Media Studies: Film Introduction Evaluation – Jennifer Twine 2167
The idea of this project was to create an opening sequence of a film. We had to plan, produce, direct and edit the film to make our desired piece.The genre I tried to emulate was film noir; the term describes low key black and white Hollywood crime dramas that were primarily made from 1940 to 1950.Like this, I chose to make my film low budget and black and white to fit the atmosphere I was trying to create - this being a post war crime thriller.I came up with a few potential storyboards with different subjects and different stories, but settled on a simple film introduction that gives a taste of what will follow later on in the film and what the conclusion is to these events.To try and recreate the crime film noir genre, I felt black and white camera effects would give the sense that it was an old style film and also give the sense of a sinister and dark narrative.The camera is often out of focus and blurred to give a sense of unawareness and to literally confuse or blur the viewers vision into what could be going on, I also feel it adds to the threat and suspense of what is due to happen. At the beginning I also feel this is created by the two female protagonists or the ‘femme fatale’ both being shown against a bright light, so adds a silhouette effect and sense of mystery to the characters. They are distinctly noticeable as ‘femme fatales’ by their makeup, posture, glamour and costume and so are identifiable as potentially dangerous and mysterious even within the first minute of the film.The majority of shots are mid shots to make the reader feel they are looking from their point of view at what’s going on. There is a slight lack of close ups that are a trait of film noir films, so if I was to re-film I would include more of these, though there is one at the end that invites the viewer and shocks them especially as it is quite sadistic due to the circumstance of what the woman intends to do to the man (drug him).The music used is typical piano/jazz music that would usually be associated with film noir and immediately lets the audience know of the time in which it is set. The music seems quite upbeat and innocent, which juxtaposed with the callous and sadistic content is quite dark and fear-provoking for the audience and they are almost oblivious to what will happen. I also decided not to include conversation or dialogue from the characters as I felt the film said enough as it stood, and especially as it is only an introduction to the film, I didn’t want to include too much in it or cheapen it with unnecessary sounding.Editing the film was fairly easy and ensuring continuity has kept throughout went reasonably smoothly. I used the schools specialist programmes to complete this, being Apple iMovie editor. I felt this was sufficient to complete my film successfully.The audience I have produced this for would probably be 12A as it does suggest villainy and violence as well as breaking the law by using drugs and weaponry. However this rating would make it suitable for the majority especially as it did not contain any direct violence or direct harm to the male character. It did however contain the women smoking, which may have not been suitable for minors. As well as the lack of close ups, other downfalls to the piece would be the sheer amount of smudging and off focus shots due to the age of the camera I used. Although I deliberately set the shot up and chose the particular camera to add to the effect, some of the shots are a little bit too amateurish I feel.Influences include Cindy Sherman (especially at the end), Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder’s ‘Sunset Boulevard’. The images and shots I used can be drawn from ideas from these directors and film makers and is what prompted me to produce a film of this particular genre.The typical femme fatale characters I felt must be included to give it a traditional film noir feel. My continuity exercise also took a very helpful role in this project as it allowed me to practice different shots, lighting and of course perfect continuity. If I had better technology such as more high tech cameras, the sharpness and colour of the film could have been more professional. I was also limited by the natural light outside as I was restricted because of the season in which it was shot. In future I could set aside more time to get the shots I wanted or done it over two days. In this case I would have to ensure I took pictures of the props and characters to ensure continuity was sustained.