Neo-Noir OTS: Plot

It took a while for me to come up with an entire plot for the film, as at the beginning I wasn't really sure what kind of story I wanted to tell. In the end I decided on a neo-noir, science-fiction thriller/drama. As I want to use the forking path narrative, there will probably be two different parts of the story. Below is a storyboard of the film.



UPDATE: I have changed the structure of the OTS in some places, using a lot of the same shots, but in a different order. As I have almost finished editing, I will create another storyboard with screenshots from the OTS, a lot of which are reflected in the presentation above, just in a different order.

UPDATE: Here is the final storyboard (which includes screenshots from the OTS as well as drawings from the first storyboard which are being used in the final cut. 

I have also decided to change the way I created the actual titles, which I have spoken more about in another blog post, titled: Neo-Noir OTS: Titles.



Rough/Brief Plot of Entire Film

Two different versions of the same people, a male and female duo, four characters altogether, but from different parallel universes, bringing in a sci-fi element. I was inspired by the film, 'Sliding Doors,' which follows the same person, but in two different timelines, and how small details of her life can make a huge difference. However, for my OTS I want the foursome to end up in the same universe, on the same planet, in the same house, and there is then confusion, conflict and violence ensues.

In terms of characters, I want one of the duo to be a little more villainous than the other, not completely hero/villain, as this is something I want to avoid, but use this to create conflict or a bond.

Plot of OTS

The plot of the opening title sequence I have planned to involve one of the protagonists waking up, drinking some water, going to brush her teeth, and making a cup of tea, before sitting down and turning on the radio, where the music will kick in and the other narrative will unfold, of the same character, but from another universe, with different more un-naturalistic lighting. 

Neo-Noir OTS: Narrative Codes

Narrative Codes and Conventions

After being introduced to a few of the many different narrative structures and the people who invented them (below is a SlideShare which I found this information on, from Ms Humpleby's blog):

Media narrative codes update 2015 from Elaine Humpleby



I have decided to use the Enigma Code, as I want to make the audience think and work out what exactly is going on. As well as this, I want the length of most shots to be fairly slow-paced and the music to compliment that, going down a thriller, science-fiction neo-noir route, so I feel that projecting a mystery to the audience will work alongside the features I want in the OTS as well.

The other narrative code I've decided to try and use is Allan Cameron's Modular Narrative theory, in particular, the forking path, as the idea I have for my film would work with this quite well. I will create another post about the narrative, and what I want to try and achieve.

It helped to choose which narrative codes I did not want to use, and the one I definetley didn't want to use was Levi Strauss' Binary Oppositions. The reason I didn't want to use this was because I don't feel that a character can be purely Hero or Villain, Good or Bad, Light or Dark, as I personally don't think that represents a person truly. I feel I would use this to try and project a message, maybe in a satirical way, and this narrative code can be used well, but in the context of my OTS, I didn't feel it was the right one.

Continuity Task Process

Below are blog posts containing the process of creating and evaluating our Continuty Task.

Evaluating Cinderella Continuity Task

Below is a video of Emily, Chloe and I speaking briefly about our film, before showing it to an audience.







After showing the film, we spoke to the class about what we could improve on, such as sound, and narrative structure. We also discussed the process and issues with timing during filming as well as receiving feedback from the audience.

'Cinderella' Cast, Crew and Stills

During the planning process of our Film Noir, we decided to create some stills of each scene we wanted in the film, like a storyboard to refer to. We didn't manage to include one of the more important scenes as we ran out of time and couldn't actually find everything we needed to film the scene. Here is a Prezi of the stills, the cast and crew involved in the making of the film. I may add some music behind this presentation soon. Enjoy!





When creating and taking the stills, we decided to place a lot of them in the photography studio, as the lighting was easier to handle than the shots we took outside. Thankfully, the days we decided to film outside was cloudy, which gave a nice natural effect to those particular photos. It also helped as there wasn't much sunshine or lack thereof to deal with. 

The photos were edited by Chloe, who enchanced eye colour to represent different characters as well as bringing a strong contrast to the photos, and drawing the audience to their eyes as most other things in the photo are either black or white. For example, Cinderella has blue eyes, which is quite a bright, happy colour, but can also represent sadness. The Prince's eyes are red, which is often used to show love, evil, blood, lust and passion. The Fairy Godmother's eyes are a yellow-ish colour. Yellow is often used to represent caution and false hope. This could refer to her warning Cinderella to not meddle with her's and the Prince's relationship, as well as being false hope for the Prince as he wanted to kill her for her money, but ended up being murdered by Cinderella because of it. The fact that in Beth's photo her eyes are the least prominent could show that she does not play a very important role to the other characters but is actually the only one who lives and doesn't get into any trouble with the others.

The shadows and colours were much more enhanced in the editing process, especially in this photo:

In some photos were inspired by Sin City, as red is a prominent colour throughout the film, whilst everything else is in black and white, with a graphic novel feel. We didn't use the graphic novel style in out stills but made sure the red (in the tie for example), stood out, as well as the use of light and dark.

Film Noir Continuity Task: Stills Update

I'm currently in the process creating a Prezi of the stills we created as part of planning our Film Noir, so that should be up soon. I will also be uploading a post on the different roles within our group and the way we changed the narrative of 'Cinderella'  to suit the Film Noir genre within the next few days.

Film Noir Continuity Task: Planning

Over the past few weeks, we were given an assignment to create a Film Noir short, combining the elements we looked studied beforehand and a well-known fairy tale. Our group decided to use the story from Cinderella. We had to plan the characters, how we would change them, as well as the narrative to make it more suitable to the Film Noir genre. The outcome of the task is to create a film including a scene of a character walking through a door, crossing a room, sitting down and having a conversation with someone. Below were the requirements:

• Shot reverse shot
• Match on action
• 180 degree rule
• Set action: a person opens a door, walks through and across a room, sits, and exchanges dialogue with another person

We wanted to make Cinderella the 'every-woman,' more commonly seen as the 'every-man' in classic Film Noirs, as she works hard and as she cleans in the original, we used this has her 'every-day' kind of job. The role of 'femme-fatale' is the Prince, and the villain is the fairy-godmother. We decided to do this as so often in classic Film Noirs, the women are portrayed as bad, and scary and their sexuality is seen as a bad thing, so we wanted to show that women can have good morals and be sexual, instead of having to choose between the two. The villain is the fairy-godmother, although all her motives are reasonable. 

Below is a rough plan of the first ideas we had:

Script 

The script was written predominantly by Chloe, it was rough, so we could work around it if the lines and stage directions didn't feel right or didn't work with where we were filming. I edited the script and re-wrote a few lines that I didn't think felt right or suited the story line. As we had little time to perfect the script, not everything sounds completely serious, and in my opinion occasionally takes away from the darkness of the film. Below are some images of the script. 

Chloe re-drafted the final scene, as we had to come back and make some changes as it was too long to fit into the final film. Here is an image of that:

I will be posting more about the process of making our film soon. 

Analysing Audience

We were given an assignment to analyse audience, including demographics used by film industries, what draws people into visiting the cinema as well as film classifications and some films studied in class.

Analysing the Codes Conventions and Narrative of an Opening Title Sequence: Analysing a Freeze Frame

We were given a task to find one still from an opening sequence to a film and answer some questions on it. I decided to use the opening sequence from 'Goodfellas,' as I felt the lighting, setting and amount of characters in the scene contained a lot to write about. Below is the still I chose and the question I answered.

What can you see in the 'frozen image'?

Three men, dressed in suits, facing the boot of a car. The red brake lights are projecting onto them, and it looks like whatever's happening in the scene is at night.

How are the elements of the image positioned in the frame?

Only the rear of the car is in shot, on the right-hand side, with the three men standing behind it, looking down at the boot, showing that they have more power than it, or whatever's inside. The three men are standing next to each other, with the character farthest from the camera standing a little closer to the car than the other characters. He is also distanced from the other two men in the shot.

How does colour and lighting effect what you see?

The lighting is predominantly red, coming from the brake lights on the back of the car. As this scene seems to be set at night, the audience's focus is pulled to the three men. The fact that the red light is shining on them, could symbolize that they're evil, cunning, possibly loving. The colour red also symbolizes blood and the fact that they're brake lights shows that they have stopped, to handle whatever's going on in the scene.

What is the distance between camera and subject?

The subjects (actors, car) are fairly close to the camera. The shot is not close-up at all nor are they extremely far away. This could be used to show some distance and divide between the audience and the situation going on in the scene.

Why is the shot composed like this?

The audience is able to see what the characters are looking at, and you can see the character closest to the camera is holding some sort of weapon, implying that they could be dangerous. The fact that they are all standing together shows some sort of bond and togetherness, as if they are group working together. If the shot was composed differently, for example, with the characters standing in completely different positions around the car, this wouldn't seem as predatory as they would not be forming a group, and the apparent bond would seem more empty.

Where do you think the camera is?

The camera is to the right of the subjects, achieving an almost profile view.

Why is the camera positioned like this?

Like I said, I think the camera is in this position so everything can be seen by the audience, and we can see that whatever they're looking at, is weaker than them as it's lower. 

What can you tell about time/place/setting?

I can tell it's night time, and it's unknown where the characters are, as it's very concealed, with trees. 

How does the setting contribute to the atmosphere/meaning of the shot?

The fact that it's night-time and in an unknown, concealed area, with red being the predominant colour, gives the audience the feeling that something is not right, and that something's going to happen that could be illegal, something that needs to be hidden.

How are the characters positioned?

They are standing in a line, the character furthest from the camera is standing closer to the car, and slightly away from the other two men. This could show his eagerness, his attitude is different from the other two, and there may be a divide between him and the others.

How is your attention drawn to the characters?

It's very dark, and the only lighting is bright red, shining on them, and them alone.

What can you tell about the characters from how they are dressed?

They are dressed in suits, a little shirts being a little scruffy/un-tucked, which shows that they have authority, but the reason they have authority may be corrupt.

What impression is given of the characters by their body language?

They seem fairly tense, slightly relaxed and all focusing on the boot of the car. Even though they seem to be unsure of what's inside the boot, they are not too fazed, and can keep calm, and possibly aggressive (signaled by the weapon in hand) when under pressure. This could also show that they deal well with intense situations, and are often the ones in power.

Who is the focus in the scene and how can you tell?

The focus, to me, are the three men, as the brake lights are shining onto. I could also see how the boot of the car could be the focal point as all three characters are looking at it.

Is the frame pivotal to the narrative?

I think this shot sets up the relationship between the characters and gives the audience an insight into how they behave, and certain traits each character has.

Analysing the Codes, Conventions and Narrative of an Opening Title Sequence: Synopsis for Goodfellas

We were asked to create a synopsis to the film, as if we were writing for a website/newspaper/magazine etc. Here is what I came up with, for the film Goodfellas. 

From Martin Scorsese, a film following the lives of gangsters living in 1970s New York. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci, doing things that definitely earn them the title of anything other than 'good'. 

Favourite Films

Here is a Prezi of what was supposed to be my top ten favourite films of all time. However, I could only think of seven, and even though others movies I've watched are very good, they're not my favourites. I will be updating this though, as I have planned to watch some films which I'm sure will make it into my top ten. For now though, here are my top seven. Enjoy! (I would recommend watching full-screen).

Film Noir Research

Below are blog posts on the research I carried out about Film Noir.

Neo-Noir

Neo-noir is the continuation of Film Noir with some features altered. This can range from changing the generic narrative of Film Noir, relationships between characters, costume, theme as well as many more. Here I will be talking about some Neo-Noir films, and how they're different to Film Noir.

Bound (1996)

Bound is a neo-noir crime thriller film, starring Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon, and was directed by The Wachowski's. 

In 'Bound,' many aspects have been changed. Firstly, characters. The 'every-man' is an 'every-woman'. Corky, has a regular, some would say 'boring' job as a painter and plumber, which is very typical, as in classic Film Noir's, this would make the character seem more attainable and achievable to the audience. Another difference in terms of characters and their relationships is that Corky, and the other principal character, Violet, have a sexual/romantic relationship. A relationship between two women in the 40s would have never been shown in a film, so this is a nice difference, as it represents the LGBTQ+ community in a Neo-Noir in a way that wouldn't have been conceivable in the classic Film Noir period.

Narrative

Violet, playing what would be described as the 'femme-fatale' at first, forms a relationship with a hesitant Corky, as at first she's not sure if she can trust Violet. 

Violet's boyfriend in the film, Caeser, is double crossed by Violet, which is common in Film Noir's, although the film focuses on Corky and Violet's relationship. I can see how Ceaser and Violet's relationship would be the typical 'every-man' and 'femme-fatale,' and if this was a Film Noir, their relationship would be the focal point.

The ending is also not a conventional Film Noir ending. Usually, the 'femme-fatale' is killed or flees from the situation and the 'every-man' is injured, in prison, or something along those lines. However, in Bound, Corky and Violet form a relationship and show that two people who are very different both deserve to live, and should not be punished by the way the act. This film also celebrates sex, sexuality and female empowerment, instead to portraying it as something negative, which is often seen in Film Noir. 

'Bound' trailer

Costume

In 'Bound' costumes are somewhat conventional, but also keeping it up-to-date. Violet wears tight dresses and high heels, which is what a conventional 'femme-fatale' would wear. In the first scene the audience sees a big rack of high heeled shoes along with a rack of dresses. 

Corky wears jeans, baggy t-shirts, which is un-conventional, but if the classic 'every-man' was living in present day, he may wear something like that, especially if he was a plumber/decorator. 

However, both Corky and Violet wear black leather jackets, which is paying homage to the 1950s, a decade where Film Noir was popular. 

Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner is neo-noir science-fiction film starring Harrison Ford and directed by Ridley Scott.

Setting

Blade Runner is set in a futuristic, 'sci-fi' Los Angeles, in 2019. Even though this is very un-conventional, 2019 LA is a bustling city with shops, restaurants, loads of people, much similar to where a traditional Film Noir would be set. 

'Blade Runner' trailer

Character

Rick Deckard, the 'every-man' was a blade runner. He had the job of hunting replicants (bio-engineered beings) and exterminate them. However, Rick Deckard is retired. So, if we translated this job into something Rick Deckard would be if he were living in 2015, he would have been a retired police officer. Even though this sounds quite run-of-the-mill, a police officer is still not something that a conventional 'every-man' would have.  

As I have been writing about the differences between Film Noirs and Neo-Noirs, I'm going to list some tropes of Film Noir which I have seen in most modern Noirs. Here are some collages I made, comparing elements in Film Noir and Neo-Noir:

Smoking

Shadows

Overall, Film Noir never really ended in my opinion, and has been re-invented over the years, and even though they may be very different (which is usually a good thing, in terms of messages they give to the audience). However, elements have still been left over through the years, mixed with new ideas, creating a fantastic new genre.

Lighting

Lighting is a key part of any film, but is very obvious and prominent in Film Noir. 

Low-key lighting is used a lot, creating an intense contrast between dark and light, and more visually harsh. 

This type of lighting creates what is called a chiaroscuro effect. Chiaroscuro originated in the Renaissance through paintings. It  This is used in film to create bold contrasts, as I said before, but also to produce a sense of volume in the subject on screen.

Here are some examples of chiaroscuro lighting used in Renaissance paintings. 

The term 'low-key lighting' is used to address any scene/shot which has an intense contrast in lighting. If shadows are outstanding, the contrast in lighting heightens even more.

Low-key lighting changes when filmed inside or outside (interior or exterior). The challenges of filming outside is the natural daylight, as it can disrupt the effect trying to be achieved. Filming outside at night poses fewer problems. Filming inside is much easier, as the ever-changing, uncontrollable natural daylight is at bay. Below are some examples. 

Low-key lighting (interior)

Low-key lighting (exterior)

The use of shadows is a trope of Film Noir. They can be seen as shadows of a person, from blinds, banisters, but they can also be used to conceal certain things, usually characters, who then appear into the light, revealing themselves to the audience. This is used to build tension and excitement, and also an interesting way to reveal something. Shadows can be cast, as I just said, upon an actor, large shadows upon a wall, or upon props/set. Below are some examples.

Equipment

There are certain types of equipment used to create particular effects with lighting.

Gobo

A Gobo is a cut out of a piece of glass or plastic which sits between a light source and the lens of a camera, creating a strong contrasting, harsh shadow. 

Cucocolis

These are a similar piece of equipment to the Gobo. They are cut-outs, of metal, wood or plastic, to create sharp shadow images. The cut-out sits between the light and whatever the shadow is being projected on to. 

Barn Doors/Flags

These are types of equipment used to create an effect called the 'eye-light'. An eye-light is to highlight the eyes and brow, and create a reflection in the eyes. This creates a dramatic and striking effect. 

This effect can be achieved by using 'barn doors' or 'flags'.

Thanks for reading!

Editing

Editing in Film Noir depends on the narrative, which often include flashbacks. Therefore, the editing/transitions will depend on whether the narrative is in the present or past.

In so many Film Noirs, flashbacks are where the main bulk of the story is told. This is to convey the 'dark' element of Noir even more, as the story has happened, and there's nothing anybody (characters, audience) can do about it. 

As well as this, many Film Noir endings are presented in the opening scene. This is an editing technique to make the audience excited and eager to find out how the character(s) ended up here, and what happened leading up to this moment. 

A trademark element of Film Noir is voiceovers. There is one person, usually the 'every-man', if not, somebody who knew him (but not a main character), narrates the story. This also keeps on reminding the audience that what happens on screen is in the past, not in the present. 

Job Roles in the Media

We were asked to do some research surrounding jobs in all different types of media. I focused on Film TV, Fashion, Hair and Make-up, as well as jobs in publishing. Enjoy!

I've noticed that the slides change by themselves, not giving anyone enough time to read it entirely. I'm afraid you'll have to press pause whenever you want to read a slide and play when you're ready to move on. I'll try and fix this soon. In the meantime, enjoy!

Costume

Costume in Film Noir is fairly straight-forward and rarely changes.

The 'Every-Man'

The 'every-man' will usually be wearing a suit and tie, often with a fedora/trilby. In more stressful scenes, he may as suit without the jacket or hat, showing his less professional side. The 'every-man' would often wear this to appeal to other men watching who may be like him, so that they felt they could relate with him as a character.

The 'Femme-Fatale'

The main female role is usually dressed in tight, stereotypically feminine evening dresses. Typical 40s/50s fashion is also used, trench coats, high necked jumpers, tight trousers, silky gowns etc. Women in Film Noir would wear these outfits, especially evening dresses, as it was meant to portray confidence and sexuality, which at the time was supposed to appeal to a male audience, but also make them feel frightened and intimidated by these characters. This was just after World War II, when women had obtained more rights, freedom, and liberation. The character of the Femme Fatale was supposed to scare and intimidate men, making them feel the need to bring back specific gender roles and brush rising female empowerment under the carpet again. 

I will be posting more about other aspects of Film Noir soon. 

Camera and Composition

Many different techniques are used in terms of camera and composition to create different effects with the audience and represent different things.

Low-angles 

Low angles, if on a person, shows their power, as the audience is looking up to them. The amount of power they have may change throughout the movie, so the way they are filmed will probably change as well.

Below are some low-angles used in Film Noir.

As you can see, the low angle gives the audience the feeling that this character is powerful, capable and authoritative. 

High Angles

High angles are used for the opposite purpose. They are used to make the audience view a character as vulnerable, weak and possibly not in control.

Below are some high-angle shots from various Film Noirs and Neo-Noirs. 

Dutch Angles

Dutch/Canted angles is a shot where the camera is at an angle, so the image on-screen is not parallel with the bottom or top of the camera frame. This gives a distorted effect and is used to make the audience feel un-nerved, restless and apprehensive. It also gives the viewer a feeling of disorientation. If being used from a character's perspective, Dutch angles can show how they feel psychologically or physically. Below are some Dutch angles used in Film Noir and Neo-Noir. 

Deep Focus

Deep focus is a cinematic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the distance between subjects that are sharp in an image, before the image becomes blurry and out of focus. 

This technique uses lighting, wide angled lenses and small apertures (apertures is a unit of measurement used to calculate the size of the opening of the lens, to control how much light reaches the film/digital sensor). This means that very little lighting reaches the film. Below are some examples of Deep Focus being used in Film Noir. Deep Focus shots are also used to show the status and importance of characters in those shots, or the role they play. 

Composition

In Film Noir, composition of the image on-screen is massive part of what makes the film, and in developing characters.

Firstly, there is a conventional way actors and actresses are composed in certain shots. For example, a lot of the time, the main actress in shot will be standing a few feet behind the male actor. This shows that the director wanted to show her apparent lack of power, and that she is could be 'dangerous,' in a weaker position or doing things behind his back. Here are some examples of this type of shot. 

This can of course be composed the opposite way, with the actress in front, showing power and the male actor a few feet behind her, showing his weakness and how he is dangerous, in the entire film but especially towards the female character in shot. Below are some examples of this. 

The way in which actors are placed, level-wise also effects the way they are perceived in a shot. For example, if a character is sitting in a shot, they can seem more vulnerable, or if one character is at the top of a set of stairs, and one is at the bottom, this can give the audience a feeling of who is more authoritative. 

Here are some examples:

I will be posting more about other aspects of Film Noir and Neo-Noir soon. 

Stock Characters

Stock characters of Film Noir are a massive part of what makes the genre so recognizable.

Below is a brief description of the generic stock characters used in Film Noir. I would recommend watching it full-screen.

Classic Film Noir

Here I'm going to discuss different features found in Film Noir as well as some practical work we did in class.

Structure

Film Noir is where we first saw the 'every-man,' the 'femme fatale', villains, henchmen and 'girl's-next-door' all in the same film.

The structure of these movies were quite predictable, the plots would vary a lot of course, but the basic events stayed relatively similar. Not every Film Noir narrative followed this structure, but many would go something like this:

1. Begins at the end, we discover that the 'every-man' is in trouble, and is retrospectively thinking about the events that got him to his current position 
2. Flashback to the trouble beginning, he meets someone, giving him some business to deal with or a mission to complete
3. Will then meet the 'femme-fatale' and the protagonist will  become completely infatuated with her
4. Something goes wrong, causing the villain wanting the 'every-man killed'
5. The narrative will then return to the present, the main character often regretting the decisions he made to get him to this point, and the one's he made next
6. Another flashback to the 'femme-fatale' deceiving/double-crossing the main character, pretending to be in love with the him, and promising to stay with him forever
7. The 'femme fatale' will be killed or punished (usually by the protagonist) after he has lost all feelings for her, realizing what she's done
8. The film will then end with a similar scene the audience saw at the beginning. 

A few other plot points that are often included in the narrative:

• The protagonist will end up with another woman, often known as 'the girl next door,' who he may have ignored earlier on in the film, or he was dating before he fell in love with the 'femme fatale'.
• Sometimes the 'every-man' will be dead in the present (in 'The Killers' for example) and then there will be flashbacks leading to the moment. 

Below is a a generic Film Noir narrative we were given. They were jumbled up, and we were asked to put them in order and then create stills of the scenes. The captions we were given are next to each photo in the presentation. I would recommend watching full-screen.

Music

The music used in Film Noir's were often very dramatic, especially in the title sequences.

The music would sound very orchestral, and climactic. Mainly consisting of brass and string instruments, as well as percussion  This built tension, the mood of the scene was often known before anyone had spoken.

Here are some trailers for Double Indemnity and Kiss Me Deadly, using this kind of music:

  Double Indemnity 

   Kiss Me Deadly

I will be posting more about different features of Film Noir soon.