certain points. We also did a few reflective shots by using a window to reflect the faces of both characters. Overall, I felt that the day filming was very successful.

Editing day 1

 

 

Today on final cut express, we edited the graveyard scenes of Jake when he is looking down at his Fathers gravestone. We also started to think of possible song choices for this opening sequence in which we felt would fit in best with the scenery and storyline yet without being too heavy in which we would be unable to hear the voiceover of Jake speaking about his father.

 

When researching song choices we discovered that the band 'The XX' had the best style of music in which fitted in with our theme and grungey/indie styling ideas. We also decided that whatever piece of music we would use would have to be an instrumental version otherwise the voicover would be unclear and more difficult for the audience to understand. We then narrowed it down to the three following songs.

 

The XX - Missing
The XX - Angels
The XX - Intro

 The majority of our grouped decided on the song "Intro" as there are firstly no lyrics in the opening section yet also because it linked in with the down-beat, sad theme of the specific sequence in which it is being included, yet without being too 'depressing' in which we felt may perhaps bore our audience. Yet the use of the underlying beat helps to liven the piece of music and also keep the audience interested as it moves on to the next scene/location.

 

This is the song that we have chosen to use in the opening sequence of our film, 'Intro' by The XX.



Music/Sound ideas for opening graveyard scene and scene 2 (in school)

This is a short video of me analysing the five different songs that we decided could all work as part of the opening sequence for our film.

Overview of filming days 1 & 2

Day 2 Filming

This is the rest of my group discussing how they felt day 2 of our filming went yet I could not be there as I had work commitments in the evening.

Day 1 of filming

Our first day of filming was set in school along the corridors and near a set of lockers. These scenes including the main characters of Scarlett (played by Rosy Vega) and Jake (played by Jake England). We included a wide variety of shots, angles and movements with the camera in attempt to see what tension and emotions we could possibly create with the high, low, medium angles and shots that we used to portray certain characters. Overall we feel that for a first day, filming went fairly well and we are pleased with the quick progress we are making.

Final group storyboard

Film Noir poster analysis

Previous A2 Film Noir Posters analysis

Group discussion about personal key item

As a group, we have finally decided that the personal key item in which is the main focus of the film will be a "dof tag" necklace. The necklace will have belonged to Jakes father which was taken from him by Scarlet (The femme fatales) father when he murders him. The dog tag is a personal item in which dates back in the family from Jakes grandfather who was in the war yet when he passed away was left to his father in which would have been given to Jake.

Filming Schedule

Scene 1: Church Yard (Jake)

Scene 2: Intro of Femme Fetale through school (Rosy, Dom)

Scene 3: Jake texting Femme Fetale (Jake, Rosy)

Scene 4: Pub (Jake, Rosy, Michael)

Scene 5: Boyfriend getting Jake (Jake, Rosy, Dom)

Scene 6: Rosy's house (Jake, Rosy, Michael)

Scene 7: Rosy's house again (Rosy, Michael)

We are aiming to film all of the scenes in which we have created within a time period of 4 filming sessions (4 days). As a group we have agreed on what times, dates and locations we will film at/on as can be seen in the table below. However this scheduele may possibly vary slightly on certain occasions due to work commitments on our group and chosen actors behalves.

 

	Scenes:	Reasons:
Day 1 Filming - 13th Feb	2, 3 and 5	All these scenes are located within the school so we thought that it would obviously be a good idea to film them all at once. We are going to do it on Wednesday 6th because all of our group are about from 4th period onwards meaning we had 4th, lunch and 5th periods to film. Jake is also about for this time as well as other friends so if any extras are needed it means we can use them.
Day 2 Filming - 16th Feb	1	This scene is to be located at the graveyard. It will need to be at dusk, beginning to get dark. Only Jake will be needed as an actor for this and it shouldn't take too long.
Day 3 Filming - 21st Feb	4	We will be on half term his week so it will a great time to get filming done. This scene will take place in the pub and will require it to be dark. Our guess is that we would need to go later nearer closing time because we don't want it to be too busy otherwise it might affect our sound and filming however we don't want to go when it's completely empty because their won't be a very good atmosphere.
Day 4 Filming - 23rd Feb	6 and 7	These scenes are both located at the Femme Fetales house. They will require Jake, Rosy and Michael. For scene 7 it will need to be dark however for scene 6 it will have to be light so it may require us to just wait around for a bit for it to get dark but in this time we can go over shots from scene 6.

Femme fatale costume comparisons to role of Emily's style in Brick

Possible outfits for the lead male and female

As a group we sat and discussed possibly styling ideas for our two main characters-Jake and the femme fatale. We decided that we wanted to keep the characters modern and up to date yet also include some traditional elements of film noir styling. We decided that we would dress the femme fatale in mainly red and black as we felt this best fitted her character-seductive yet destructive. We thought it would be best to keep the styling for Jake more simple and less dramatic so that it ran parallel with his shy and timide characterisation.

This outfit would be used in the scene in which we are shooting at the pub. She is wearing a tightly fitted, strapless red velvet dress with a black leather jacket. The red of her dress reveals the idea that she is dangerous and a very confident character, yet the use of the strapless element suggests that she is quite seductive and revealing also-a typical key feature of classic femme fatale styling. The use of the leather jacket brings the outfit to a modern era and also adds an edge to her outfit by making it more casual, as well as being used as a way of covering up her bare shoulders portraying the idea that her guard is up and she perhaps hiding a secret from Jake, as well as the audience.

For a second possible outfit for the femme fatale, we decided on this one. She is wearing a high necked overlapping strap design black blouse with a mid length maroon pencil skirt with black waistband. The use of the deep, earthy colours suggest the idea that she has a dark past and is very unconventional with the truth. The overlapping cross over design at the top of her blouse portrays the idea that she is a complicated character and her role within the film could go in any direction; good or bad. The mesh effect on her blouse once again represents the idea of the seductive and revealing side to her character. Yet this then contrasting to the sophisticated, mid length of her skirt as we see a more demure side to her character who is not showing too much flesh-perhaps portraying the idea that she is quite a reserved female.

This is the third and final styling idea that we had in mind for the femme fatale. She is wearing a floaty, one shouldered scarlet red pleated dress. We thought that this outfit could be used to show a more elegant and womanly side to her character.The diagonal neckline could represent the idea that her life is not as straight forward as it seems, as well as portraying the idea that her life is going downhill as we delve deeper into the film- the secret comes out and she has been caught out, a possible sign for a bad ending for her character? The red of the dress suggesting danger yet also an alluring approach to her personality. The style of the dress portrays the use of flapper fashion/dresses from the 1920's with its use of bold A-line pleats and straight fitted design; this therefore being used as a way of modernising a classic design as well as taking a typical convention of femme fatale styling but using it as a way of bringing it into a new era from a film noir to a neo-noir.

We have also decided that for the character of the femme fatale, she will be wearing red lipstick in the majority of her scenes as an almost trademark look of hers as well as linking it to a stereotypically enticing styling choice for the femme fatale.

For the role of Jake, we decided to keep his styling to a minimal in order to not give too much away about his character so that his actions take full control of what he does within the film and adding a shock factor to his actions also. For this outfit we thought it could be used for the school scene in which we see him being beaten up by the femme fatale's boyfriend. He is dressed very casually in an oversized grey jumper and black trousers. The grey of his jumper suggests the idea that he is used to blending in and fading into the background. Yet this contrasting to his role within the film as we see him as the main lead character who takes full control in solving the mystery of his dads death. The use of the black trousers suggest the idea of his dark past and possible troubled childhood due to the murder of his father.

For his second outfit, we decided to have him in a more formal yet still casual attire. We thought that this could be used in the pub scene in which shows himself and the femme fatale in an intimate situation. He will be wearing the same black trousers as in the previous picture yet this time with a checkered blue shirt. The use of the blue reveals the idea of him coming out of his shell and being more adventurous and endeering-either surrounding the idea of delving into the details of his fathers murder or simply due to his blossoming relationship with the femme fatale. The checkered pattern of his shirt also revealing the troubled past that he has had and how he seen to be in a complex role in trying to solve out the mystery, yet possibly he is unsure of which direction and lead he should take.

Stereotypical characters in Film Noir

Possible styling ideas for our three main characters

LA Confidential poster analysis

Analysis of flashback scene-LA confidential

This is an analysis video from the scene in which Jack experiences a flashback in LA Confidential.

Analysis of Jack shooting scene-LA confidential

 

This is a short analysis video of the scene in LA Confidential in which Dudley shoots Jack.

Location similarities between our locations and those in 'Brick'

Location shots

As a group, we decided to look at possible location settings for our film noir. We decided as a group to do a neo-noir which means that whilst still keeping some typical conventions of film noir, we would need to also modernise certain things in order to bring it into a modern world. As we are doing a neo-noir, we decided it would be best to use actors in which were roughly our age. We felt that this particular setting would work well for the school fight scene between our main protagonist, Jake and the femme fatales boyfriend. The lockers were a key feature for us as we felt they would be a good place in which the boyfriend could push Jake up against them yet having an exit at the end adds an element of safety to the scene.

The use of the centered long shot in which we took the top photograph at also creates a sense of disorientation within the viewers as the corridor narrows as it reaches the exit.





For other possible scenes in which may include violence, we thought toilets and a bike shed may work well as they both portray the idea of being trapped and cornered in.

This is an establishing shot of a section of the school in which we felt could work quite well due to the lighting above and the wide area that surrounds the central building.

As a group we decided that the Orange Tree pub in our local town, Baldock would be a great location for a number of scenes in which we have planned. The pub itself portrays lots of areas of low key lighting, old fashioned traditional pub attire and designs as can be seen in the photographs to the right. As myself and Rosy work at the pub, it also works in our favour as we have been allowed permission to film inside and outside of the pub when we wish to.

In most neo-noirs, such as 'Pulp Fiction' and 'LA Confidential' they use cafe and/or pubs as locations in certain scenes hence why we thought it would be a highly appropriate location to use.

When watching and studying the film 'Brick', one of the main scenes that stuck in our minds as a group was the tunnel scene in which the body of Emily is discovered. When searching for possible locations, we came across this narrow long tunnel in a nearby field. We decided that we could try and use this location in a few scenes and try to perhaps recreate the scene in Brick in our own unique way. We could also experiment with high and low contrast settings on the camera as the tunnel shadows at the opposing end which may create a nice effect if we were to     

have a canted angle of a person the other side of the tunnel dark at night.

Around the area surrounding the tunnel we also found an industrial area in which we noticed lots of harsh metal barbed wire surrounding it which we felt could possibly work well in a close up as it reflects the idea of danger and also could perhaps create a nice shadowed effect on a characters face/body from the pattern of the fence if we were to use the right lighting.

Leading away from the tunnel, we also found many long treacherous path ways in which we felt could work really well if we were to use deep shots within our piece. The use of the shadowing of the trees and beams of light shining through would also create a nice effect if reflected on characters in the same way the barbed wire would be. We feel this effect will create a sense of unease within the viewers also.

The final location idea that we had was Rosy's house. We felt that her house in particular would work perfectly due to the use of the venetian blinds that sit directly in the bay window- a key convention of film noir. Also the use of the winding steps leading to her front create the idea of levels; a possible location in which we could clearly show the difference in social classes of the characters against one another in our film.

Group discussion about ideas for our film

Analysis of LA Confidential clip

 

This is a short analysis of a scene between Bud and Ed in LA Confidential. I noticed that I repeatedly confuse the two names of Jack and Bud but the character that I am actually refering to is Bud.

Detour shots analysis