Luke Ayres Film Noir

Evaluation Notes 1) In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products. When planning our Film Noir opening we wanted to try and use and incorporate as many conventions of Film Noir as possible to try and achieve the best possible mark and to present it as well as we can as a Film Noir. Obviously we were going to Film it in black and white as this is one convention that is apparent to the Film Noir genre and is present in every single Film Noir film. This of course was a very easy convention to achieve as all we had to do was to set the cameras to film in black and white. Another convention we achieved was linked strongly to the mise-en-scene. And this was props for the characters. We decided to make the two detectives at the start of the opening have cigars in their hands. We wanted to use this convention as it is very simple to do, and is yet again a typical convention of Film Noir, as you see cigarettes being smoked in a lot of Film Noir films. My Film is fairly similar to other Film Noir films as some of the main conventions fit the important conventions in other Film Noir films. These conventions are the previous conventions which I discussed earlier, such as: Being in Black and White Smart attire, e.g. white shirt, black tie, black trousers and blazer/jacket. Black hats Cigarettes Another vital factor as to why our Film Noir is similar to Film Noirs is because of the use of harsh lighting. This is another typical convention of Film Noir films and is always lit very harshly with very low key lighting. This gives it a great affect when it is filmed in black and white, and creates silhouettes on walls which are yet again another convention of Film Noirs. Also because it is dimly lit it creates tension and shows mystery and sparks questions which are all common in the Film Noir genre. Our Film Noir is different from other Film Noirs as ours has some elements of modern things within it. Such as the modern looking houses in it and also because you can see some cars. 2) How does your Media product represent specific Social groups?

Luke Ayres Film Noir

All of the characters within our film are not violent, all but one. The one character that is violent is the villain whose identity is not very well known. This is down to the reason that this character is stereotypically inpatient and violent which is why he kills detective Bruno as he is not patient enough to wait for him to find out the information any longer. We feel our Media product would best suit Middle class people, around category C or B. This is because of the ways the characters are portrayed and what their life is about etc, this is shown because the roles of the characters are the everyday type of detectives that you would get back then, and they are nothing special. 3) What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why? As a group we all did research into what institutions generally would distribute Film Noir films. We did research into institutions that would distribute the Film Noirs that were produced in the 40s and 50s. Not the new Film Noirs such as Sin city, but more the much older ones such as Touch of Evil. From our research we found quite a lot of useful information, but the majority of the information we found out suggested that the typical institution to distribute Film Noir films is Paramount Pictures. Paramount Pictures have distributed many film Noirs, which is why we chose them as to a possible institution to distribute our media product. They are also very popular for the Film Noirs being based around crime, which ours is. This is why we decided that Paramount Pictures would be the best institution to distribute our media product. Realistically though, Paramount pictures are not going to distribute our Media product, and the only real institution that will distribute our Media product is YouTube, especially because it is already on that website. 4) Who would be the audience for your media product? Right at the start of our Film Noir task, I set out to find out who was the main target audience for the Film Noir genre. From the questionnaires I produced I found out a lot of useful information. From this information I then produced graphs to show who the most popular target audience is. From all of the data I collected I found out that the audience for the typical Film Noir film is for around the age of 40 plus, and people who are interested in a film with a slight mystery. I found out that most of the people who filled out my questionnaires who would enjoy the Film Noir genre would generally be older than 40. It was

Luke Ayres Film Noir

suggested to me that this is because that it is black and white, and old fashioned. And some of the people who are going on to be older than 50, or are 50 can relate to some of the things in the Film Noir genre, which is why they would watch it. I believe that the target audience for my own Film Noir production would be slightly lower. This is because it has been created by ideas of the younger generation, i.e my self. Meaning that if we think it is a good idea, and quite enjoy it, there is a good change that the younger generation may enjoy it as well.

5) How did you attract/address your audience? As soon as our film starts, you can instantly see the two characters wearing the classic Film Noir hats, while being dressed smartly, in black trousers, black tie and black jacket, while wearing a white shirt, which is very conventional of a Film Noir Mise-en-scene. You can also see the two characters smoking a cigar. While this scene commences there is an ongoing voice over, which is one again conventional of a Film Noir film. We believe that because of the conventions being shown straight away, that the audience will recognise this and believe it to be very professional, which hopefully will keep the audience interested and watching our Film. Secondly I believe our choice and use of Music will interest and appeal to the audience significantly. This is because it fits the plot of the opening very well, as it emphasises the roles of the detectives and how sneaky one of them is trying to be. As the sound makes the Film Noir very interesting. I believe that this will interest the viewers. Thirdly because of our use of Actors. I think that because we used actors of the older generation, that they can fit in and relate to the genre and the roles they are playing more significantly. I also believe that as older characters are used, that the audience will be able to take it more seriously. This is because it will give it a more conventional film, as in Film Noir generally older characters tend to be used.

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

Luke Ayres Film Noir

I have learnt while producing this Media product that technologies play a huge role in creating the Film noir. This is because the technologies can do many different things and help you in many different ways. Also it would not be possible to product the film if there were no technologies. Some of the technologies that I have used in the production are things that I have used before at GCSE Level. These are the cameras, the editing software which is adobe premiere and of course the computers which are used to run adobe premier pro to edit the Film. Within the A Level course of Media Studies I advance into more and useful technologies which helps me to complete productions, and also to a higher standard. While completing our preliminary task earlier in the year, we also used a lot of different technologies, such as Blogger, which I used to upload all my work to which can easily be seen and shared, celtix, which is used to help us create scripts, and even storyboards, cameras and of course the editing software. Also we used scribd which is a website which can easily upload our files to blogger, in a much more presentable way. Within this product though we used a new technology that we have never used before. And this was the lighting kit. I was the only member within the group that was able to use the lighting kit, as I was the only person who passed the lighting kit course, which means you safely now how to set up the lighting kit and are aware of how to safely use it. This new piece of technology was very useful though, and gave us great affects within our Film Noir production. It was vital that we used the lighting kit as shadows and silhouettes are a convention of Film Noir, and it would not be possible to achieve these without the lighting Kit. The lighting can be used very effectively, as it can determine characters moods and show or hide characters identities. Easily making it identifiable is the audience should know whether that character should be seen or not, suggesting whether he is a villain or a hero. I have learnt from the process of constructing this production that technologies play a massive role in the creation of productions, and without them it would barely be possible, or not possible at all.

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I think my main lesson learnt from the preliminary task to this production task is time management. I have learnt that I should start early on preproduction and planning etc, and not think that Ive got plenty of time, when I really have not. Especially as it will suddenly catch you up and the

Luke Ayres Film Noir

hand in dates will be very close. Ive also learnt not to stop working on a production, this is because you will suddenly find your self to be off task, and then very behind on work. Also if you keep it on the top of your head I feel you are much better and able to think of better ideas for the production. This is also the case when it comes down to editing, this is because ive learned that the best and most efficient way of editing is to keep working on it until it is done. And to start editing the production as soon as the clips are ready, and it has been filmed. Without Filming it and leaving the editing for a while longer. This is because it will free up time, and give you more time to edit it. Meaning you can perfect the production and the final product. Also from the preliminary task, to now the Main task Film Noir, I have learnt that it is best to upload almost anything and everything to blogger that is linked and related to our production. This is because it will gain you more marks when it comes down to marking it.