Final storyboard - Animatic

Presentation to class - Progress so far

          We were asked to create a presentation to show to class, looking at our progress so far in making our film. This was a really helpful exercise, helping us get our idea's together and being able to get some feedback at a point in the project where we can still change a few things around. 
Our presentation:

Day 2 of filming

Above is a filming diary from our second day, we ran into a few issue's as we originally planned to film in the basement but couldn't due to some issues moving the desk. I also had to go and buy some newspapers from the shop because we needed some objects for Scott to search through. Other than than, a successful day filming!

Day 1 of filming

           Above is a video diary I made on our first day of filming, showing some difficulties and some on set discussion throughout the day. 

Prop list

Cigarettes 

We had access to fake cigarettes but decided that in the in the situations that we wanted to use them in, real cigarettes would work better. This (left) is how we plan to do an opening shot with credits.

Briefcase

We need a briefcase for money exchange but have to compromise in style as this is all we had access to. I did the job though.

Computer

We wanted to use a computer for the office but didn't want to use a completely modern model. Amy had this old screen which we combined with a modern keyboard to make it look like it was an old set up. We re-arranged the set up to try and make it look like they were two separate computers for the desk of Scott and the desk of The Boss.

Fan

We wanted to include some obscuring object to mask the face of The Boss following typical Noir conventions and disorientating the audience.

Telephone

Possibility - we found this at school and
thought about using something similar.

Actual phone used - Again we didn't want an ultra-modern phone so decided a corded one would be better.

Desk items

We needed some items on the desk for Scott to rummage through to find the envelope. To set the scene and follow along with the narrative, we thought newspapers would be the best props to use.

Envelope

We needed something for Scott to find which would lead him to Robyn, we explored the idea of various props being used but an envelope with her address seemed like the easiest way to help the audience follow the story. 

Glasses - Bar

Scott's glass - used to emphasise his nervousness
in the bar with K. Inglorious Basterd
used for inspiration.

Jade's glass - typical Noir Martini with an olive,
helping character development.

Car

We had some issues with the use of a car, only one person in the group can drive (Ellie) but we decided her car wasn't suitable as the car of a drug dealer. We got around this by filming all the external, stationary shots of Amy's Step-dad's car and film all the internal shots in Ellie's car but blur them as P.O.V shots from Scott to ensure it is not noticeably a different car.

Boarding pass

Again, we struggled to find a prop which would make it obvious that Scott has now found out that Robyn has run away. We went with the most obvious - a booking confirmation of a eurostar ticket to Paris. This helped ensure there was no confusion from the audience. 

Post-it Storyboarding - Scene 9

The finale; Scott leaves Robyn's house to find K waiting for him, he accepts his fate.

Scene 9

Scott leaves Robyn's room and makes his way downstairs, he walks out of the front door to see K waiting for him with Jade in the passenger seat, he tells Scott to get in the car and with no escape route Scott walks forward. K grabs him and shoves him in the back seat before punching him. Blurred shots of disorientation from Scots point of view show the car moving. Scott is then seen laying on a grass verge on the side of a road where Jade goes to comfort him, K shouts for Jade to get in the car and punches Scott for a final time. BLACKOUT.

• Mid shots follow Scott to the car.
• Close up of K telling Scott to get in the car leading to mid shot of K throwing Scott into the car and punching him.
• Shifting shots of Scott in the back of the car and P.O.V. shots from him (blurred).
• Long shot follows Jade walking towards Scott, switches to close up of her when she gets to him.
• Long shot again when K enters, this continues to when the punch is taken. BLACKOUT. 

Post-it Storyboarding - Scenes 7 and 8

In these scene's Scott begins to notice that Robyn has set him up.

Scene 7

Here Scott rushes from the Pub to the nearest phone box to try and ring Robyn and figure out  where the money is and how to get himself clear with K. Jade follows him and again tries to warn him off saying that Robyn isn't who she says she is and she's has set him up, Scott doesn't believe her and goes to find Robyn.

• A series of long shots follow Scott from the phone box, the audience notice Jade following Scott before Scott does.
• Close ups - similar to those in the first phone box scene - show Scott dialling the office number.
• Perhaps another few shots of the phone ringing in the office and no one answering.
• A close up shot of Scott's face shows his dismay as he realises no one is there.
• Mid shots follow Jade walking toward the phone box and opening the door, her and Scott exchange dialogue and Scott drops the phone to find Robyn.
• Close up shot of phone swinging.  

Scene 8

Scott goes to find Robyn, his first stop is the office where he finds an envelope with Robyn's address. He goes to her house, realises no one is home and breaks down her door. He then goes to her room and finds an order confirmation for a eurostar ticket to Paris. He searches through her draws and sees that she has emptied her things. He then hears a car horn and accepts his fate, he knows K is waiting for him outside.

• A selection of close ups show Scott's findings at the office.
• Mid shots show Scott breaking down the door and searching in Robyn's room.
• Close ups make the eurostar ticket and destination clearer and after hearign the car horn, another close up shows Scott's reaction.

Shooting Schedule

Shot list

Post-it Storyboarding - Scenes 5 and 6

Here we wanted to introduce some new characters and put faces to the names of the 'baddies'. These two scenes are almost one but we did want quite an obvious cut between them to really exaggerate him getting involved and setting himself up for a fall even though they are in the same setting. These are meant to make the audience aware that Scott has been set up and also introduce the action sequence.

Scene 5

Here Scott walks to the bar to find Jade waiting for him, she warns him not to get involved as she's seen people get caught up before and be hurt.

• An establishing shot of the bar showing Scott stood, waiting. Dim lighting and a cigarette in an ash tray (if possible).
• Close up profile shot of Scott smoking, introduces negative connotations showing him as morally questionable and not completely innocent.
• Jade enters and the camera follows their conversation with a selection of close ups and high angle shots. Might put in a close up of a Martini glass with lipstick on it adding in an element of sexual appeal.

Scene 6

Jade sends Scott over to the gang leader who is shown from a low angle sitting comfortably asserting dominance of the situation. Here Scott hands over the briefcase expecting it to go smoothly but the gang leader soon finds that there is no money and it becomes clear Scott has been 'stitched up'. The leader gives Scott 24 hours in which to have the money.

• Starts with a strong close up profile of both Scott and the gang leader with low lighting and tension building, non-diegetic music.
• We later decided that the tension might be better built up by complete silence, and having looked at the way the conversation would be best shown we decided a good source of inspiration could be the "Strudel Scene" from Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds (2.49 onward).
• We want to use high angle shots to show how vulnerable Scott is feeling but also some close ups to follow the dialogue and exaggerate the point where the gang leader gives Scott another 24 hours. 

Colour scheme

Original image

Colour correction ideas

The top option seemed most successful and the group have agreed that this would be best suited for the style of film we are looking for. 

Killers Kiss - Analysis

                 Killers Kiss is a classical Film Noir based around a professional boxer (Davey) and a ‘taxi dancer’ (Gloria) in the 1950s. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, and being one of the earliest of the genre, the film really takes on many of the classical Film Noir conventions. This was Kubrick’s first feature which remained on general release as he stopped his first film circulation due to his ‘dissatisfaction’ with it. The film was dubbed after filming as Kubrick was not happy with the quality of the sound recorded on set.

                One of the key Noir characteristics used from the beginning and continuing all the way through the film is the voice over by both lead roles. This helps to keep the story easy to follow and also helps character development especially as it is spoken by two people, not just one. Davey’s narration usually comes with the action moving back to him pacing around the railway station, this is a clever way to make the voice over fit well within the film almost as if the characters are re-living what happened. Gloria’s monologue/ voice over is used over some ballet footage which helps to dramatize her anecdote ad also has some relevance to the story she is telling. This voice over however, is not used as a narration of the main story, it is a section of a conversation between her and Davey, although it does help use to understand her character more.   

                The fact the film is in black and white really emphasised the low key lighting and also helped give the film an era which was easily recognisable. Examples of this were mainly in Davey’s apartment but also in the mannequin storage warehouse towards the end. In the warehouse was where there was a clear example of single source lighting and as a result there were very dark and bold shadows created. This gave the fight scene between Davey and Vincent a really dark atmosphere also helped along by the choice of music. The music is almost un-broken throughout the whole film and I think it goes un-noticed in some scenes, however, when the drama increased for any reason and during the romantic scenes between Davey and Gloria the music lifted somewhat helping the audience understand more about the narrative.  

                The use of flashbacks is also key to the narrative and also brings the film closer to the genre as the use of flashbacks is another convention of classical Noir. A blurred cross fade is used to show the transition between the present accompanied by a high pitched melodic interlude in the non-diegetic score. I think this is quite cliché but it does make the transitions clear and the only way I can think of doing this better would be to have some kind of caption for example stating how far back in time the story is taking you. I think if we were to include flashbacks in our film it would perhaps be better to use the caption method to explain to the audience what is happening as it is less ‘cheesy’ and more modern.

                Stylistic shots throughout the film also bring the motion picture closer to its genre and help make it more artistic than other crime dramas. Various shots which stood out for me were the fight scene shots between Vincent and Davey and also close to the end when Davey is running from Vincent. Here is where I also noticed a certain trademark of Kubrick’s; One Point Perspective. These types of shots give almost a voyeuristic feel, giving the audience an overview of the action and helping them to follow the story in the eyes of the particular character in the shot, which in this case was Davey.

 The narrative was also typical of a Film Noir, introducing the idea of a femme fatal character and a protagonist. Gloria seems innocent and genuine throughout the film and so this leads the audience to believe that perhaps she is a twist on the deviant femme fatal and may actually turn out not to be a villain like in LA Confidential. But, towards the end of the film when she believes Davey to be seriously injured and fears her own life may be in jeopardy she turns to follow her gut and bargains with Vincent for her life claiming she doesn’t love Davey, unfortunately for her, Vincent declines her offer and casts her away. This part of the story is never fully explained as her conversation with Vincent is cut short and she does turn up to meet Davey at the railway station at the end. Therefore the audience are left questioning whether the story would have been different if Vincent had accepted her offer. This is a really good way to keep the audience guessing with the narrative and I think it would be good to keep some questions un-answered in our own short in order to do this.   

                I think that although we are leaning toward the neo-noir style for our short film we can really look to this example for some ideas on how to keep our shots interesting and how to create a tense atmosphere.

Costume...

Post-it Storyboarding - Scenes 3 and 4

Having got more of an idea about the sort of shot types we were looking for, we began to find storyboarding much easier;

Scene 3

In this scene we needed to show the meeting between Scott and Robyn, this is really where the relationship develops and the audience get to know more about Robyn's plan.

• In the first shot we see Robyn waiting for Scott by a lamp post, this will be a long shot hopefully showing in full both Robyn and the lamp post.
• The next shot shows a fragmented mid shot of Robyn to the left and a long shot of Scott walking towards her.
• Robyn and Scott then share some dialogue alternating between close ups of them both and then profile shots.
• Here Robyn thanks Scott for coming and explains her made up situation, enticing him into this rut that she's apparently got herself into. Scott agrees to take this money Robyn's apparently left him to the gang leader in order to help her set the record straight. She tells him to wait for her to ring the office three times before leaving with the money.

Scene 4

This is where Scott goes back to the office to find the money and awaits Robyn's 'three rings' before her leaves with the money. We did want to incorporate Robyn into this scene somehow so decided a close up of her smoking (negative connotations) while ringing him  would be would be a good way to do this.

• Again, we wanted to use disorientating shots to show Scott's frantic state of mind, so even though there isn't much going on we can still create quite a long scene developing the plot.
• We start with a close up of his face looking worried and impatient.
• Then cut to a shot of his watch helping to establish a time frame for the audience but also we could maybe slow the ticker down during editing to create more disorientation.
• We wanted various shots of the phone to follow the three rings and then to cut to a long shot of Scott leaving after the rings. Charlie had the idea of using the one-point-focus filming technique to really disorientate the audience - so we may try this here.
• Finally we may have another close up of the phone showing that is does ring more than three times suggesting Scott is leaving at the wrong time. However, Robyn is actually setting him up and it is in fact her ringing more than three times.