The Secret (First Draft)

After completing all of our filming, and a considerable amount of editing, we've successfully made a draft of our final piece. Bear in mind that this is not a completed version, and we plan to edit the piece more to improve certain aspects of it. For example, there are a few foley sounds missing that we need to record and add, such as the gunshot, but the purpose of this draft is to get a reaction from people. We will be showing it in class tomorrow, and handing out questionnaire's for people to fill out. This will allow us to see what the general reaction is from our class, and allow us to see the piece from someone else's perspective, giving us further ideas on how to improve it.
Our first draft is embed below through vimeo:

Below is the questionnaire we are going to show the class. Matthew created the questionnaire himself using google forms, so credit goes to him for it.

Reflection:

We feel that showing our draft to our class is a good idea because it allows us to get some quick feedback using the printouts Matthew created. Our next steps are to look in detail about the feedback we received and use it to further edit our piece to turn our draft into a completed piece.

Production Log

Last night, me Matthew and Heather met up once more to film the final pieces for our Film Noir recreation. We didn't have much filming to do, as we got most of it done before when we met up, we simply just had to film about 10 seconds of our production to tie up some loose ends in our film. The filming process itself went very well last night, we got everything done that we needed to do, and we've now added these scenes into our final production which makes it better. Now that we have the scenes we need to finish our piece, we plan to compose a draft version of it to show to our media class. Matthew is also going to create a questionnaire for the class to fill out so we can get some feedback on our piece.

From our filming process, I've learnt how important it is to be well organised, and how we need to plan ahead with our filming to ensure we get it all done. I think that we've done this very well, as the scenes for our film are all completed with over a week to go before our deadline. Our next step is to analysis the feedback we will get from our class, and discuss our next steps.

Production Log

This production log covers the last week of our media work. Last Thursday was the 21st January, and me Matthew and Heather all met up to get as much filming done as we possibly could. We waited until around 7 o'clock that night so it was dark, which meant we could create shadows using lights to give our piece a film noir feel. We spent around 2 hours filming, using a street and an alley way that was fairly local to us all. After our filming process, the next day was Friday the 22nd, and we uploaded all of the footage we'd filmed the day before onto a Mac in our media classroom. Once it was all on there, we put it onto iMovie and edited the clips so they were in order. We added a black and white filter over it and added the soundtrack that Matthew had previously found. However, after putting our clips in order, we soon realised that there were scenes we were missing, and certain aspects of the film that didn't quite make sense. To fix this, we plan to meet up once more to film again to fill these gaps, and we've set a date for Wednesday 3rd February. We also saw that there was another aspect of the film we wanted to include, so we have filmed it and added it to our unfinished film on iMovie. The filming today (27th January) was done in a drama room. We pulled a thin curtain across the room and turned all of the lights out; then we used an iPhone for a torch light on one side of the curtain with me and Heather, and then a camera on the other side that was operated by Matthew. This made mine and Heather figures look like silhouettes, we we felt looked really good and added a further film noir type of convention to our production.
Overall, we felt that our filming process went fairly well, considering how low the temperature was that night. Despite the cold, Heather kept her character as the femme fatal by wearing her red dress, and I kept the character of the everyman wearing a suit. The actual filming was good, and we did a lot of takes of each scene to give us different camera angles to consider when editing. To improve our filming, we would of liked to have gotten it all completely done, because despite the fact that on the night we thought we'd done it all, when we actually went back through the clips there was stuff missing, which means we have to set a date to film again.

Production Log - Voice Overs

 Today, Heather was ill so me and Matthew decided to record my voiceovers for the final piece so that once we had filmed, they were ready to add on. We found an empty classroom to do this so that my voice wasn't blocked out in any way by background sound. The technological device that we used to record my voice on was Matthew's iPhone 6. We took a lot of records of each sentence in case my tone of voice didn't fit or sound right when we added it to our final piece.
We plan to film our piece some time next week. We had previously planned to film it before this, but we had to postpone because we weren't in possession of the correct props which play a big part in our filming process.
Attached below is a sound cloud file that Matthew made containing all of the voiceovers we recorded. Although it was made purely by Matthew, I think it belongs on my blog because the sound files feature my voice.



Reflection:
Putting all of our voiceovers into a sound cloud file made our blog more interactive, and made it easy for people to have access to the original voiceovers to see how they sound without the Film Noir around it. To improve, we'd of liked to have recorded more voiceovers to have more options to chose from when it came to embedding them into our final piece. Having said this, the voiceovers we have recorded are very good and we are all happy with them and the way they fit into our media piece. Our next steps are to continue editing our piece to have it completed.

Researching Editing Techniques

Like the research on sound, I also decided to do some brief research on the way that a Film Noir is edited.

Editing:
When researching online about the editing used in film noir's, I wasn't able to pinpoint a website that clearly described in detail the way that they were edited after being filmed. This is because that back in the time when they were made, technology was limited and very little amounts of editing could actually be done. It was most likely done during the actual filming progress.
After using Vimeo to watch some more Film Noir's, it is clear to see that techniques which fall into the editing section are simple things such as eye line match, and shot reverse shot, along with the soundtrack and voice, not to mention that most classic Film Noir's were shown in black and white. The website for Vimeo is below:
Film Noir's on Vimeo
For our final piece, we plan to film it and then obviously edit it, but to stick to the conventions of the way that Film Noir's are edited, we will keep things simple. We will add the voiceovers, along with the soundtrack, and possibly some transitions in between scenes, but generally we want to keep things simple to match the convention and make our film seem like a classic Film Noir. We hope that from the way we edit and produce our piece, members will think it is an old film, and even possibly relate it directly to the genre of a Film Noir.

Reflection:
As I've mentioned before, splitting up the tasks between our group has been very effective for us and worked well, because its meant that the research we've done has moved forward quickly, and meant we can film our piece quicker, which in the long term will give us more time to edit. To improve this piece of research, like the one on sound I would have liked to cover more detail, however with the editing aspects of a Film Noir, there is very limited amount of things to talk about so I think the main areas have been covered. From this task, I learnt about the simple form of editing in a Noir, and it gave me a full understanding of how simple we must keep our editing for our production.

Location Research

It was now time for us to allocate roles for each other in terms of research. One of my roles was to look at the typical locations that Film Noir's were produced in, and try to match these locations with actual ones local to us for our filming.
First, I looked online to find some pictures of where a Film Noir would usually be filmed, and the typical image I found is the one you can see below. As you can see from this picture, it is dark which matches a convention that Film Noir's are almost always filmed during the night. The location itself is very urban, as Noir's always are. You can see the tall buildings that could possibly be flats, along with the long dark alley ways which are only lit up by street lamps, which makes the alley look misty. The street lamps also create shadows, which is another convention used frequently in Noir's. From a quick research into location, I got a full understanding of the type of place to search for locally to film our Noir. I will attempt to keep the locations urban, and incorporate other conventions by finding street lamps that give off shadows in the night with long dark alley ways.

After having a clear understanding on the locations that Film Noir's are typically filmed at, I decided to look around my local are to attempt to find certain places that could be an option for us when it comes to deciding on a location to film. The pictures you can see below are taken from each end of the same road. Out of all the places that I looked locally to me, this road stood out to me, and matches the conventions I've identified in the picture above. The road features street lamps which create a type of mist, along with some tall houses that gives the area an urban feel. There is also an alley way along this road that I was unable to get a picture of because it was too dark to physically see down it, however this could be used for a possible photo shoot during the day. When thinking about filming, this road would work with it because the main elements of filming could be done under the street lamps so the characters are visible, and the mystery can be created when they walk away and fade into the darkness. This is why the street lamps are vital, to help give our piece a sense of mystery. These locations that I found are only possible locations, and may or may not turn out to be what we actually decide to go for. I simply wanted to do some research into locations, and try and find a few myself so as a group we had some options as well as an understanding on the conventions.

Reflection:
As a whole, I think I performed this task well, and gave our group an understanding of Film Noir locations. Allocating roles to each other for research was a very good move because it meant we all had things to be getting on with, and could feedback to each other what we'd found. From this task we learnt the Film Noir locations, and now have some ideas about where we'd like to film. We also learnt the importance of communication between as a group, to ensure we were all aware of exactly what our task was when it came to research. To do this particular task better, I would of liked to have found even more possible locations to give us an even wider option when it came to picking a place to film. Having said this, I think that the research I did do will be very useful in the upcoming plan to film.

Research of Opening Title Sequence

Now that we have looked at different variations of narrative structures as well as knowing our genre, it was time to do some research about Film Noir's. To do this, we each picked a classic Film Noir and analysed the opening title sequence, noting down the conventions. The website I used to do this, is called Art of the Title. Here, I found a large variety of different opening title sequences, and by looking up Film Noir's, I was able to find 'Fallen Angel' from 1945, which is a classic Noir.
The website to Art of the Title with the Fallen Angel opening title sequence can be accessed by clicking the link below:
Fallen Angel Opening Title Sequence

After watching the opening title sequence of the Film Noir 'Fallen Angel', there are some clear conventions that are unique to a Noir.
In terms of camera, and the way each shot is composed, its very basic. Noir's are different in the way that the opening titles last for one or two minutes, and whilst they are being shown very little is happening in and around the scene. For Fallen Angel, it follows exactly this because for the whole duration of the opening sequence the camera doesn't actually move, and instead editing is used to display each title. The camera is placed at the front of what appears to be a bus, which is travelling along a main road. The road signs that it goes past are enhanced and edited in a way that titles are visible on them. An example of this can be seen in the screenshot below:
As you can see here, the shot is composed very simply because the camera doesn't move. The titles are edited onto the road signs, and made easy to read for an audience. This carries out throughout the whole opening title sequence, so in terms of camera, the shot used is very simple, and the editing around it allows us to read the titles on the upcoming road signs.


The sound used throughout the titles of Fallen Angel is very typical Noir style. Just by listening to the soundtrack, it gives us an old classic feel, which we will have to try and recreate to match the soundtrack convention for our production. The music in Noir's is generally composed using saxophones, pianos, and trumpets. This soundtrack is played throughout all of the opening title sequence, and fits well with the titles. The soundtrack also helps to create an atmosphere so early in the film.
Very little can be analysed in terms of mise-en-scene, because there is so little happening in the titles. As mentioned before, the camera is placed still at the front of a bus, so all we can see is the road in front. The whole clip and film is in black and white, which is obviously edited in. Film Noir's are always traditionally in black and white, so we will ensure that our production follows this convention.

Reflection:
We each analysed an opening title sequence of a Film Noir, and all did a blog post on it. This was a big step for us in terms of our research, because we were able to analyse each others posts and talk as a group about the conventions we found, and how we plan to match them. The conventions that I've talked about above, were similar to what Matthew and Heather found. This was good because it showed that we all had a good understanding on how identify the conventions of a Film Noir, as well as knowing exactly what they are. We all learnt from this that splitting the tasks between us is good and can be very useful in terms of research, especially in this case because we got triple the amount of research and three different classic Film Noir's analysed. Our next steps are to look out the ways to recreate sounds, and possibly start further planning with out production and look at locations we could possibly film at.

Narrative Starting Ideas

Our task for Media is to recreate an opening title sequence of a particular chosen genre. For my final piece, I am working with Matthew and Heather, and we have started to plan a narrative for our production and discussed different ideas for a story. We started by talking about a genre, and landed on the idea of recreating a Film Noir as much as we can. To do this, we will need to have a full understanding of the conventions that a Film Noir has, and attempt to recreate these into our production. Soon, we will allocate roles to each of us to ensure that we have that full understanding of this particular genre of film. Research will have to be done on things such as sound, so that we know what the soundtracks generally are, not to mention the way the dialogue is embedded. We will also need to research typical camera angles used, and the way that these films were edited, and how, not to mention the mise-en-scene, such as costumes and location. Another aspect of research will be the audience of a Film Noir; with an understanding of who these films were generally aimed at, we will have a good idea on the way we need to adapt our production to suit this particular type of audience. As a starting point, we talked as a group about possible ideas for our film and also about how many characters we would plan to have and what the general idea would be. From this, we were then able to write out a general synopsis of the narrative that we want our story to follow. Obviously this is just a starting idea so we will undoubtedly build on this idea and develop it in different ways.

'Micky is staring in the mirror with a gun... Flashback:

He was a successful person, but he had a big secret.

He employs an assistant (femme-fatal) who finds out his secret but agrees to keep quiet by blackmailing Micky.

Leaves him broke.

In his anger he kills her.'

Reflection:

In terms of planning, this was a good starting point for us. We were able to pitch all of our possible ideas across to each other, and adapt each one as a group. This was also good because now that we have picked our genre (Film Noir), and created a general synopsis, we can move on to research and future planning for filming our production.

This task also had some negative aspects, which allowed each of us to learn what we need to do to improve as a group. The discussion we had about out genre and narrative took a long time, and we were quite indecisive at times about deciding exactly what direction we wanted our production to go in. With future discussions, we plan to try and be more decisive about the decisions we make, which will allow us to work faster and develop ideas quicker. If we had landed on a genre and narrative quicker, we could have adapted our piece further and perhaps starting thinking about other things such as a location for our filming, or what equipment we would use. Having said this, the synopsis above is a good starting point, and we are all happy with the ideas we have.