My main contribution to our opening title was the mise en scene. I found my costume which had to be of a certain 1940s style. This was an important part, as if we did not have the correct look it would ruin the whole mood of the work. We had chosen the 1940s, as that was when most film noir films were made and we wanted to show our research into that period of time. The costume itself was a flowered knee length dress, and black lace up mid heel shoes. The dress and shoes were in dark colours as our final product would be black and white, and we needed them to come out on the film clearly. The character was meant to look quite sophisticated and feminine and the costume reflected this. Originally, I was just going to wear the dress and shoes, but because it was so cold, I had to wear my purple coat, which fortunately turned out to be of the right period look. The makeup had to be quite minimal with bright red lipstick and the hair was a simple 1940s flick, this gave it the complete 40s look.
The setting of the forest meant we could not control the lighting conditions, but as it was a cloudy murky day, it made our shots look very atmospheric and scary. The inside of Ge’s house was where we did all the inside shots and we chose an old fashioned looking arm chair. We then moved it against a brick wall to cover hide the obvious Christmas decorations in the background. The background also was in our favour because it had no particular style, meaning it fitted into our time period. When it came to putting the final product together, I chose the font for the opening titles, as the original one was not so interesting and did not fit the theme. The font we finally picked was Bordeaux Roman bold Ltd as it fitted it perfectly. Throughout the process of creating the our production, the key jobs were split, in order for it to be done as well as possible.
My main contribution to the task was the editing of our opening sequence 'Reminiscience'. In order to create the best possible opening, I worked alongside Ariadne Terizakis, since our collabortive skills created a faster pace and also better ideas. The opening sequence was formulated on the professional software 'Final Cut Pro', where I edited, cut and transitions from the wide use of tools on the software . Having previously used Final Cut Pro for a rather short length of time on our preliminary task; Ariadne and I knew the very basics, such as cutting and the tools. However, in order to reflect how we saw the Film noir Directors work- Alfred Hitchcock, we felt to include strong, effective and obvious transitions- which I believe was found rather difficult since the cuts between each little scene needed to flow, although we eventually found a way to reflect Hitchcock and have a flowing effect. The opening sequence of Reminiscence is somewhat a flashback as to which we see the characters memories as we zoomed towards her eye, to eventually come back out of her eye- but when we come back out of the eye, we had to take the first shot of Sarah and reverse it so we are almost leaving her flash backs. This also created some real struggles since we did not know if that was even possible to do on the Software, but fortunately we used the help book and also online and found that it was completely doable and therefore made a circular feel to the opening sequence. Obviously, as our genre of film is 'Film noir' we needed to turn the sequence into black and white, which we believed best to do at the end of the editing, just in case any small or possibly large problems occurred whilst attempting this. Luckily once again we searched about, and looked for the obvious to eventually come across the filter options. It was a rather long process creating a suitable and effective opening sequence (especially for a film noir) since there is many aspects to consider when it comes to the visuals, therefore I feel Ariadne and I did a rather good job, since it appears esthetically pleasing. We believed it would be a rather tricky process to create what we wanted to fir our description, which it was- yet fortunately I eventually became rather used to it and could successfully get on with it each lesson. For our production I contributed by doing the camera work. We had been taught many different types of camera angles and the ones that we incorporated into our film were:
I also contributed by adding the text onto the final edited piece. I did this by using final cut pro. I had to write the text then drag it onto the video and select the superimpose box to make sure that the text came up over the video. This was quite difficult as it became quite tedious if it didn't always work however I managed to overcome the obstacles. During the process of our main production task we split the key roles of management across our group as equally as possible. One role that I took on was 'Music Composer'. I worked along side Georgina Evans and collaboratively we planned, formulated and edited the music to fit our media product. I worked on 'Garage Band' as my sole use of technology, using the samples that they offer for free without copying any artists already existing music. We took inspiration form Alfred Hitchcock's Films and the music they used to put over Film Noir's opening sequences - highlighting elements that create the key codes and conventions of film noir thrillers and infusing them into our music piece. For example: a low base line to create a Jazzy atmosphere, automatically suggesting the period of our piece (50's). I wanted to incorporate the high pitch string violins, that add tension and a dramatic effect of danger in our music, this is common for thriller openings. One tool on 'Garage Band' that we used effectively in our final media product was the alternation of volume. By pin pointing exactly where the specific component of music is to increase/decrease in volume, I created a crescendo of sound that overlapped with the climax of action on the screen. Introducing different instruments helped to create a crescendo as well. The use of pauses in the music formed suspense and a sharp tone when dramatic effect was needed. I also had to cut music at certain points so that it would fit the action on screen - timing exactly when different transitions occurred. I wanted to create a theme of circular foreshadowing at the beginning and end of the opening sequence. The sequence starts with a young lady reflecting on past events, as the camera zooms into her eye we gain an insight of a flashback. The flash back ends and the camera zooms out of her eye again. Following this action, I used a low slow Jazz base line, for one bar to introduce the opening - I used the same one bar of slow Jazz base to conclude the opening as the screen fades to black. This reoccurring sound ties in with the name of the film 'Reminiscence'.
Georgina and I both decided that we would incorporate a Latin segment into the opening sequence, this would connote a seductive and dangerous mood in the opening; film noirs' commonly create a seductive nature in their openings. A wide range of film openings use an interlude as their music. This will include segments of songs or musical compounds that occur within the movie, the units of music that are in different scenes within the full movie collaboratively make an interlude. This is what we planned to archive with the 'Reminiscence' film opening. We used purely music as our audio and dismissed use of dialog. Furthermore, I was undertaking the role of 'Director' In the task. We all contributed at times. We used a tripod to create a high camera angle showing the character as being vulnerable. As director I had to think about where our actress would be situated and positioned in relation to the camera. I suggested that the actress avoided looking into the lens of the camera, although at certain points to stare directly at the camera to create a relationship between the character and the audience. During the filming process I handled the camera at times. It was very important to create a match on action sequence. Contribution both post and pre filming was planned between all of our group members. I designed this poster to be in the style of both old and modern noir films. The main thing that came out of researching film noir posters was that they had a bold title, maybe a catchphrase, and on most posters they had credits of the film at the bottom of the poster. I also included a review from a fake 'Times' review. Having a snippet of a review is very common on posters because they prove to the target audience that the movie is worth seeing. I chose 'The Times' deliberately because my target audience would most likely read 'The Times'. While editing, I chose a freeze frame from our opening sequence with the main character sitting in a chair. This was deliberate because it suits the period and most film posters feature the main charter. Using the brush effect on the photo made it look older and because film noir posters were originally painted (not computer done) this fitted well. The photo is in black and white, it keeps to the noir theme and it makes the tile stand out. choosing to use a smudged text on the tiles gave the effect of looking rushed and suspicious. The red is to cogitate both the sexuality and a manipulative women but also may represent blood. I used the same font for the catchphrase and the review, but it was in a a grey tone so it was not as bold. For 'The Times' part of the review I used a different font because I wanted it to be clear. I also added a five star rating. lastly I made the black frame around the photo and added the credits at the bottom to make it look more professional. In a motion picture the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are usually shown as bold text on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. For our opening titles we will have music and it will have text over an action shot. Opening credits since the early 1980s, identify the major actors and crew, while the closing credits list an extensive cast and production crew. When researching we came up with the most common mentions in the credits. so this influenced our credits as we wanted it to be realistic.
Here are some examples of opening titles from film Noir films. These were taken from the films Deadly "Kiss Me and Raw Deal. This supports my research of opening titles having moving backgrounds and bold fonts. The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984. It was set up as an an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationally. All classification decisions are based on the BBFC’s published and regularly updated Guidelines. The Guidelines are the product of extensive public consultation, research and the accumulated experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflect current views on film, DVD and video game regulation. Those who examine the films etc look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions. They also consider context, the tone and impact of a work (eg how it makes the audience feel) and even the release format (for example, as DVDs are watched in the home, there is a higher risk of underage viewing). The following symbols are the age ratings seen on the products... The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range. PG stands for Parental Guidance. Meaning a film is suitable for general viewing, however there is the possibility that some scenes may not be suitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content may upset younger, or more sensitive, children. The 12A requires an adult to accompany any child under 12 seeing a 12A film at the cinema. This is enforced by cinema staff and a cinema may lose its license if adult accompaniment is not enforced for children under 12 admitted to a 12A film. Accompanied viewing cannot be enforced in the home, so the 12 certificate remains for DVD/Blu-ray, rather than the 12A. The 12 is also a simpler system for retailers. It means they cannot sell or rent the item unless the customer is over the age of 12. No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age. No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds. Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children. No theme is prohibited at 18. Adults are free to choose their own entertainment provided the material is not illegal or potentially harmful, so it is possible some themes tackled at 18 may be offensive even to some adult viewers. The R18 category is a special and legally-restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops. R18 videos may not be supplied by mail order. R18 titles are filtered out from the main public search as they can have explicit and/or offensive titles. Due to the many age categories that your film could fall into, it is crucial that it must be concluded as to what age rating the film will be before it is release in ordeer to attract the correct target audience. Since there is the possibility that if a film is believed to be a 12 and over, yet is shown to the BBFC and it is actually a 15, it cuts of those who were possibly wanted to see the film. There is times however when the film is advertised on the television; for example, and TBC is in the corner rather then a rating since there is no confirmation as to what category it falls into, almost leaving people in suspense as to whether they are viable to view it in the cinema.
As our film-'Reminiscence' is a thriller as well as a film noir, it does not appear to fall into the category suitable for twelve year olds, due to the fact if the story where to be adapted, the film would most likely turn into a rather violent, twisted, physcological thriller with rather strong langue and scenes that would not be fitted to a twelve year old. Fortunately, our original target audience was to be of teens around 15-18 (hipsters) wanting to see the film noir, for this reason we have not encouraged any target audience that would not get the option to view it in the cinemas etc. Here are some examples of music for thrillers. Some of the elements that I have pointed out can be found in our film production. I have listed two more modern film thrillers and a film noir, of which inspiration can be found. The Music from 'Vertigo' uses an array of classical instruments matching the Film Noir. The melody that resembles a simple scale of notes creates a hypnotic mood and tone. The High pitched violins illustrate a dangerous atmosphere. As the piano scale melody is broken by brass instruments ever so often, the audience grow tense, not knowing what to expect next. The iconic music from 'Jaws' displays how tension can be created and built up using a simplistic melody consisting of two notes. Previous to this segment of music, the film has no other background music - therefore when this piece is introduced into the film, the audience register that it is used for dramatic effect. As the music gradually crescendos and repeats the bars faster, the audience grow tense with the anticipation created, assuming that some bad event is being foreshadowed from the music itself. The music from 'Sin City' uses a low base to initially create a dark and intense atmosphere. Sharp sounds are echoed on top of the base and an audience gains an insight of the film having a grudge undertone to it. The music is later accompanied by a saxophone melody, creating a seductive and jazzy tone, indicating this theme for throughout the film. Some of the notes are sharp, making it almost hard to listen to. The intense build up of instruments creates a dramatic climax.
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