In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The form we chose to present our film noir in was of course following the conventions because it was a short film, and because we chose to show it in black and white, which is fairly typical in the older noirs. We preferred the way the older films looked because they were more enticing due to the witty and challenging nature of the men, and also the time period it appeared to be in made it all seem much more urgent and real, because of the fact it was set just after the Second World War - which had left its scars behind. The time period is evident because of the black and white colour.We could have used the effect 'sepia' to create an authentic feel to the film also but black and white was much more popular in the films we saw, so we decided to use that.
The main media product we used to develop or challenge our own was other film noir films, with their characters, props, camera uses and editing.
The main media product we used to develop or challenge our own was other film noir films, with their characters, props, camera uses and editing.
To begin constructing my own film I needed to find out more about each of the characters that appear in these films, and also find out what the most common ones were so that we could follow the nature of the genre in our own film. In order to become familiar with the characters I did character profiles of the people who are usually main roles in the films and spoke about what each one did for the storyline and what key part they play in representing the society of the time. (1950's) An example from an earlier blog post of my character profile on the secondary female character was:
"This character is usually completely innocent and is designed to create juxtaposition with the femme fatale. The male protagonist sometimes will fall victim to the fatale and this character deters him and sometimes he falls in love with her - her innocence against the fatale's is what usually attracts the men to her. Of course in the era the men were feeling weak and failing so the innocent, gentle nature of this character provides them with the opportunity to be masculin again."
The media product we have produced as a film uses a range of conventions that come from the genre of film noir. By using the research we did as inspiration (watching films, researching the history and seeing the similarities across them all) we were able to insert the conventions we had discovered to fit into our own film. The hat and cigar that appear in our film for example are typical conventions you would find within many of the noir films, especially those from the 1950’s era. Of course through the presentation of our femme fatale we used the conventions; red lips, seductive character, fur scarf, elegant presentation and posh hats to make her seem a lot more dangerous. Even though in the 1950’s these kind of qualities were seen in the women of the films to sexualise them, it is still the case today. Because of this, we could show people quite easily that her character was a dangerous one, simply by the way she was presented. Typical denotations of women in a lot of films involved their character being passive and usually of a submissive nature. By using the connotations of the 'femme fatale' that we had discovered when watching films, (such as demanding nature, beautiful, colour red, seductive) it meant that the usual submissive female we normally see was converted into something the audience construed to be dangerous and yet appealing. This challenged the conventions of typical gender roles in the majority of films, but did actually follow the conventions in relation to film noir.
Developing the conventions was done with the idea of having cut away shots of our femme fatale. In a lot of the films we saw the female was revealed straight away, or on occasions would be introduced from her lips or perhaps a bit of her outfit. We decided to firstly show her face and then throughout the first scene show more of her gradually throughout so that we start to feel as though we have uncovered the mystery of her character simply by following the movement of the camera. To keep the mystery of her character apparent however we constantly re-introduced her through different parts of her body. For example, her feet in the restaurant scene and arm and hips in the changeover. The suspense created through doing this is conventional of film noirs. The shots we chose also could be interpreted as Laura Mulvey's 'male gaze'. The men might voyeuristically look at our femme fatale. (Enjoy looking anonymously at a woman.)
Challenging the conventions came within the category of editing our film. We used the ‘ripple’ effect to introduce the ‘flashback’ part of the film to the audience, and then showed it once more towards the end to express the present tense again. This is not something that has been done before that we had seen and so it does challenge the typical conventions of film noir because they are usually very smartly cut and do not have any kinds of ‘modernising’ effects – most likely because they were not invented in that time period. As we have the capability to use something like a ‘ripple’ effect to show the change in time, we felt it was more sensible to use it rather than leave it out and perhaps confuse our audiences. I found on a few occasions when I watched films that were being told as a flashback that I wasn’t aware it was the case and found the story hard to understand because of it. This was the reason why I felt we needed something to make the flashback clear to our audience.
Through using audience theories such as Levi-Strauss's Binary Opposites we were able to establish the idea of the detective being 'good' and the femme fatale, Bonnie, being 'bad'. We also think that Bobby is 'bad' naturally as his name is mentioned at the beginning as one who is responsible for killing the detective's father. We challenged this theory however because we made Carter and Bobby both questionable in their positions as 'goodies and baddies' to the audience. The way we did this was that during the last scene Carter shoots Bobby, yet Bobby helps Carter. Carter can still be seen as a good guy because he does ask for help to the hospital to be brought for Bobby, but he did still shoot him. Bobby has murdered Carter's father and after his crude reception to Carter's confrontation he helps Carter. The twist and change in the natural edge of the characters that we expect adds in Barthes theory about how the audience through codes understand the information given to them. Through this theory we allow the audience to choose how they want the story to end, and which characters they think should be justified as 'good' and 'bad' respectively. We also challenged another typical convention of films because we didn't have the narrative characters Vladimir Propp suggests in his theories. Only three characters play a major part in our film, and so they are split across the character choices. Carter can be seen as the 'dark hero'; one that perhaps could be a villain. Bobby is introduced in the story as a 'villain' but by the end can be understood as the 'donor'. Bonnie not only is the 'villain' for causing trouble, but also the 'dispatcher' and actually also the 'princess' even though she is evil, because she is the Detective's 'reward' that he desires to have at the end of his task. All of these theories usually are set in stone for most narratives within films. Our film strongly defies this, but does still produce a dark, depressing end result. Barthes theory of enigma is well and truly created with the seduction-led love story that develops. The audience know that the detective is after Bobby, but they don't know what will happen. The complex flashback idea pulls the story out of it's original context - when we see the photograph of Bonnie on his desk and then her face at the door, we know something interesting will take place. (Enigma)
Through using audience theories such as Levi-Strauss's Binary Opposites we were able to establish the idea of the detective being 'good' and the femme fatale, Bonnie, being 'bad'. We also think that Bobby is 'bad' naturally as his name is mentioned at the beginning as one who is responsible for killing the detective's father. We challenged this theory however because we made Carter and Bobby both questionable in their positions as 'goodies and baddies' to the audience. The way we did this was that during the last scene Carter shoots Bobby, yet Bobby helps Carter. Carter can still be seen as a good guy because he does ask for help to the hospital to be brought for Bobby, but he did still shoot him. Bobby has murdered Carter's father and after his crude reception to Carter's confrontation he helps Carter. The twist and change in the natural edge of the characters that we expect adds in Barthes theory about how the audience through codes understand the information given to them. Through this theory we allow the audience to choose how they want the story to end, and which characters they think should be justified as 'good' and 'bad' respectively. We also challenged another typical convention of films because we didn't have the narrative characters Vladimir Propp suggests in his theories. Only three characters play a major part in our film, and so they are split across the character choices. Carter can be seen as the 'dark hero'; one that perhaps could be a villain. Bobby is introduced in the story as a 'villain' but by the end can be understood as the 'donor'. Bonnie not only is the 'villain' for causing trouble, but also the 'dispatcher' and actually also the 'princess' even though she is evil, because she is the Detective's 'reward' that he desires to have at the end of his task. All of these theories usually are set in stone for most narratives within films. Our film strongly defies this, but does still produce a dark, depressing end result. Barthes theory of enigma is well and truly created with the seduction-led love story that develops. The audience know that the detective is after Bobby, but they don't know what will happen. The complex flashback idea pulls the story out of it's original context - when we see the photograph of Bonnie on his desk and then her face at the door, we know something interesting will take place. (Enigma)
How effective is the combination of your product and the ancillary texts?
The poster and the film work well together because of course the poster reflects the characters in the film by the way they are photographed and how they are positioned on the poster. I did an analysis of our final poster in a previous post which explains why I chose to use that particular one, and what relevance it has to the film.
I think that by using the posters in the environments we have chosen such as London's center it works really well - they could bring in a lot of audiences of various ages. I know that the posters represent the film well obviously because they have the characters on it, but also the simplicity of the posters reflect the mystery of the characters discovered in the film. The film and the ancillary texts do work well together because they compliment each other and definitely are well connected. If we had perhaps used colour for the images and a more cheerful photograph of the characters we could say that it perhaps doesn't quite work, but it does work well because the colours in both the film and on the poster coordinate.
The poster in itself through the use of semiotics can be described as the 'sign' whilst the position of the two men at the bottom and the woman on the top suggests almost a triangular relationship between the three characters and can be described as the 'signifier'. The 'signified' however comes in relation to the position of the characters on the poster, but also how the woman is shown to be more powerful. Her 'shh' gesture motions the onlookers to read her as being in charge, and as the other two look relatively restricted in their body language, we are open to the idea that she perhaps controls; might be hiding something (suggested by the shadow over her right side which is the side it has been proven people look to when lying); or simply is overly seductive. This compliments the film perfectly because it's showing exactly the situation that is produced in the film. Any onlookers who view the poster can wonder if the three have a connection or relationship, and as traditionally film posters contain the main characters, they can assume that quite confidently. I definitely feel I made the right choice picking those characters to be on the front instead of having perhaps just the detective because it creates a deeper combination of ideas that audiences can develop when looking at the poster about what the film might entail. All this of course adds up to curiosity which then drives them to go and see the film.
The poster in itself through the use of semiotics can be described as the 'sign' whilst the position of the two men at the bottom and the woman on the top suggests almost a triangular relationship between the three characters and can be described as the 'signifier'. The 'signified' however comes in relation to the position of the characters on the poster, but also how the woman is shown to be more powerful. Her 'shh' gesture motions the onlookers to read her as being in charge, and as the other two look relatively restricted in their body language, we are open to the idea that she perhaps controls; might be hiding something (suggested by the shadow over her right side which is the side it has been proven people look to when lying); or simply is overly seductive. This compliments the film perfectly because it's showing exactly the situation that is produced in the film. Any onlookers who view the poster can wonder if the three have a connection or relationship, and as traditionally film posters contain the main characters, they can assume that quite confidently. I definitely feel I made the right choice picking those characters to be on the front instead of having perhaps just the detective because it creates a deeper combination of ideas that audiences can develop when looking at the poster about what the film might entail. All this of course adds up to curiosity which then drives them to go and see the film.
The film review I did I feel works really well with the film also. The target audience are reached through the choice of simple colour, simple layout and appropriate language within the actual review. I think the photographs also represent the tough journey the detective entails during the film and I think it works really well in selling it. Of course we made the photos screenshots from the film because that is quite conventional of reviews. It also makes the review more interesting and definitely makes the audience wonder what happens to provoke each one, which is the exact kind of reaction we would want from a review.
I decided to give the film four stars in the review to make it a lot more appealing. Comments have said that 7/10 people from ages 12 - 40 felt that the four stars was accurate. 3/10 of ages 12 - 40 did not. By going with the majority it makes the four stars rating I gave it more valid than if I was to pick the minority. It would be misleading.
I liked the photos I chose to put on the review because they each show a different part of the story. It could be that the guns attract the male viewers and the kiss the female, but the photograph of the two characters (Bonnie and Carter) conversing can lead to a sense of curiosity as to what on earth they could be discussing. All the pictures are aesthetically pleasing and from the mise-en-scene in each you get a depiction of wealth, which could also attract audiences, in reference to the Blulmer and Katz theory which sees people consume texts because they contain something they desire. In the same fashion, women could be idolising the femme fatale in the film for enticing what looks like a hard-hearted detective and want to emotionally involve themselves in the story, hoping to gain some inspiration from it.
The main reason why I did not do an in-depth review like sometimes is a main feature in a newspaper for example is because mostly the internet is used to gather information on up-coming films, and having a review online could boost chances of the film getting more popularity, if it were to become big; hypothetically. The sharp, simple reviews that I read on RottenTomatoes.com were really simple but used the language appropriate to the age the film was aimed at, which was really good. I think the use of language in my review is precise but also is readable for audiences of 12+. The review compliments the film well because like the film, it does not reveal all you should know all at once! I think that the layout works really well and appeals to the eye, aswell as the actual worded review attracts an audience because it makes the film sound fun, action for the men, filled along with a stretch of romance to please the women. Traditionally of course men want to see action films and women want a bit of romance (stereotypically anyway) and so by including both of these aspects of our film in the review we can get a wider range of consumers.
I liked the photos I chose to put on the review because they each show a different part of the story. It could be that the guns attract the male viewers and the kiss the female, but the photograph of the two characters (Bonnie and Carter) conversing can lead to a sense of curiosity as to what on earth they could be discussing. All the pictures are aesthetically pleasing and from the mise-en-scene in each you get a depiction of wealth, which could also attract audiences, in reference to the Blulmer and Katz theory which sees people consume texts because they contain something they desire. In the same fashion, women could be idolising the femme fatale in the film for enticing what looks like a hard-hearted detective and want to emotionally involve themselves in the story, hoping to gain some inspiration from it.
The main reason why I did not do an in-depth review like sometimes is a main feature in a newspaper for example is because mostly the internet is used to gather information on up-coming films, and having a review online could boost chances of the film getting more popularity, if it were to become big; hypothetically. The sharp, simple reviews that I read on RottenTomatoes.com were really simple but used the language appropriate to the age the film was aimed at, which was really good. I think the use of language in my review is precise but also is readable for audiences of 12+. The review compliments the film well because like the film, it does not reveal all you should know all at once! I think that the layout works really well and appeals to the eye, aswell as the actual worded review attracts an audience because it makes the film sound fun, action for the men, filled along with a stretch of romance to please the women. Traditionally of course men want to see action films and women want a bit of romance (stereotypically anyway) and so by including both of these aspects of our film in the review we can get a wider range of consumers.
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
From our audience feedback it's been really useful to find out how people who have obviously not seen your journey in making the film actually perceive it! There have been some really positive comments and some not so positive, but on the whole it was good to receive anything.
In the office scene, (SCENE 1) people have commented that it is a little jumpy, and that it doesn't quite flow. The cut off of Ellen at the beginning was said to be 'good because it keeps her in suspense' which was our intention, but they said that the scene needed a little more flow. I definitely agree with this and feel that if we were to repeat filming the scene we would film it from a lot more angles and add much more creativity to the clips. We could add cut away shots, perhaps focusing on her lips or his eyes, just to add an extra edge to the scene. That way it would be much more appealing and make it more enticing to watch.
Some people have said that the music was a little loud and sometimes made it difficult to hear the actors. Unfortunately in editing we did not find this, but of course we know the script inside out! If I were to do it again I would perhaps get someone who was not involved at all to watch the film before we exported it to see if the sound works well or not.
A lot of people commented also that the office scene between Bobby and Carter has too obviously been filmed in daylight and we should have made the clips darker. They are right - we did film in daylight because we could not get the office at night, but of course we should have been able to make the clips darker using a specific tool on Final Cut, our editing software.
A lot of people thought some of the shifts in editing such as when Carter shifts on the doorstep or when Bonnie's hand touches his in the restaurant scene were really good and made the film flow well and made it easier to watch. They also liked the camera shot from the floor we filmed as Carter approaches the doorstep. The scene following this one with Scarlett and Carter contains diegetic sound but actually people have said that it should have been recorded so it could be heard better, therefore making it non-diegetic.
The comments on the acting were really positive - they said that everyone did really good accents and portrayed the time of the film (American 1950's) really well.
A number of positive comments about the costumes flowed in too. Ellen looked 'seductive' and all the clothes worn throughout the film were perfectly appropriate, which was really good feedback as that was something we needed to work well for the film to look in it's time era that we had put it in.
Some of the feedback I posted before includes:
Audience Feedback:
After posting our film on youtube and FaceBook we were able to get feedback for it, and also constructive criticism. We showed our film to our class too and were able to gain suggestions for improvement then also. I asked my family to view it too!
You Tube:
"Like the idea, with a better camera and some more interesting/creative camera angles this could be super pro" I think this is a really good point! I think we could have looked at some more modern films instead of basing our whole film on old fashioned film noirs to capture the audiences of today. I know that our film is fairly basic in it's use of camera angles and variety of shots and so despite wanting to make an authentic film perhaps we could have done more to persuade today's technologically advanced audiences!
"Like the idea, with a better camera and some more interesting/creative camera angles this could be super pro" I think this is a really good point! I think we could have looked at some more modern films instead of basing our whole film on old fashioned film noirs to capture the audiences of today. I know that our film is fairly basic in it's use of camera angles and variety of shots and so despite wanting to make an authentic film perhaps we could have done more to persuade today's technologically advanced audiences!
Family:
"The girls aren't as easily heard as the boys" Naturally girls have quieter voices normally but this is no excuse! We must make sure on future filming that the girls are as equally clear as the boys, because their voices shouldn't distinguish from each others in terms of sound, unless relating to the type of character they belong to.
"Brilliant" was said which was really nice.
"I like the way the girl looks - she is very pretty and has just the right look for the kind of character she plays" This was a really good comment because it shows that we have thought through our femme fatale successfully!
"The girls aren't as easily heard as the boys" Naturally girls have quieter voices normally but this is no excuse! We must make sure on future filming that the girls are as equally clear as the boys, because their voices shouldn't distinguish from each others in terms of sound, unless relating to the type of character they belong to.
"Brilliant" was said which was really nice.
"I like the way the girl looks - she is very pretty and has just the right look for the kind of character she plays" This was a really good comment because it shows that we have thought through our femme fatale successfully!
FaceBook:
"Really good"
"Jumpy sometimes but really good story" The storyline took us a while to work out so it's good that people have enjoyed it's twists! Unfortunately jumpy has come up a lot. We could have definitely improved the quality of our film by making it a lot smoother in transitions and in between the varying shots we used within scenes. One scene in particular that this stands out for is the office scene. Between the differing shots of Bonnie the transitions are quite jumpy, and don't work to please the eye. The end part where Carter is leaning away from Bonnie is also uneven and doesn't run smoothly - the audiences all thought the editing needed to be sharper.
Class Show:
"Music too loud in gunshot scene" We knew this might come up! Unfortunately as I have said before the music on the macs was not as loud as when we transferred the footage onto another computer.
"Voices too quiet outside front door" Again this is in a scene that we felt was clear enough on the macs - we know for next time to double check this, or if we feel sceptical about the sound to record a voiceover just to be on the safe side.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
During the construction stages, media in it's many forms was good for us to use to help us develop the ideas behind our film, and get an understanding of what we were going to actually produce. From using the internet to research directors, film noir as a genre and previous films we gained a knowledge that could lead us into creating our own ideas and coordinating them effectively with the films we had learnt about. Before watching any films it was a good idea for us to get some history of the 'noir' genre and gain some knowledge about it. I did this because I did not know what the genre involved and therefore would understand the films much better if I knew the nature behind them. My introduction for film noir is here:
"Film Noir: "A film that is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, menace and sexual, cynical characters"; a name applied by french critics (aka Nino Frank, 1946) to describe American thriller or detective films in the early 1940's through to the late 1950's.The idea of the 'Film Noir' period is developed from the idea that the countries were falling apart after the war. Not only have many men lost their courage through fighting outrageous battles, but they also have to compete with the growing strength of the women. During the war they took on the roles of the men, and so the character 'Femme Fatale' apparent in these films are seen to represent this era of new women. Usually the main character (male) is displayed as a weakened man, usually corrupt, as many men would have been after the war.The first film recognised as under the guise of 'Film Noir' was Stranger On The Third Floor (1940), directed by Boris Ingster."
This small paragraph explained to me everything I needed to know before I watched any films to gain a better understanding because it introduced the ideas behind the era of films.
We also in our media lessons watched a number of films which gave us a good insight into what kind of films came out of the genre. I analysed and summarised the films further down too. I think that by looking at these films we were each able to understand which parts of the genre we liked more, whether it be the seductress or the gore, or even the twisted minds behind the male protagonists. To contribute to the construction of our film the videos we saw made us create visions in our minds - when I analyse the films I also said what I liked about it's storyline and characters, which helped me come to create the idea for my own film. From using the internet I was able to get enough research about the individual films and work out a summary. The summaries I did gave a brief summarisation of the film, and also what I liked and dislked about the different aspects of the films. For example, I did an analysis of 'DETOUR', and here's what I wrote:
"This story is also set in a flashback. A man called Al used to accompany his girlfriend on piano whilst she sang, so when she left for Hollywood he decided to hitchhike there from New York to join her. The person who gives him a ride however promising a direct route to LA mysteriously dies. After Al has to hide the body due to being disbelieved by the police about the death if he didn't, Al gives a ride to someone called Vera. She knew the driver who was named Charles Haskell Junior, and so she blackmails Al into taking the drivers identity to avoid trouble, but actually lands him deeper into disaster.
The story is fairly simple, but also unusual. It is not one that would perhaps usually persuade me to watch the film but I actually quite enjoyed it. Again, the femme fatale has a great deal of control.
The story is fairly simple, but also unusual. It is not one that would perhaps usually persuade me to watch the film but I actually quite enjoyed it. Again, the femme fatale has a great deal of control.
Making the male protagonist weaker than the woman is not that popular in film noir's, but I think it succeeds in putting across the darkness pursued by men in the times after the second world war. I really like the fact it is in black and white; I definitely prefer Noir film's in black and white instead of colour."
By recognising the storylines I was able to become familiar with the twisted nature of film noirs and begin to develop an understanding of what I wanted mine to entail. The main reason why I chose to then comment on what I liked and disliked was so that the voice in my mind helping me to develop a preference in the noir genre was put down for readers of my blog so they too could see the journey from ideas into the making of the film.
During the planning stages, we used storyboarding, meaning we were able to put together the ideas Ellen Toby and I had for details such as the camera work, and work out what kind of sequence the story was to follow. This really helped actually because it meant that when filming we all knew what we were looking for and were much more efficient in achieving it. We each did two scenes and were able to work together in making sure each scene appeared how we wanted it to. This time we spent working on our storyboard also allowed time to make clear as a team the exact process the film was to work in. By this, I mean putting the camera angles, music, sound effects transitions and script with each section of the scenes, helping us to create a flow of ideas. An example of the detail the storyboard helped us create was when we focused on Ellen and her wine glass - Bonnie and Carter are out for a meal and in order to make her seductive nature more apparent to the audience we decided we wanted to do a close up of her drinking the wine. Going from our original idea on storyboard to film, it worked well.
For the evaluation stages we each showed our films to allow feedback from a large variety of ages, and also used YouTube and FaceBook to gain responses. The social media forms through using the internet are really good because it's unlimited and people who we perhaps wouldn't send the film on a disk to can effortlessly watch the film. The best way for us to find enough feedback in order to evaluate our film was to use these mediums, because they enabled quick responses, and so we were successful in gaining them quickly.
One way I would really like to have improved with the 'behind the scenes' work on the film was in the teamwork. Working with 3 of us on a film was fair enough, but having the 3rd member contribute a lot less than deemed necessary was not helpful in the success of our production. Ellen and I had to complete the film virtually as a pair, with ideas, contribution to filming, consistency and editing help lacking from Toby. Of course we still managed to complete our film on time and produce something we felt was fitting to the criteria, but having a more participating 3rd member of the team could have made the project much better on the whole.
Overall the project was great fun and I've really enjoyed the journey we've made from being unaware of the depths of film noir as a genre to creating our very own version; understanding the concepts, denotations, connotations and representations from the films we saw to inspire our own story, taking the costumes and outfits and putting them into something that will represent certain traits in our characters, and finally editing our film through using inspirations from films all was definitely worth the time to reach the outcome we have.
Antonia :)
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