7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since our initial prolimenary task i feel i have become much more aware of the micro-elements and the ways in which i use them within my filming. Particularly as we had to re-shoot our footage a number of times, each turn we made adjustments the set props in order to refine our scene.
Our camera work has improved greatly since our prolimenary task. In our final video we where much more aware of the issues which can arrise with regards to framing and therefore where conscious not to make any mistakes. We also enssured that when producing match on action sequences, we left significant gaps either side of our desired footage in order to be able to cut down the clips and refine the continuity. This helped the footage as a whole flow much better.
When it came to editing our video we where much more aware of the capabilities and facilities available within final cut and therefore found it much easier to pick our best footage and cut it together. This gave us more time to experiment with effects.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

We learnt how to edit our footage in final cut express. We started by using the cut tool to select the best shots and cut them down to a desired length. Once we had selected our best footage we started applying effects to exagerate the moods and actions we where trying to achieve. To enhance the film noir effect we where able to use colour filters which enabled us to desaturate the video and increase the contrast. The most difficult thing about this effect was ensurring continuity with the level of contrast throughout every clip. We then added transitions between each clip to make the changes smoother. The software offers a wide selection so it was difficult to find the right one however i feel we made the right decision by using the cross fade. I found that the software has a lot of capabilities but you need to ensure that the footage you are working with is sufficienct. For example some clips had to be swapped and changed as they where too short and when the cross fade was aplied it was difficult to determine what the clip contained.

There where two key stages to constructing my final media film. One was the physical filming and editing of the footage, the other was recording our process step by step in 'blogger'.

During the initial filming stage we encountered a few problems as we where using artificial lighting. The camera we used would alter its exposure settings as it moved passed the light sources which would therefore effect the exposure of surrounding objects which gave an inconsistent view. To alter this we did a re-shoot and used overhead lighting aswell to create a more even fill of light within the room. I also learnt to use the in-camera zoom option as opposed to relying on cropping in the editing stage as this gives the shot a very high level of grain.


During the blogging stage we have recorded various important information. We have used the embedding feature to place inspirational videos on our blog for future refearance. This has been a particularly usefull piece of technology as it has enabled us to create a library of all the usefull videos we made need. We have also used the screen shots tool to take stills from our video so we are able to talk about them in detail within blog posts.

We have also made sufficient use of media 2.0 websites. In our research and planning stage we where able to search editable Film Noir fan sights to see the opinions of Noir fans such as what they enjoy in films and what they'd like to see. We also posted the video on youtube which allowed us to get audience feedback.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Our film opening acts as question to its audience. As it is a crime thriller it needs to have an element of mystery which draws the audience in and allows for a progression into the details of the story. By opening in the location of a murder it grabs the audiences attention by presenting them with a striking display of mise-en-scene involving a dead body. By filming in a fairly plain apartment it makes it easier for the audience to relate to it and imagine that it is possibley real. The cross faded jump cuts allow the protagonist to move around the room quickly whilst maintaining a steady pace. This should help focus the audiences attention by preventing the scene from being too slow. We used a variety of medium long shots and close ups to give a variation of shots also to maintain audience attention and highlight different aspects of the mise-en-scene which may later develope into key parts of the story. This conforms to the mystery style of the crime thriller as it activates the audiences instinct to start looking for clues by focusing on various objects. We combined music with our narration to add a tense atmosphere to the scene and help the audience get personally involved. The narration is directed towards an audience which makes it more engaging as it speaks directly to the viewer. This adds verisimilitude to our film and therefore enhances the thrill of watching it.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

There are two main features of our film which will attract its audience. One is that its a crime thriller. Hard boiled crime stories are very brash and feature aggressive blunt male protagonists and occasional dark humor. As the protagonist in our film is male it will be particularly attractive to a male audience who can put themselves in the position of the main character. They will then feel more personal towards the film and sympathise with the protagonist more so than a female may be able to. The film will also contain some violance such as the dead body connotes in our opening sequence, so it will have a more mature audience. Nevertheless it will be quite a thrilling film and therefore it will draw in a young adult audience. By looking at the British board of Film Classification website i have determined that our film would be a certificate fifteen. It would contain some strong violence but it wouldnt be sadistic or in any way sexualised. There is likely to be moderate swearing but it would be justified and the element of horror would be limited to a psychological thriller style.

The second asspect of our film which needs to be considered when deciding who our target audience is, is that it is a film noir. This style is viewed as very artistic and often quite expressionist. Therefore it will attract people who are particularly apreciative of film as an art form. It may also atract people who are already fans of film noir as a style.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

If we where to choose a media institution to use to distribute our product i would use the united artists institution. During its early years its founders consisted of Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith. The collective ownership went through various changes over the years but ultimately one of the organisations key aims was to counteract the movement of the over controlling studio system which dominated the distribution of films at the time during the early 40's. United Artists wanted to increase the interest of independent studio's. This suits our film as we are yet to gain any notoriety for our work as it is our first. As the United Artists always maintained support from high profile Hollywood names our film would gain respect from our potential audience. United Artists where also responsible for distributing some of the most respectable film noir movies such as 'Sweet smell of success', 'The Killing' and 'The Prowler'.

2. How does your media products represent particular social groups?

Our film opening shows a representation of your typical male detective. He acts as a representation of authority and perhaps our view of those in power. Film Noir crimes where based on specifically hard boiled American crime. This meant they featured violence, strong language and particularly brash male protagonist. Our main character, the detective, should be someone who people can trust. He is working in aid of justice. His costume denotes that he is smart and self respecting which connotes that he is trust worthy. However in our film he is the only one at the crime scene which allows him to do whatever he wants. He also acts quite careless when walking around the crime scene as he interacts with the furniture and props taking no care for forensic evidence. This was done to show the potential corruptness in the legal system during the era and how people of authority are not always trustworthy.

Our opening also produces a representation for the alpha male personality. Being that he is alone shows his Independence and confidence. The narration uses a monotone voice which shows how he is not phased by what he See's. To the audience this may build there confidence as they are seeing the story from the perspective of such a strong character. On the other hand his lack of care may make him vulnerable to tragedy and therefore could spark fear.

Ultimately our main protagonist is counter typical to every male or policeman. However he conforms the type of alpha male or private detective which is a slightly more niche character role.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?

We created a two minute opening video sequence to a crime thriller in a film noir style. We tried to conform to the conventions of a film noir mostly through our choice of mise-en-scene. It's all filmed in a small apartment room, a typical location for a murder in a crime film as this leaves the detective lots of places to look for clues which allows the story to progress. We achieved a low key lighting effect by using a few small lamps to light the room. This conformed to the conventional lighting featured in a film noir as it gave the footage quite high contrast and cast strong shadows around the room. Our main protagonist playing the role of detective, was also dressed in dark clothing consisting of a black trench coat and grey trousers. This costume also conforms to the typical dress of a detective from a crime film. We also used the theory behind set design of traditional film noir in order to develop our own style. Film Noir began as a low budget and quite surreal style. We created a surreal effect with our mix of both modern and old fashioned props and furniture. The room contained an old phone used by the protagonist which conforms to the film noir genre as the key film noir era was between the early 1940's to the late 1950's. This was then juxtaposed with our use furniture which has a less determinable era.

As the protagonist navigated his way around the apartment room we used a number of panning shots typical of film noir crime thrillers. This helps to set an even pace which is ironically quite unnerving as it sets up an opportunity for the even pace to be broken. This brings in the thriller element to our opening sequence. We made these shots blend fluidly using transitional cross fades in the editing stage. These cross fades gave a dimming effect to the lighting which again conformed to the low key lighting of a film noir. As the detective is he dominant character in the crime thriller we reflected this by keeping the camera stationary and allowing the detective to move around it. This showed his control of the scene.

We only used non-diegetic sound in our opening; this consisted of two parts. We looped an instrumental part of the song 'hello skinny' by The Residents to create background music. This song choice conforms to the genre of film noir as the The Residents are an experimental avant-guard band known for their surreal approach. It also uses woodwind instruments which reflect the 1940's feel. We then over layed a narration. The narrator talks in an American accent which conforms to the film noir crime genre which where traditionally based on hard boiled American crime stories. The use of non-diegetic narration as a representation of the detectives thoughts was common in noir crime thrillers as the detective would often be alone. The narration allowed the audience to get an insight into his thoughts.

Sound... Done.

Since creating our instrumental loop soundtrack we have finished the script. We got our friend Joe (the one with the good american accent) to read it out in short sections which we then had to manouver and place appropriate places. One problem was that we recorded the voice over in final cut on the mac which meant the the sond is quite quiet. It was slightly overpowered by the music so we turned the master volume of the backing music down and put the voice volume to maximum. Overall im really pleased with the sound. Im glad we made it all non-diegetic and the narration has a strong reflection of the traditional film noir style.

Sound

Now our film is pretty much finished with regards to cutting and editing we thought it was about time we sorted out our sound track. First we uploaded the 'The Residents' track into final cut and looked at the histogram so we new exactly when to cut it. We selected a large instrumental section from the beginning of the track and duplicated it. We added fade in's and fade out's to the begging and end of the track in order to make the transitions unnoticeable so it seems like one continuous track. Now we need the narration!

Some initial feedback

One of the main problems with our current edit is that it is too long. We where aware of this problem just hadn't yet addressed it. The blending transitions helped us overcome the problem that we have far too much footage. After cutting down all our initial footage we had nearly four minutes and the opening needs to be about two minutes. Therefore we made the decision to jump cut a lot of the footage which meant each activity was much faster. This would normally be quite counter typical and perhaps reject the conventions of film noir crime however the transitions maintained a fluidness and therefore i feel the shots don't look unconventional.

There where also a few places where the levels of contrast did not stay continuous due to different lighting being picked up in the initial photography. Therefore we went back to our colour corrector and adjusted the levels of whites and blacks.

Further editing

As all of our footage takes place in one room there is a danger of our footage becoming quite boring to the audience. In order to maintain there attention we have decided to add some interesting transitions.

We have predominantly used the cross fade and the fade-in fade-out effects. This is because they are fluid and maintain a level of pace for the scene. They are also quite dark transitions which exaggerates the darkness of the mood. It also conforms to the conventions of film noir as they would often feature more lengthy shots, the transitions prevented the cuts from seeming too sharp.

Colour correcting

To really push our film noir effect we have used the colour correction effect in final cut express. Firstly we pushed the saturation bar to the far left which desaturated our image. Due to the more even lighting we had to use when re-shooting our footage, there was a slight lack of contrast. To add some contrast we pushed the whites to the right which increased them and pulled the blacks to the left to create darker shadows. Now we have to do this for every shot enssuring continuity...

Re-shoot!

We just got round to re-shooting our footage. There are a few changes which have been made, the biggest one being our main actor. Marcus was very busy and not in the country at the time when we needed to do our re-shoot so we re-cast his role and gave it to Alec. Alec also fit the character profile of the traditional protagonist of a crime film. The advantage to having a group member is that he is aware of what we are trying to achieve which made filming a quick process.

We then made a few adjustments to the mise-en-scene. First of all we covered up the unnecessary radiator in the corner of the room by placing a sheet over it. We also took away a few items which we didn't previously realise had made it into shot, such as a box of beer. We then adjusted the crucial lighting. One of the key features of film noir is its dramatic lighting which gives the shots high contrast and a low key effect. The dark scene was both a feature of film noir as well as helps to enhance the crime thriller feel as it adds a sense of mystery. To overcome our previous issues we used some overhead lighting which was just enough to balance out the light within the room.

Backing music

As well as the narration we feel we need another element of music. Previously we looked at trying to find some jazz music or any popular music from the 1940's era however we couldn't find anything that was appropriate for the atmosphere we were trying to create, after all its a thriller as well. Nevertheless we managed to find a suitable piece of music 'Hello Skinny' by 'The Residents'. 'The Residents' are leaders in the world of experimental and avant-garde music and therefore i think they are quite an appropriate choice when we considered the surrealist roots that film noir developed from. We wont use the whole track as the vocals would class with our narration. Instead we aim to just import the track into garage band or something and create a loop of the beginning instrumentals. The song features wood wind instruments which reflect the era and give the song a mysterious feel. This will help exaggerate the darkness of our film.