Post-it Storyboarding - Scenes 1 and 2

Getting ideas together became much easier when we started drawing out shot ideas, in this way we managed to get ideas about both the narrative and the specific shots. We decided not to include dialogue in the storyboard, but to write the script later in the production process. However, we did discuss possible lines when planning which we will further develop during filming; 

Scene 1

With the opening scene we wanted to really quickly give the audience a sense about the characters and their developing relationships from the start because with only 5 minutes to pack in a whole story, character development could easily be lost. 

• We decided a very typical shot of a cigarette burning in an ash tray would be good to really get a sense for the genre from the very beginning and obviously we don't want to over-complicate the first scene as credits will be played over it.
• The next shot we think will be effective is an over-the-shoulder shot of the newspaper editor over the shoulder of our Femme fatal, Robyn. this will possibly be shown with some dialogue of Robyn being asked about her brief which will help to explain the narrative.
• We decided on a close up of Robyn's lips to show the use of another Noir convention also with some conversational dialogue further explaining her character and her position.
• Introducing Scott, the protagonist, was the next step so we decided to have him pictured in a doorway and the have him walk in and place coffee on the desk of the editor to further introduce his characters position in the office.
• Th final shot is a suggestive one to gain the audiences attention and also draw their attention to the possibility of a relationship brewing between Robyn and Scott.

Scene 2

We decided that we wanted to get into the action quite early on, explaining the plot in more depth and allowing the audience to get to grips with the characters.

• In the first shot we have shown Robyn in a Phone box from the back, the shot will hopefully be taken through the glass of the phone box if possible on location to create some disorientation. The dialogue should make clear at this time that she is talking to the leader of the drug gang whom she is supposed to be following for the newspaper, but here it should also show the audience that she is in with the gang.
• She continues through the scene to hang up the phone and call Scott pleading with him to help her as she's 'In too deep'.
• We wanted to use a few tilt angles throughout this scene to mirror Scott's feelings of confusion.
• To suggest Robyn's more sinister motives the last shot is planned to be a shot of her walking away from the phone box and lighting a cigarette.

Character profiles

Robyn

          Robyn is our Femme Fatal, we decided that she should be older than our main protagonist as this would automatically give her some kind of dominance, we decided to back this idea up by the fact that she is also higher up in the company than our protagonist (due to her age). We wanted there to be no cross over with the way she acts, therefore we wanted her to appear vulnerable throughout and only have her darker side hinted to from other characters. But we wanted to contrast this vulnerability by following typical conventions of Film Noir with her costume, not unlike Laura in Brick.

Scott

           Scott is our main protagonist/ fall guy. Within 5 minutes and with the amount we want to include with regards to narrative we felt describing some kind of back story for Scott would be slightly ambitious. However, we do want to include some kind of character introduction to show his position in the company and introduce the idea that he's willing t do anything to help him mover further up the career ladder. We also want to introduce some kind attraction he has to Robyn and so we will include scenes where the two interact slightly more. He is the youngest character, we wanted to make this clear through his costume and his mannerisms which wouldn't require much alteration as out actor is 18.

Jade

           Jade is our innocent female character but dresses in dark colours to maintain some kind of shiftiness. She has red lipstick to help distinguish her away from Robyn. Her motives are always clear throughout the film (to try and warn Scott to stay away from Robyn), as a result she is a genuine, non-ambiguous character. She is a contradiction almost, she lives a life of crime with her boyfriend, K, but she still seeks justice and tries to help the innocent. 

K

          K is our villain. He is not introduced until the end of the film but is referred to as 'He' at the beginning of the film by Robyn. He is intimidating and violent in nature as we didn't want to introduce a further character as a 'henchman'. He shows no remorse through the film and the audience should be aware of the fact that his girlfriend, Jade, is scared of him. Robyn is in partnership with K; he cuts her into profits as long as she keeps him out of the newspaper. She betrays him, runs off with the money and leaves Scott to take the fall. K thinks that Scott is trying to steal his money after Robyn runs away to Paris.



The Boss

            This is our kind of scene setting character. The editor is used to introduce the other roles and a section of the narrative. She gives Robyn an ultimatum; to get the inside story on the drug gang or the story goes to someone else. This helps the audience understand a bit of the narrative from the beginning but still leaves them guessing.

Initial planning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrEKCcjSCyw&feature=youtu.be

Some rough ideas so far:

• Set in a press office for a newspaper.
• Femme fatal: A late 20s/ 30s female journalist of high importance
• Protagonist male: An intern in mid 20s looking for a way to make his name known
• Femme fatal is a year or so in to an assignment to get an inside/ undercover story of a local drug gang but is coming up with nothing.
• She actually is secretly in with the drug gang looking for some extra money agreeing to keep them out of the press as long as they keep giving her hand outs.
• She sets up the intern acting as if she can’t handle the situation by herself claiming she owes the gang money (which she does), he innocently tries to help and gets pulled in too far (consequences of this are not yet decided on).
• Aim of the femme fatal is to draw a deal with the gang so that they can be all clear and she can move on with her life and live on the spoils of her year long assignment.

Setting:
Around 90s - present, we don't think it will have a specific era although we do not want it to be confused with a classical film Noir and so want it to be set closer to the present day. We want it to be set in a large town/ city as it will give the film a stronger and perhaps more realistic atmosphere; what with the under-wraps nature of the press office and also the drugs scandal. We were thinking London would perhaps be too large a city, Cambridge seemed the perfect size and style and it would give more of a negative feel to the goings on of the main characters due to the towns positive atmosphere.

Characters:
We want to keep the character number to a minimum for added ease during production but also to be in keeping with Noir conventions. First ideas are; Femme fatal named Robyn (established through brainstorming), Protagonist; Scott (intern for the newspaper attempting to make a name for himself), Newspaper editor (probably only introduced briefly to outline Robyn's brief to the audience), Drug gang leader (used as a consequence for Scott doing Robyn's bidding) and Jade (the gang leaders girlfriend, used to warn off Scott).

LA Confidential - Analysis

Mood board: locations, characters and stylistic attributes

Locations

Characters

Stylistic attributes

Research

• In 1940, 'Stranger on the Third Floor' (directed by Boris Ingster) was released, this is most commonly referred to as the first Film Noir. 
• Orson Welles's 'Touch of Evil' released in 1958 is most commonly referred to as the last Film Noir of the classic era not including the Neo-Noir era.
• The two archetypal characters in Film Noir are the 'Femme Fatal' and the 'Fall Guy' some key characteristics include:

Femme Fatal; Attractive

                         Seductive

                         Manipulative

                         Innocent exterior

Fall Guy; Questionable morality

                 Down-and-out 

                 Trustworthy and Loyal

                 Unattached/ Single

• Some other characters include: 

                                                 Hardboiled detectives

                                                 Corrupt policemen 

                                                 Jealous husbands

                                                 Intrepid claims adjusters

                                                 Down-and-out writers

• Key hallmarks and Narrative devices of the Film Noir style include:

Urban setting                                                                                                                
Cigarette smoking

Voice-overs

Dark themes - murder, crime etc.

Low-key, single source lighting

Influences of German expressionism

Flashbacks

Dutch angles

Disorientating reflections/ Blinds

Deep focus/ Depth of field

Skewed camera effects/ Shadows

Low and wide camera angles

• Some general moods/ themes expressed in Film Noir are; Murder, disloyalty, crime, isolation, alienation, adultery, passion, bleak outlooks, cynicism and suspicion.
• Key directors in this genre are: John Huston, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Nicholas Ray and Fritz Lang.
• Neo-Noir films came after the classical Noir era and so are much more modern in style as well as time frame, some of the most famous Neo-Noirs include; Lone Star (1996), Blade Runner (1982), Brick (2000), Body Heat (1981), Basic Instinct (1992), L.A. Confidential (1997) and Chinatown (1974). 
• Neo Noir definition: A style following some characteristics of classical Film Noir of modern motion pictures, but with updated themes and motives and improved quality filming.

Examples

Examples from laurenreid22

What is film noir?

History
          The German Expressionist artistic movement is usually claimed to be the main source which early film noir sprang from in the early 1900s. Although the earliest films of the genre were created in the 1930s the genre of 'Film Noir' was not actually given its name until after the war. All of the films produced in Hollywood during the war were unable to be distributed worldwide due to the conflict and so when they were released all at once to Europe  in particular France, the set of crime drama's were nicknamed Film Noir by the French public due to their pessimistic and cynical nature.
Neo-Noir
          Most films from this genre were created in the 1940s but the classic conventions did not really die alongside the black and white framework. Neo-Noir is the term used to describe more modern adaptations of the Film Noir style, the conventions are not copied completely but are clearly used as building blocks in many motion pictures. The most obvious difference in modern vs. original Film Noir is the fact many modern adaptations are shot in colour, however the less noticeable conventions such as the music style, lighting and themes/ motives stay the same. An example of an extremely modern adaptation of the classic Film Noir style is the film 'Brick' produced in 2005 set in a high school in California. It follows vaguely the same conventions as the original motion pictures and definitely explores the same themes and the classic character stereotypes are also featured throughout. 
Themes
           Film Noir's are so specific in style, I think this comes from the use of stock characters which feature in nearly every film. These include; 

• The Femme Fatal - The seemingly vulnerable but manipulative lead female character preying on the disillusioned male to gain what she wants.
• Lead male - Cynical and mislead male anti-hero playing into the hands of the femme fatal, usually a detective or of another profession linked with crime.
• Accessories to each - Normally each of the main characters have a friend or accomplice.

           Levi-Strauss' Binary Opposition theory (Juxtaposing themes) really works well with the themes and characters of the genre, examples of two opposing aspects of the stereotypical Film Noir narratives are; male vs. female, light vs. dark, naivety vs. deceit and law abiding vs. law breaking. Themes and aspects of the narrative remain similar throughout the development of the genre; deceit, attraction/ obsession/ passion, law breaking, adultery, murder, drugs, cigarette smoking etc. 

MY GROUP - LACE MEDIA

To help distinguish between us, here are some profile shots!

Me

Charlie

Ellie

Amy

We were recently given the brief for our coursework project:

To create a short film noir, no longer than 5 minutes.

Complete two ancillary tasks chosen out of the following:

                                                                                 A radio advert promoting your film.

                                                                                 A film poster for your film.

                                                                                 A magazine review page for your film. 

We are currently watching various 'film noirs' to get a feel for the conventions and patterns in this very unique style of film. It soon became apparent that this style of film is very different from any other however officially it does fit into the 'crime drama' genre, typically produced in Hollywood. Some of the key conventions I have already picked up on from the examples we have seen are:

• Extreme low and high angle shots
• Dutch angles emphasising disorientation
• Extreme close ups
• Strong depth of field
• Isolation
• Reflections, blinds and obscured faces and objects
• Extreme weather
• Fragmentation of both male and female characters to show distinguish between shifts in dominant roles.
• Low key lighting and strong, bold shadows
• Suburban/ Urban settings
• Downbeat Jazz music; Brass instruments, Saxophones and Piano are common 
• Omniscient voice over (usually the hero)
• Heavy breathing and smoking by most characters
• Usually shot in the day time with a night filter
• Themes of passion, sexual obsession and murder are common