Our Storyboard

                               

This is the storyboad Prada and Tiffany made. It briefly captures the main scenes we intend to have in our title sequence. However, after our lesson on storyboarding we feel that it needs more detail. It will give us a distinct idea of what happens in the storyline within the two minutes. We have included captions on each box discussing what is happening in the scene. 

1. A couple sitting in a theatre/ cinema, appear to be happily enjoying the movie.
2. The film stop for an interval, at which point the main protagonist excuses himself from the girl.
3. He assures her he will be right back, and exits the theatre into the lobby.
4. There he meets with a glamorous women woman dressed in red. They have a silent discussion, during which she hands him an envelope of money and then departs.
5. The protagonist then goes to the electric supply and turns the theatre lights off.
6. The room is pitch black and a scream is heard from the girl he was sat with.
7. The protagonist is then shown wiping blood off his knife after killing the girl.
8. He briskly departs the building and come across a waterfall where he reminisces memories of him and the girl. 

Storyboarding (Graphic Visualising Process)

Storyboard are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture,animation, motion graphic,or interactive media sequence.

Why is storyboarding important?
Pitching an idea
Links planning to the filming process
Visualize images and ideas
Visualize links between shots, action/graphic matches (when similar shapes/objects are linked between scenes)
Timings, continutity and pace
Technical awareness and understanding
Revise narrative sequencing
Chance o make desicions and revisions.

Things to include when we make a storyboard:
-number all of the shots as this makes it easier to edit.
-use arrows to show where the camera/character is moving.
-put the estimate of the times of each shot.

Its not advised to use lots of cutting in your filming, you can use the camera to tell the story which adds to the films verisimilitude.
I have also learnt you can film some shots any order which gives you time to plan certain shots. Everything comes togeteher when you edit so it doesnt really matter which order you film the scenes in.

Practising a Dutch Tilt

These are my attempts at a dutch tilt:

This is just a normal straight shot of a candle:

This is the same object using the dutch tilt:

 Other objects I practised the dutch tilt on:

The dutch tilts create a subtle sense of unease which is a good thing for a thriller film. They are a common technique used in Film Noir so it is important we have a good understanding of what it is and how to do it before we go and start filming. 

Our Actors

We are using Shauna, Simran and Jack as our actors.

We have chosen Shauna to feature as the protagonist in our crime thriller, this is because Shauna has a elegant unique look which represents stereotypically white British women in the 1950's. Shauna has features that stand out such as, Blue bold eyes, pale skin and a sweet and innocent look. Shauna suits our target audience of any gender ages 15 years and above.

We have chosen Simran as the role of the tempter to the antagonist. This is because Simran has sharp features such as her eyes, we also thought she would be good at this role because she has great acting skills and seen in our continuity task. We also wanted to show varied ethnicity's in our thriller title sequence.

                                               

We have chose Jack as the Antagonist in our thriller this is because he represents a stereotypical man in the 1950's with blond hair, blue eyes. Jack is additionally white British reflective of out target audience.

Film Noir Makeup and Costume

Prada researched makeup and costume for women during the time era of Film Noir.  By doing this research she particularly noticed a prominent red lipstick which can be considered a convention of the era so I feel that it would be reflective; furthermore increasing the verisimilitude in our piece. There is also a consistent pale skin tone which ultimately compliments the lips and cheeks. She additionally researched costume within the period to also gain an understanding of character appearances. The findings from her research were expected, she noticed a pervading polka-dot and floral print upon frilly dresses. These dresses are very conservative in comparison to modern day fashion maintaining lengths that are no higher than the knee. Our film consists of two female actor with differing personalities. One of the female actors attains a villainous persona therefore we plan on dressing her more formally reinforcing a sense of authority in her. Our other female actor portrays a young, cheerful character therefore we decide to dress her in bright,  florals to emphasise her innocence and youth, encouraging sympathy from the audience when she is murdered later in the film. In order to reflect this particular era we will make our best attempts to incorporate these styles. Despite these being small details in comparison to the overall title sequence I feel it would increase its realism.This is important research as now we know what our actors need to look like for our film to be accurate for the time period. It gives us chance to organise what they will look like before we start filming so everything is ready and we don't waste time sorting out costume and makeup when we could be filming.

Practising different shots and angles

In class Tiffany and I went and practiced different camera angles and shots. We decided it would be a good idea to practice them as we struggled on the different angles and shots when doing our continuity editing task.

Low angled shot:

When the camera looks up at the character which makes them seem more powerful and intimidating. This can be used to make the viewer feel empathy for the anyone facing this character as they would seem vulnerable in comparison.

                                                                High angled shot:

When the camera looks down on the character which makes them look small and vulnerable. These angles are often used to demonstrate to the audience a perspective of a particular character. 

                                                                       Long shot:

This gives the viewer a better idea of the setting. Long shots are used a lot in thrillers to show where the action is going to be taking place.

Extreme close up:

This contains a certain part of a charscters face or a close up of an object. It creates quite an intense atmosphere and creates more interaction between the character and the audience. 

Doing this has given us a better understanding of the angles so when it comes to filming we will have more of an idea of what we are doing. I also know what meanings can be portrayed by these shots. Seeing as we struggled in varying angles in our continuity editing task it has been good practising them again before we go and film our real thing.

Practising making shadows for the Film Noir genre

These are examples of shadows from films with the film noir genre:

This is my attempt at casting shadows:

When you hold the light down  it makes the shadow bigger making the person seem more intimidating.

When you hold the light up it makes the shadow smaller.

Praticing shadows is importany as the are a key feature of film noir. We will have to included shadows to follow the codes and convetions of the genre. It will be quite difficult to create shdows on location I thin because it won't be as easy to create completedarkness and then have a light that we can move around to create effective shadows. The shadows create meaning, there is someone there but it is left up to the viewers imaginations to decide who that person is and what they are going to do which creates suspense in the film. 

Post Production:Editing

Crosscutting (Parrel Editing) - although typically a narrative device, intercutting can set up juxtaposition between parellel story lines, exaggerating the impact or meaning of each by highlighting a point of difference relating to representation.

Intercutting - creates tention. It's used to draw 2 storylines together which an be structured to create tension and heightens the audiences idenifiaction with a particular character.

Reverse shot - one character being shown to talk back to another unseen character.

Cutaway shot - when the scene cuts to another different scene. This is usually followed by it then cutting back to the original scene.

Cut in shot - like a caraway but focuses on some part of the scene in detail before cutting.

Eye line match - when the shot cuts to veiw what the character would be seeing.

Film Noir: Codes and Conventions

They use certain shots to make the viewer feel uncomfotable and to create tension:
-high and low angled shots
-extreme close ups
-refelctions obscured through objects
-dutch tilts:

  This was used a lot in German films of the 1930s and 1940s.
They use everyday locations to make whats happening seem more real. Normally in dodgy areas to normal locations:
-often rainy on damp streets
-low key lighting
-high contrast (dark blacks and whites)
-urban locations

The sound used reflects the sense of foreboding in the films:
-downbeat jazz music
-heavy breathing
-quiet and silence
-discordant/grating music
-sudden noises
-voice over of protagonist

Editing follows many traditional crime characteristics:
-non linear at the start then tells the story in flashbacks
-generally use continuty editing
-jump cuts


It is important we know all of this as we then know what kind of things we need to included in our film to make sure it follows the typical conventions of a film noir. We will have to include some of these things for it to work effectively.

Planning:Mindmap

This is the mindmap Jade and I did when the other 2 members of our group weren't in. We discussed various ideas and there pro's and cons untill we came to a solid conclusion. On the mindmap we have discussed a few different film ideas, the actors we are going to use and locations. One of the ideas we discussed was having the protagonist throw their victim in a lake, however we decided that filming such a scene would be too dificult, so we discussed other ideas. We have settled on creating a storyline that is set in the cinema as we think it will be more appropriate than filming our initial idea that would of been very difficult. From our reserch on the types of thriller we decided on the film noir genre. We decided that a storyline that takes place in a cinema would fit the film noir genre best.