Evaluation of my exchange exercise

I filmed this exercise about three weeks ago with two other people. This exercise was supposed to bring in some film noir characteristics. I think that I did fine in this piece but to be honest I didn’t get that much of a chance to do a lot of shooting neither editing.

Altogether I think that the editing was not that bad it stuck together but one thing went wrong as it takes a long time to pass the envelope, it takes a long time for the other person to collect the envelope and we could of could of cut that shorter to look better.

The shots were very good, when we were shooting this we did a lot of shooting and we explored a lot of different shots (Long shot, low-angle shot). I think that though that we could of added more close up of faces because this shows the expression of people which would of been more realistic like film noir shots.

We went well with the costumes for instance we had long overcoats and that is what a lot of film noir go with. The location was good as this was just an average location that it is like an everyday location and in film noir’s a lot of things happen in everyday location.

The sound went well we had taken this music from the film noir D.O.A. It goes well with the fact it is very suspicious but also keeps you up beat with the sequence. But from other member’s of my class 50% said it was confusing as they were not sure as it would go with this shooting, but some say it did, it was a split decision.

The rule of thirds again we did the same problem as it was better but still it had too much wasted space, but the eye line was fine better than before. We were almost about to cross the 180 degree line rule because when I come towards the camera I do not work straight towards it I angled off. We finally fixed handles and we had no problems editing this time.

In conclusion I think that I didn’t produce a rubbish piece of work but the camera skills are getting better than the other two exercises I have done. But practice makes perfect and hopefully by my next exercise (Film noir opening) I must take all of these things more into concentration.

Evaluation of my preliminary exercise.

I think that some of my work in this project was bad; in the way that the shots that i used (over the shoulder shot) was not as good as my partner because you don't actually see the other person shoulder near the camera. I think I need more coverage also. For my next exercise(The exchange) I think I need to improve just get more handles in.

Some of the Editing wasn't good but a few minor things such as the boy walks in and leaves the door open but when you see him sitting down it's closed. That's something that next time i have to make more attention to small things. Also I didn't leave no handles and this made it very hard to edit

I think that the sound of when the boy opens the door and everything was fine but the dialogue is hard to hear.

I have to improve 'The Rule of Thirds.' because in the frame i need more looking space for the actors and also I need to put the actor's along the axis, as this makes this more interesting than the actor being bang in the middle.

Another thing to improve is 'Framing' becuase like i said in 'The Rule of Thirds' I need more looking space but also I have alot of unwanted space in the frame so I think that the next exercise I do, i should zoom closer or place the camera agaisnt a white or dull background.

I think that altogether my preliminary exercise was good because of the fact that I have only done one other shooting which was just practicing different shots. So this wasn't so bad but I few things i need to focus on before my next exercise and also my major finished exercise which is The open to a film noir thriller.

I have learnt from this exercise how to edit but that is only because this is the first time I have edited. Also I think that by my next exercise if I ever use an over the shoulder shot I actually have to put in the shoulder because sometimes in this exercise you see a shoulder and then sometimes you don't see it. Also by my next exercise I have to remember my framing as there is a lot of unwanted space that is not important for the video.

Characteristics of Film noir

Many storylines have an emphasis of moral ambiguity and sexual motivation such as a strong dominant but seductive woman and makes the man do what she wants.
You have the typical strong dominant but beautiful seductive woman. The men are normally ordinary people who get wrapped in with the woman’s evilness and he eventually ends up to his downfall.
They are set in locations such as dark streets, hotel rooms of big cities or abandoned warehouses.
They focus on expressionistic lighting and circling cigarette smoke.
The actors seem mysterious you have to pick up what job they have or anything else as most likely it will be used later in the film.
You would have voiceovers of what the man/woman would be thinking of a person or their confessions. They have loud mysteries music to keep you knowing that something bad will happen and keep you paying attention to the film.

The shadows of Venetian blinds cast upon an actor, a wall, or an entire set, are a typical visual in film noir. Film noir is also known for its use of Dutch Angle, and low angle shots and lenses.
They have jarring editing as well as flashbacks to remind were the person is.
Also they a lot of the movies start the movie at the end instead of the begin and then you hear the story from the person who telling point of view of what happened.

Three Classic Film noir's

Touch of Evil, 1958, Orson Welles.
A car blows up as it crosses the Mexican border into the USA. A high ranking Chief Officer is with his wife and he is brought into this investigation as a Mexican resident is been accused. The Chief Officer has to blame a drug lord who has already been tracking him and is trying to scare his wife and the Officer off the case.
In this film noir they use the Venetian blinds affect for lighting. As it is set in Mexico we assume it’s in a city were a lot of crime happens and because someone is following them no one(the police) would really care as it happens all the time in the city. So it shows in this film that you’re always on your own.

Strangers on a Train, 1951, Alfred Hitchcock.
A tennis Star meets a stranger on a train who offers a deal with him if the stranger kills the tennis stars wife if the tennis star kills the stranger’s father. The tennis star doesn’t take him seriously but his wife ends up dead and the tennis star become the main suspect and this effectively ruins his tennis career and his life.
Many noirs are like this one as it shows a man has got everything has dreamed of but does one accidentally thing wrong and ends up as a suspect even though he is innocent and his whole life is doomed.
The fact they are on a train as well is kind of film noir as there are dark bit to a train as when you go through a tunnel and the fact that they are alone and secluded so no one else can know what they are talking about so no one can pass the blame to this stranger.

Kiss of Death, 1947, Henry Hathaway
A crook gets caught in a jewel heist and he refuses to rat on his partners and goes to jail, assured that his wife and children will be taken care of. But his wife has killed herself. Then he tells the police on his ex-pals and is paroled. Remarries gets a job and begins leading a happy life when he learns one of the men he informed on, killer has been released from custody and is out for revenge against the crook and his family.
Many noir movies have people who are trying to run or hide from someone like this movie. I think that the music in this would be very dramatic because this movie is trying to keep you watching as it doesn’t start from the end so they have to put something to catch your attention.

Three examples Contemporary film noirs

Sin City, 2005, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez.
Different stories that are based in Basin City which is heavily invested with crime. A man is seeking the murderer of a beautiful woman who was asleep in bed with. Also another man accidentally kills a hero cop and tries to cover it up.
And a man who is a policeman but is about to retire is committing a crime he didn’t commit.
Many noirs happen in big cities that are with crime like this neo noir. Also some noirs have men who have not committed a crime but happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time like this neo-noir.

Momento, 2000, Christopher Nolan
A man who is suffering from short term memory loss is out to avenge his wife’s murder. But because he has sort term memory loss it’s hard for him to remember so in this movie it shows flashbacks of what has happened to him.
Just like film noir this movie offers flashbacks so you have to keep wondering what he did in the past that had to affect him in the future.

The last seduction, 1994, John Dahl
A woman who is a seductive and beautiful persuades her husband to sell medicinal cocaine to some drug dealers. She then leaves him with the money then her husband has to pay off debts so he keeps sending detectives to go and find her.
This is a perfect example of the women in film noir’s they persuade the men to do anything and then they leave and leave them man in ruins.

Film Noir History

Film noir was made by the Americans but because it was during the war Europe never got any of American’s film so when it first came to France the First critic Nino Frank coined the term.
It became more prominent in the 1940s which was the post-war era it became like this because in many noir films it showed strong dominant females and that was happening in real life as many men were in the war so women had to take over on jobs such as factory workers.
The depression in the USA influenced film noir because in film noir the amount of crime fiction that was used.
Film noir is not a genre but it is closely referred to a crime/thriller genre.
In the USA they didn’t have enough money to use a lot of special effects in movies because of the war so they trued to use little thing that wouldn’t cost them money, for instance not a lot of lighting.This is how film noir came.

Brief of Film noir

We are going to produce a film noir opening and the theme is contemporary film noir thrillers. This exercise should include the values,traditions,narrative,mood and conventions of film noir.

We are in groups no bigger than four and produce a 2 min opening sequence for a film noir/thriller for the age 15-18 but mainly for certification 15.Title and music should also be included which should reflect the genre,pace,and mood of the film.