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.