Final Cut

This is our final cut of our film opening for "Metropolitan".

After responding to feedback for our third rough cut, there was nothing else we could do, without reshooting the scenes, to improve. Some of the set improvements from Rough Cut 3 were
-Add the "P" to the start of the "Please wait" screen at the beginning
   This we could not do without reshooting the scene, and as we did not have and would not have the       set available in time for this to be uploaded, this improvement could not be made
-Add something to make the blood look darker
   -This improvement we were able to make, through the use of filters and effects provided by Adobe        Premiere
-Keep all the credits up for the same time, as some were only on screen for the matter of a second and  couldn't be read
   -This improvement was easy to make as it only required me to change the time that the credits              appeared on screen within the editing software

EVALUATION: Question 7

Mise en Scene
The first noticeable thing which I think I have learnt would be our use of the set we are filming in. This is one of the largest changes I noticed first of all because there had been very little consideration of mise and the set, on set in our preliminary tasks. If there was one thing that we could definitely be improved on, it would be this. Comparing this to our finished production, in terms of mise, “Metropolitan” has so much more to offer in this way of hidden meaning, even down to the finest details in scene composition and some acting.

Screenshots from the metropolitan final cut

When you are to compare and contrast how the images from the final cut of metropolitan, to the preliminary task, the first ting noticeable is how we used the set around us. instead of leaving where the majority of the camera will be focused on blank, we added a lot of decoration to fill the scene and make it look like it was from a crime / thriller / mystery noir movie. I think the reason that we were able to do this was because 

Camera work

Zoom in on the desk

The camera work has definitely improved as well. In turn, scene composition has improved drastically as well. Some shots within our films stood out among the rest, like the close up of the “next victim” in the photo, and the zoom in on the desk. This may be due to us having a better camera though, and in turn, producing a more quality picture with more detail. The scenes looked fluid and made sense on camera, and it felt like a lot more was going in within the scenes of this finished media product compared to the preliminary task, in this sense, it just made a lot more sense than the preliminary due to the running order

Here, the image begins to blend, outlined by the red square to make it obvious. In our final cut, none of our images blend, making for a crisp, easy-to-see scene, but this may also be due to our contrast in colours, black and white, as opposed to the preliminary ask screenshot, where the actor is wearing blue, the floor is blue, and the board in front of him is also blue.

Editing
Editing in our final product was much more efficient, effective, and easy, due to the change in editing software and what was available to us. With Adobe premiere pro, we were able to manipulate scenes to present what we needed them to dependent on the feedback which we got. For example, we were able to make scenes black and white, change the brightness on some scenes so that they were not too dark, change some scenes so that they weren’t too light, as well as make the blood darker as it was noticeably light, and add in some non-diegetic sound post production (The national anthem and the public service announcement).

Techniques
Some techniques which we used in our preliminary task were not transferable to our actual piece but it meant that we got some good practice when film making. For example, we learnt how to create shots, such as a match on action, make sense with the films running order post production. This helped us always ensure that the running order made sense. Another example would be how many takes of each scene we done before finishing that specific scene and moving on with the filming. We learnt this because we saw some faults within our preliminary task which were really hard to fix during post production, but we had no other takes of the scene to use. With this knowledge, we made sure we had five takes of each shot, to me sure we could come out with the perfect outcome.

Series of shots showing where the match on action in our preliminary task occurs

EVALUATION: Question 6

In comparison to the technologies used to produce the end product of our preliminary task, compared to the final media product, a lot of the technology we used to make the film opening had changed drastically, and allowed us to primarily create a better product overall.
One of the largest changes between now and then was the editing equipment we had available to us. Our preliminary task was primarily a school-based project, and in turn, so was the software available. This meant we had editing software, but it was very limited in its capabilities compared to that of what could be provided with more upgraded pieces of software.

The software used for the preliminary task was movie maker, which is good for very simple scene composure and running order, but wasn’t very efficient. and allowed us to edit our film with filters which made the camera work look decent and clear.  After this our preliminary task was finished. Looking back at this now, there are a lot of things which could be changed with the editing, but that is going to be discussed in the next question. With our final production, we were able to access a lot more programs to be able to create a much better outcome, with the use of effects, filters, and camera.

The editing software I used for this was Adobe premiere Pro for a Windows 10 operating system. I found this much easier than the editing system we used for the Macs, it felt more fluid to use and navigate around, and the layout of it made it better and easier than the software Movie Maker.
The main change I noticed was the amount of things that were available to me when using this editing software. I knew next to nothing about editing, and using a new software was daunting, but the program is made to be accessible to new users, so this made it easy to use, for example, to make the film Noir, I had to make it black and white, and it was just as easy as clicking and dragging a filter in to a specific track, which is much easier than applying filters in movie maker. After our first rough cut was assessed, we needed to change a few things about our opening which would allow us to get a higher grade, one of the main things being making the blood actually look like blood. For this, all I needed to do was apply a specific effect to a specific place on the screen. There were many more changes that came with each assessment, and every single thing suggested to us was easy to fix / change / add because of this new software that became available to me. So all in all, this was definitely an improvement from editing software’s I had previously used as it had no faults, and therefore no weaknesses for me, with the program.

This is the menu for Adobe Premier. The different tracks at the bottom allowed for different functions. With this I was able to overlay tracks with audio and video, as well as add effects to specific scenes.

The Filming process in our group was great as we faced no problems with communication and dates for when to film.
Because of this, we were able to create a filming date with ease which also meant we had all of the equipment we needed, ready for the day as well.

Our camera allowed us to create high quality imaging just by pressing he record button. I assorted the scenes, but I didn’t do much camerawork because I didn’t understand how to make it look “good” so to say, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t assist on the day. In comparison to the camera we used for our original preliminary task, we had a much clearer image.

In terms of lighting, we wanted our set to look very dark, so we used a lamp as our main source of light, but for the shot of the television at the beginning of the opening, we used an iPhone light to fix the focusing problem we had with the camera, as well as the lamp which was visible as some of the decoration on the desk. We did have some lighting equipment that worked with the camera, but the bulbs gave off a really harsh light
1) Using just the lamp in some of our shots allowed us to put emphasis through lighting on to some of the items on the desk, such as the overlord paper, which will appear to be important in a few scenes to come when our character stabs a knife in to it.
2) Having the light here also made some areas really bright. it was only in post production that we realised that this was a pro, rather than a con, as it allowed us to put our credits in the brightest places on the screen without having to divert from the original black text.
3) The contrasts in lighting shows in this example. This shot here probably has some of the darkest, as well as lightest spots within the whole of our opening. having this light from the lamp in the specific place allowed us to draw long shadows, like the ones shown within the generic conventions of noir films, dependent on where the lamp was placed. We felt like here was the most appropriate place to put the lamp as it drew shades from the largest objects on the table, giving the scene a nice contrast when put on screen

The red square indicates the source of the light. The first green square starting from the left begins the explanation

We used blogger to document all of our blog work and individual work. This meant that with specific permissions, our group only could edit our work. It also meant that we could have access
to this information from anywhere we decided to work from, provided that we have internet access.  Another pro of using blogger was that we could all work on different things at the same time on the same blog, which increased our effectiveness and efficiency when getting our work completed to a specific standard.

Other technologies such as YouTube were essential for our work, as it allowed us to analyse noir film openings and see what conventions would usually be shown in there. It also allowed us to analyse opening credits that had been made in the past. This helped us come to a conclusive running order of titles for our film. Using Youube also allowed us to store and upload our preliminary task, as well as the remake, all of the rough cuts, and the final cuts, and link them to this blogger.

EVALUATION: Question 5

We plan on attracting our audience and promoting our film primarily through social media. As we want our film to appeal to a modern audience of those aged 16 and above, using social media as a device to promote our film gives us quick publicity, and gives us free promotion if the campaign for our film catches on. On social media, people are allowed to freely share and discuss anything regarding any subject. Because of this, our film will be available for praise as well as critique. Having a large sum of people talking about our film means that our film has already gained popularity, and we may already have a large audience before the release.

In the film, we attract our audience through the character, the scenes, and our films aspect of mystery, action and crime. Our character is based widely off of the generic inspector character from noir movies. We kept this convention the same mainly because we want an aspect of audience attraction to be based off the fact that our film is based around noir films. This isn't the only convention from noir movies that becomes apparent during the course of our opening, these are some more which appear during our opening
-The black and white filter which we edited in post production. Made our film look old, and a lot of noir films are made in black and white

-The sense of character mystery within our opening sequence. Our character isn't revealed until the end, and his intentions aren't fully explained, so the audience is left wondering who this character is, and what he is about to do. Because of this aspect, we heavily considered mise within all of the scenes shown. The sense of mystery also gives us publicity and attracts our audience through a social medium, as it will get a lot of our audience voicing their opinions as to what happens in the course of our film.

Continuing on from this point, we used camerawork to show our considerations to mise on scene, and how that could link to our story outside of the opening. This is why one of our main genres is mystery, because a lot of the story isn't told, but is left up to the interpretation of the viewer instead. This makes the film have an impact on the viewing audience and it will leave them wondering even after the film, but this doesn’t mean the story will be left untold and / or hard to follow.
We conducted audience research to be able to analyse what sort of audience we will be attracting. We formed a number of questions that we made multiple choice to understand what an audience of a certain age would want out of the certain answers provided.

To further attract our target audience to our film, we knew we would be appealing to a more of a male audience, so our lead character is a male. The good thing about this is that it does also stick to the conventions of a generic noir film, which is what we wanted from our film.
We included icons that people would recognise as it shows our characters role models, as well as give the audience a chance to relate to this character through his role models, dependent on how they feel about them. This includes recognisable faces on the wall as the camera pans, such as Che Guevara.
We knew what the age of the audience we wanted to aim for was, and that was 15 – 25 year olds and above, so we included that as one of the questions. We also asked basic questions to get an idea if whether this person would enjoy any sort of film or not, these questions were:

Do you like watching films?
If yes, what is your favourite genre?
Then we began to zoom in on our specific genre, by asking:
Do you like Crime / Mystery / Thriller genres?
If yes, what sort of generic conventions do you normally see within the genre?
This gave us an idea of what our audience would generally see in films based around our main three genres. We wanted to at least hint at all of these within our opening to intrigue our audience from the get go, these included:
Murder
Police detectives
Dark Locations
Weapons
And we managed to hint at all of these aspects within our film opening.

EVALUATION: Question 4

Referring to our audience mood board and the generic target audience images which we were aiming towards, we made our film in hopes that it would appeal to a mainstream teenage / young adult audience who have particular interests in the key themes, genres and conventions shown within our film, being
-Noir
-Crime / Thriller / Mystery
-Characters such as Investigators, and antagonists which cause problems for the investigators task (like cat and mouse)
-Alternate realities
-Old movies
A lot of our decisions to appeal to this specific sort of audience was because of what our film was presenting to us within the overall film script and the characters shown within the film that our audience may try to relate to, or just enjoy in general. Because of this, we thought the audience who would give the most appeal for this movie would be a middle class, teenager / young adult. We thought this because generally, our film will revolve around a middle class investigator who has gone rouge. The film also contains elements of mystery, crime, thriller, and a little bit of action here and there, so the teenage / young adult middle class male would be a perfect audience demographic for this movie. We chose to appeal to a mainstream audience because our film will stand out from the generic conventions of film making in this current period of time, as there are not many noir crime / thriller / mystery movies being made right now, so an audience may want to see this movie because it is different, but also sticks to the generic conventions shown within the typical noir film. Because our film sticks to these generic conventions within the Noir genre, it will play out like an old movie, but some elements have been adapted so that our film can actually attract a modern mainstream audience, like the alternate reality aspect of our film, as it is set in 2027, but in the story we learn that technology is so backdated because of the state of the government, which is also very corrupt and our character - Geary is trying to expose this as well as end their current state of rule. In terms of age rating in relation to the BBFC guidelines, we are looking for our film to be rated at a 15. After studying the certification provided by the BBFC’s website (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15), we have come to this conclusion because our film will contain, for example, a fair bit of strong violence, and in turn, graphic imagery, however, it is not shown to an extent to which our film will be based around this imagery, or they are dwelled upon for a long period of time. There will be slight references to drug usage and sexual portrayal, but again, our film does not base itself around these factors, nor will they be glorified or shown in our film for too long. The only thing that we may have to consider limiting within our film is the making of makeshift firearms, and the selling of illegal firearms, both of which come under the “Imitable behaviour” and may feature in our film as a recurring theme. This means we have to make sure that we can limit these representations to an extent that they still appear within our film, and still keep the 15 BBFC age rating so that we can still appeal to our target audience. Our film will most likely be shown in cinemas, mostly multiplex as it will appeal to a mainstream audience, and will be able to be shown to many screens at one time

EVALUATION: Question 3

We chose the name “Stinky Sock productions” because we were given the guidelines of an item of clothing, and it was the first thing to come in to our heads. Just because we have a funny name for our production company does not mean we produce comedy genre movies, and the name of our company very much contrasts with the design of our logo. We tried to make the production company logo professional because it would fit with the genres of our film, and it would also add a bit of professionalism to our company. 

We done this well in my opinion, as our logo does not look out of place in our film, even though our production company name would if we didn’t have such a logo.

The role of a production company would mainly be to produce the film, as the name suggests. It also assists in many of the crucial areas within film-making, such as casting, budgeting, scheduling, etc. The production company will pick up the film from is pre-production phase, all the way to the films completion. We chose to be a mainstream production company, this is so we could appeal to more of a wider, modern audience with our film “Metropolitan”.

The distributor will be in control over how the film is distributed across many cinemas across the country, or different parts of the world. Without the distributor / distribution sector of the company, the film would not be able to effectively reach cinemas in time for the release, nor would it get to many cinemas, which means the film would not make much of a profit. For this reason, I think the distribution phase of a movie is one of the most key and important to get correct. As said before, Stinky Sock Productions is a mainstream production company. Mainstream companies are known for having a considerable amount more of money that an independent company. Taking all of this in to account, Stinky Sock productions would have a distribution company distribute our film for us.

We believe our film should be available on modern mediums of viewing film, such as streaming sites e.g. Netflix. Having our film on DVD and Blu-ray formats mean our target audience can have a physical copy of our film, and will also give us a way of gaining profits from different forms of viewing our film. Having our film in cinemas, on modern ways of viewing such as streaming sites, and on physical storage devices such as blu-ray and DVD, we believe we will be able to attract our target audience of 16 year olds and above, as we are using both modern methods, and methods that have been around for a longer time.

EVALUATION: Question 2

Our character and costume design was heavily based around the generic conventions within noir films, as well as tried to appeal to a modern audience of those that are 16 and above. In terms of representations of particular social groups, we wanted to portray a detective in the lower class, as we feel it would be easier for our character to be relatable if he is from this particular class, rather than a higher or middle class.

This opening is heavily based off older films in the noir genre, so it uses many conventions which may have been used to portray social groups such as the lower / middle class of the time. Because of this we had to adapt our character to fit with the modern day with the story, but still keep the essence of the older characters we based them off there. We done this through the use of set and costume. The costume is based off many inspector characters from films in the noir genre, hence why we decided to keep the old trilby / fedora hat with a long coat look, as it is very definitive of this specific character type from the social group. The living area surround that surround this character suggests he’s from the lower class. The room is meant to look small and very improvisational, run down and look cheap. The desk presents how little money this character has, shown by the pennies on the desk.

We didn't really take in to account as to how gender would be represented in this opening, but we chose a male lead character because it stuck to the conventions of the lead characters in noir films. However, it could be said that it is stereotypical for a male character to have more screen prevalence, but there are no other characters presented in our opening so there isnt other characters to compare that point to.

EVALUATION: Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media productions
Our media product didn’t really challenge the generic forms and conventions seen within the genre that we were aiming to create in this film opening, it more stuck to them, to help really create the feel of a noir movie. The most obvious convention we stuck to was the use of colour, and mainly the lack of it.
1) (Setting / Location) If we wanted to make this a true, recognisable noir film, this had to be the first step. This change from the colours on the spectrum, to a black and white filter meant we really had to consider how our scenes were composed, as well as the lighting that we may need / not need when filming specific scenes. It also meant that when considering mise en scene, colour wasn’t really an option to turn to when trying to portray specific ideas, emotions and intentions of the things in the scene, instead we had to rely on sound and representation through scene order and composition of the set. An example of when this really became apparent would be where the knife was stabbed in to the poster, more specifically, on to the words overlord. We done this so that the character is presented to hate the current state of the government in this alternate reality, where the government here is very fascist, and everything a person does here is monitored, apart from the corrupt officials that work for them. The character’s intentions are slightly hinted at when the camera pans from the television to the desk, revealing a wall of famous leaders and revolutionaries, which may suggest he wants to take inspiration from then, and begin a revolution within this civilisation.

2) (Title of the film) We analysed some Noir film titles which have the same sort of genres and sub-genres that we would want to have in our full feature length film. We came up with the name as it is just a singular word, but describes what the film is about and whereabouts the film will be set (in a metropolis). Some film titles had just hinted at what events may happen in the film boldly, or hinted at the type of place which the film was set in.

3) (Titles font and style) We chose the font style so it wouldn’t look out of place in a generic Noir movie as well, so to get this effect, I looked at some posters of noir films before choosing. The font was also chosen because it looked formal, but also fit in with the scenes in the credit running order. In this case, we used conventions of this particular genre to help present the genre of our own production.

4) (Genre and how the opening sets it up) The opening as a whole is very inspired by the generic conventions shown within the noir genre. We mainly planned to have the whole story of our film be based off the generic conventions within the noir genre as well, which includes but are not limited to characters, setting and lighting, as well as props and costume.

5) (Story and how the opening sets it up) The opening sets up the story because a lot of the opening uses the generic conventions of the mystery genre and noir films. In some movies that we analysed from this genre we realised that the main character doesn’t really get revealed, but it’s the intentions of the character through the use of mise en scene, that really grab the audience, and really help with whatever the forthcoming scenes have to offer, in this case, it will be the murder of government official shown in the photo within the case file

6) (Costume and props) A lot of consideration went in to the consideration of props and costume, mainly because we had to take in to consideration of how our character’s intentions are presented through the use of mise en scene as stated in the previous points. In some sense, having good mise en scene through the use of costume and props was one of our most primary concerns, and this ended up being a good thing because this is (in my opinion) one of our strongest aspects within our opening sequences.

7) (Camera Work and editing) The consideration of the camera work within our opening sequence allowed us to create a scene which really presents nearly all of the generic conventions within a noir film opening within our own opening. Consideration of editing also allowed us to change whatever mistakes we made on the day. One of these main realisations was the blood dripping from the character’s finger, on to the picture. It looked too light to be blood, so post production, we added certain filters and effects whilst editing to make it look realistic. Good camera work also relies on good scene composition. The way we set up our scenes was really adapted to how to camera would move throughout the set. An example of this was when we panned over from the TV to the desk. We made sure that both were roughly the same height, adapted to the cameras height, so they could both be easily visible within the same shot.

8) (How characters are introduced) We made sure our character is presented in a mysterious way, as that allowed for a whole story to unfold about this hidden identity as the film progresses. This is seen throughout all of our opening. The only thing visible about this character is his hands, but who is this character and what are his intentions? His intentions are shown through considerations of mise en scene, for example, through the case file, and through how the blood is presented to drip on to the picture.

In terms of relating our character, to another character, i would split our character up in to two catergories; one being style, and the other, personality and character

Style:
In terms of style, our character very much takes inspiration from generic representations of investigators and detectives. Seems as i analysed

Films that have influenced me

There are different ways as to how a film can become memorable, and perhaps it's memorable because the film was influential, and something about the film, whether it be the story, or the quality, or the actors within it made it influential and memorable.

Layout:
Film Name
How it was influential and memorable
In-depth yet concise reasoning

The Hobbit (2012)
Story and the world.
The Story for the Hobbit really made this film stick for me, as i had read the book before seeing the movie, and it really made the text come to life really. I guess this can apply to all of the sequels after this initial film too, but it just struck me as being unique to anything i had seen before (Apart from "The Lord of the Rings", as this is the prequel to that trilogy). There is always this feeling, even though i knew what was going to happen, of what would happen next, and how this would be presented in the film. The Characters and casting were amazing, especially with the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), and the leader of the dwarven company Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). The one scene which really stood out to me was actually near the beginning of the film, where the plans for the plotline were being laid out. and how quickly the mood turned from a jolly environment, with hopes of adventure, and then to sinister tales. These constant mood swings within the film left it unpredictable to know what was going to happen to the small company next without foreknowledge of the story beforehand, and this really helped portray what was being pictured in the books, and stuck to it loyally. As all of the film is based of fiction, and some of the things that would appear (such as dragons and orcs, for example) do not exist, the effects had to look amazing, as well as realistic, so that those characters would seem normal in this world, and the production team done this perfectly.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) Trailer

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Quality of: Effects, Design, Music, Story line and the world.
Although i had never read the Marvel comics on Guardians of the Galaxy, the film instantly drew me in with its story and characters, much like The Hobbit in this sense, but the setting was much different. Similarly to The Hobbit, this film added a sense of realism to it's story with the visuals and sounds, but done it on a grander scale. The story revolved around a hero team of four in a futuristic setting. It would be impossible to set up this setting without the use of these special effects and designs, and with developments in technologies in these departments, it allowed these unreal objects, such as the ships, the planets, and even some of the characters, to be created in extreme detail.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Trailer






The Imitation Game (2014)
The way the film opens, the subject matter (based on a true story)
I believe the film opening for The Imitation Game is really worth bringing up, as it leads in to the plot of the film, without giving to much away, and it leaves the audience wondering about how the film will continue on from this point, as it is vague, yet a start to a story is still hinted at, and this is what is needed in our film opening as well, seems as we dont want to give too much away, yet still let the audience know where the initial starting point lies to get the drawn in to the story of this movie. It does this in a sense that everything is in the past and has already happened, and the main character is then describing his viewpoint on everything that went on during that time.
Although the plot is nowhere near similar to the plot created by our group, it will be good to take ideas from the openings layout, and somehow apply it to the film opening that our group is creating.

The Imitation Game (2014) Trailer


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Conclusion

How looking in to these films will eventually help when it comes to finally creating an opening:
These are all films that i have remembered fully since seeing them, mainly because i was so drawn in by the story because of the beginning scenes of the movie (or somewhere near the start, like in my example of the Hobbit). Although the plots wont be useful because they're all of different genres and time periods, the layouts of the openings and how they've been directed and presented will be useful, as for some reason, they drew me in to the story line, and analysing why is the reason of the blog post

A timeline of titles in my chosen genre

Act of Violence film opening (1949)

The Act of Violence film opening would be a good opening to analyse, i feel that if i looked closer and in a more in depth scale on this opening, i feel like it would give me insight as to how the scenes were set up in such a way to portray the certain moods, to get the required reaction from the audience. The element of mystery is added to this film opening when we see the man pull out a gun, and the audience wonders why the person is in need of it, and where he is going in the scene straight after.
Raw Deal film opening (1948)

This was an opening sequence that mainly portrayed names, without any scenery behind it, which contrasts that style of the film opening "Act of Violence". looking at both of these styles is good because we can see what can be compared and contrasted in terms of efficiency of credits, style, and how it's presented. Personally, i do not like the way that this film opening is done because it is just text, although this style was common back then, i doubt it would be good enough for nowadays, as it doesn't draw the audience in to the films story.

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Conclusion:
Analysing these film openings, especially ones like in Act of Violence (1949) will definitely help me and my group when it comes to structuring how we want our film opening to look like, particularly if we do not want ours to not represent the Noir genre, as well as take inspiration from so we dont stray to far from our original plan.

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Sources:
Act of Violence (1949)
Raw Deal (1948)

An analysis of a film opening in my chosen genre (Act of Violence 1949)

The scene opens on an establishing shot of a cloudy city-scape sky at night (streetlight is on, so it probably means it's in a night setting, or in a particularly dark day time setting). The night is a usual setting for a Noir film, but the nature of the setting could be suggesting something dark and sinister, mainly because night time, stereo typically, is supposed to represent those things.
The camera then pans down to a man in a long coat, who is rather formally dressed, which is pretty common for the time, but using knowledge of the certain style of film, he may be being represented in this way to show his social status through his job, which is most likely an inspector. The one thing which stands out in this scene is the fact that this character is hobbling along with a limp in his left leg, which suggests he's been involved in some conundrum which has left him with this injury before the scene started. The audience does see him walking from a destination in the background, so he could actually be retreating from a life threatening situation, but has just escaped with a limp in his left leg.
The man remains unidentified until later on in the sequence, it could be said that this is done intentionally to add a sense of mystery to this main protagonist that will be seen throughout the rest of the film. The fact that he remains in the shadows until reaching the apartment suggests something sly about his nature, like he's trying to pass unseen, hence why this sense of mystery is brought up about this character. Furthering this point, nobody else is on the street he's walking down, so why is he out there on his own, an audience member maybe asking themselves, and that may relate back to my previous point of him being involved in something, something perhaps he wasn't supposed to be involved in, and then escaping with a limp in his leg.
The scene then cuts to a low angle shot of this man, from behind (hiding his identity further) walking up a staircase. The audience still does not know his intentions, or where he is going, as no dialogue has been heard as of yet. A dim light awaits him at the near end of the staircase, and for a split second, it looks like he's intentionally walking towards it. This light may be symbolic of help, salvation or health, as this is what light commonly suggests within media, and that's why it appears he's walking towards it. The fact that the camera is at a low angle is also help show this unknown mans significance, perhaps to the story, enlarging his figure as he walks up the stairs, as to where the story may begin within this film. We can also see that the man also has a newspaper in the arm that he is swinging, which could be suggestive of where he had just returned from, perhaps he just bought that newspaper, or he had it at work. Either way, the newspaper in his hands implies that this is a knowledgeable man who likes to keep up with the current events in the urban city that surrounds him.
The camera cuts again to an over the shoulder shot of the man unlocking the door to his apartment, walking in to a room with a drawer in his direct line of sight. above this drawer is a light. This could be suggesting that whatever he needs to find, lies within this draw. The audience doesn't know what it is yet, but it's most likely going to be in there because of this implication. He opens up a draw, and starts shuffling around his contents until he finds what he needs. The fact that he needed to shuffle around the items within that draw suggested that this item is significant, and something that should remain hidden from the public eye, and perhaps in a situation that he's currently finding himself in, will also help him.
It is then revealed to the audience as to why this man came in to his apartment for this item, because it is a gun. The man turns around and becomes upright once more, facing the barrel of the gun that he is currently loading towards the camera, showing the weapons significance when it leads in to a close up shot of it when he turns around. The camera then tilts, finally revealing this mysterious characters face, inspecting the gun at hand. His facial expression suggests that of a person who is rather shook by the events unfolding before him, which maybe why his hands are trembling too, because he is afraid of what is about to happen.
After he has finished inspecting the gun, the film title "Act of violence" appears on the screen. This is significant that it shows here because it suggests that whatever "Act of Violence" is going to unfold, it's going to be with that gun, perhaps by the person wielding it too, hence we he comes across as so afraid to commit a crime.
He then stuffs the gun in to the bag to his right in quick succession, as he is trying to hide it, lifts the bag up on to the drawer, puts one other thing in to it, and then the scene fade transitions, back to the same street we saw this man walk down at the beginning. Wherever at the beginning he came from, he is now going to return to that same place, but now with a firearm, suggesting a malicious intent.

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Conclusion:
Analysing this film opening will really help when it comes to composing our final piece, as mise-en-scene will play as a massive factor in our scenes. Analysing scenes basically means to analyse what has been intentionally put their by the director for the audience to gain connotations from the story, or the backstory, or what might unfold at the end, and we will need to include this within our own film opening.

Our chosen genre and research

Our groups chosen main genre is Crime with close links to Noir, with elements of thriller, mystery.

Film Noir:
Although it is strictly not a genre, it is used to describe the stylish Hollywood Crime Dramas, which is the genre and style we are looking for, so by looking in to film Noir and aspects of it, i am also looking in to the generic characteristics shown in this genre of film at the time.
Film Noir was hugely popular during the 40's and 50's (which is also the time period we want our film to be set in). It utilised the use of low key, gloomy lighting to portray the corruption and other depressing themes which affected the characters that they presented on screen. being influenced by the aftermath of World War II, the Film Noir genre would often depict an non-deal, uneasy world which lacks any morals.

Where did Film Noir originate?
- Derived in Europe, Germany
- Brought over to the states by emigre filmmakers (Emigre: a person who has left their own country in order to settle in another)
- Roots within German Expressionism during the 20's and 30's
- German directors such as  F. W. Murnau, G. W. Pabst, Robert Wiene AND Fritz Lang all used elements of Noir films in their work before it became so renowned.
- Most films were heavily inspired by pulp novels and crime fiction of the time (This is why most early Noir films tended to be based around detectives)

                                                      Camera and lighting
Film Noir has a distinct look, mainly done through the use of a certain type of lighting called "chiaroscuro lighting" which utilises dark and long shadows against a hard lighting effect. Not only that, but this effect usually looks really good with a black and white filter / camera, as it really highlights the lights and the dark, and the specific tones needed in order to create the desired image. High contrasts within the picture really create the objects from the negative space that is visible.
The Camerawork usually breaks the unwritten rules in film making, sometimes confusing the viewer with mirrors in some shots, as well as other things like keeping everything in the frame in focus, to make sure everything has the same amount of importance in one scene
-Skewed cameras (extreme high angles and low angles, canted angles were commonly used as well)
-

I chose these shots here because they show so obviously how lighting and camerawork is used in Noir films. All of them have key, contrasting tones in their shots, and everything is in focus, especially with the shot in the top left. everything is distinguishable by their light level in that shot, and usually the background would have been blurred out so that the person walking away is the main centre of focus in the shot, but this is not the case. of course these are just a few key examples from one movie, but it showswhat we have to try and recreate in our group to make sure our opening sequence gets across the correct effect, so that we're portraying our desired genre for our film plot

Elements
Humanity: A classic Film noir film will always have a bleak view on humanity about how the world is bad and there is no escaping from it.
Location: Industrial urban location, usually at night to help create those distinct long shadows produced by the little amounts of light that appear in the streets or in buildings, helps creates a sense of mystery.
Plot line: very complex usually. important to bare in mind when we are creating our own film opening, how will this movie start off? and how will the opening lead in to this main, complex storyline?
Drinking and smoking: We can't show any of us doing any of this, however, we can have items around the set which imply this character does these things heavily, as it is a common theme within Film Noir, and links to the essence of how humanity is viewed in these films.


Main character and characters
The detective will be the only character appearing in our opening, so it would be good to look in to how this character could be presented, both costume wise, and mise wise. I done some research on this on the group blog, but it's good to have that information here for reference as well

Costume design.
- Within the costume concepts and designs it will be good to consider what the main character will be dressed like, and what things would be present on the things that he’s wearing
- Dirt and blood may be a good hint to the genre of this film, and connoting as to what will happen in the events after this opening scene
- However, representing these things will be difficult as our film is going to be black and white, so things may blend in with the shadows, but that may be due to lighting to, which is something our group will need to consider at a later date (set lighting).
- We need this character to blend in with the rebellious society of the time, but we also need him to look established as he is a detective. (refer to the use of dirt, blood, etc.)
- Perhaps some costumes will also be visible in the background on hangers, paying attention to detail would mean that we could see what sort of job this detective lead before becoming one.

Connotations of objects that will most likely be present on this main character’s costume:
- Dirt – having this grit and mud can lead the audience to believe that the area around or the places where he’s been a struggle, as well as run down (otherwise it would be cleaner)
- Blood – The key connotations as to the films sub-genre, blood shows that his character deals with the corruption within the police force with violence.
- Coat – although dirty, the coat will make this character look established. Because this is set in a 50’s, we will probably have to consider what the usual detective would wear at this time. And that would be perhaps a suit (a grey-ish colour) or a coat which goes down to about the lower legs, one of the key staples of a detective archetype
- Shirt – we will have to consider what sort of colour we want to portray on the shirt. Pure white suggests purity, but our character is not pure (as stated before, he deals with the corruption with violence), but a pure black shirt would connote sinister intentions (which is not true, he’s still clearing this corruption of society). So perhaps a light grey colour would be fitting for our character.
Small attentions to detail
- Gloves – suggestions of crime, but he does know what he’s doing. Knows how to get away with murder with leaving no evidence (such as fingerprints) behind.
- A badge of some sort – shows establishment, perhaps a fake badge to show that he is undercover. Perhaps this will be subtly shown.
- A hat – this is not as necessary as everything else, but around the time the film is set, a typical businessman would wear a hat, especially in this line of work. If the group decides that we ultimately want this to feature in our film, I will have to research as to what hat should be worn, or whether it should be on a hat rack in the background, to show his formality even in the current situation.

What sort of clothes would be worn back in the 50’s?
From these pictures it is easy to tell that businessmen of this time started to care a little more about current trends in clothing. We can also see that the most prominent colour here is grey, and even though our film is black and white, we will be using a grey suit or coat, as different colours may give different tones, which is definitely not what we want as colour needs to be taken in to consideration when portraying specific meanings. Clothing during the 50’s compared to now has changed dramatically, as most of the clothing trends back then revolved around formality and work, so replicating this same look may be a problem. Perhaps the mood board will help, and some specific research on market sites will sell things that replicate the looks from these eras

Hats
The common hat of this time would be the fedora or the trilby hat (information sourced by vintagedancer.com). there are differences between the two, but it wouldn’t really matter what one we choose, as both give the look that we want. Although expensive, it would most likely be possible to buy at a cheaper price from alternative sites. The bottom row second one is the style that our character will need, alternatively, the one just above it will also be good, as it relates closely to the source images provided

Gloves
Gloves will be important when making our main character look established, having the right sort of gloves will be key. These are the sort of style gloves that we will be needing, but it’s just a question of where to get them. I like the ideas of using the black gloves because of the connotations of black. Black suggests death, mystery and formality, which will be common themes throughout this opening scene and the rest of the film (story-line wise anyway).

Coats
The coat needs to be dirty, but needs to show formality and authority. For this, a coat such as a long coat, or something similar will be good for showing this. It also fits with the 50’s detective inspector theme, especially if this film is set in an alternative England or America. If the coat is to be grey, perhaps the shirt will be white instead, or a really light grey. Although this confuses the connotations, it will make the film look better with our given colour scheme.

Shirt
The shirt shows formality and a work-like ethic being revealed in the character created. The 50’s gave rise to a good mix between formality and style within the workplace, so getting this costume correct will help show the time period this is set in, hence why I’ve researched key themes from the time, such as styles, hats and gloves, and what sort of clothes would be worn in this line of work stereotypically. The shirt needs to be a colour that will also work well with the grey colour of the coat, considering this is black and white, I can’t really expand above the monotone colour scheme, so perhaps a light grey or white shirt would work. I think the light grey shirt would work more in terms of connotations as white suggests purity and peace as stated before. However, the colour white can be used as a counter statement or to show the intentions of this character, so perhaps a white colour would be better than light grey, as grey will become overused in this character’s colour scheme.

Dirt, Blood and small facial details.
The small details will perhaps reveal themselves dependant on the camera shots that we use whilst filming, which will have to be planned at a later date. Dirt and blood will help reveal this character’s line of work, and what may occur whilst doing this. Dirt and blood also reveals genre such as mystery and some elements of action, which our film reveals some elements of throughout. Small facial details such as laugh lines, lines in the face, dark eyes suggest tiredness, lack of sleep, and perhaps weariness, we will need to take this in to account if we do a close up shot of our actors face. Shadows from the hat could be of used to our advantage, seems our film is in black and white, and contrast values on our film editing will be high. The connotations of shadow suggest that it is where a person or group hides, and could lead to negative connotations such as death or darkness.

Other Main Characters within Film Noir:
The Femme Fatale (bad, beautiful, like described in the BFI article)
The Criminal (Usually a murderer, behind a thick plot-line, can make for a really good movie if thought out correctly)

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Sources for future reference:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/infographic-what-makes-film-noir
http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/the-basics-of-lighting-for-film-noir/

Differences between mainstream and independent films

Mainstream vs Independent
Independent and mainstream films are the two opposites in film making, mainly due to the defining factors that separate them from one another. These are:

Budget:
The budget of a movie is huge in regards to the production value, as well as the market for such a film so profit can be made out of it. Box office films films such as Spectre (2015) can be considered mainstream films alone just by their budget, with Spectre having a budget of nearly $300.000.000. Budgeting such as this would not exist with an independent film, as Sony funded Spectre in all categories as the franchise is also owned by Sony, part of the big six, something Independent films
aren't a part of usually. Independent films such as "A Field in England" (2013) only had about a tenth of what the spectre budget saw, averaging at only £300.000, and it didn't make that money back either. Independent films are usually independently funded, or funded by small industries instead, looking to make profit.

Release:

The release date is huge for any film alike, be it mainstream or independent, however, how it is released is a different question.This is another time where spectre becomes a prime example, as it had a blanket release date worldwide (meaning it released on the same day everywhere). This meant that viewers from all over the globe could see the next instalment of the franchise. It did not release on DVD and blu-ray with that release though, as they could make more money if they sold them on a separate date, and seems spectres release was near the Christmas holidays, this would be a prime time
to make money from gifts, and there is no doubt that this wasn't thought through by the distribution team. Comparing this to A Field in England again, they released everything on one day, that included the full movie, streaming, independent cinema release, DVD, etc. and even though this was blanket release too, it didn't do as well because the marketing for the film wasn't good enough, therefore it did not make a huge profit like Spectre did

Equipment and technologies:
The equipment at hand to these production teams will be so much different as well. For example, Gravity was mostly created by extremely realistic looking animation, and the actors were put in the film with help of "Sandy's Cage". This was a light-box that consisted of thousands of LED's. it acted like a green screen as well as set lighting, to make sure the lighting on the actors fitted that within the
film. This made the actors inside the film look extremely realistic with the dynamic, animated landscape that they were surrounded by in the film. All the animation costs a lot, too. All of this would have probably costed at least half of the overall budget that was needed for the film.

Quality:

A lot of films nowadays depend on quality to be viewed as a good film. With technological advancements within film and camera quality, this has given way to such developments as IMAX and IMAX 3D, as well as 4K and 6K recording quality. The only drawback though, is that it's mainly only
available to the productions that have a lot of funding, as these cameras cost a lot to hire for the entire process.

These are some main points on the differences between the two categories, but there are more that contribute to this, such as:
Cast
Advertising
Marketing
Exhibitions
What sort of cinema the film is exhibited to (Multiplex or independent?)
Effects
Subject matter
Director
Production company

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Conclusion:
The can all be applied to the film opening production, and what sort of production team we want to be, Mainstream or Independent, we chose independent as a group in the end.  The factors here were the things we took in to consideration before ultimately choosing what sort of production company we wanted to be, so research was also required.

Film openings and Audiences

Impression: The main pointer as to why a film opening will draw in an audience is because it is their immediate first look and impression of the film, if it is good, then they'll carry on expecting better things to arise from the film they are currently watching and continue watching, however, if an audience as a whole feels disappointed about the film opening, they may carry on expecting better things from the rest of the film, but then nothing ever arises. Setting up these first impressions is key; having a drawn audience is film promotion in itself. if the film is good and it keeps on delivering up to the standard of the film opening that the audience enjoyed, then more often than not, they will tell everyone they know about the film if it was that good. critics within the media are key, and are usually where these first impressions a really crucial and dependant. critics are harsh, but they are also truthful in most cases. a good critic would point out how the film is outstanding, yet also flawed. critics do tend to sway people from either seeing or not seeing the film, so making the film look good, nailing the first opening scene and making it appeal to the critics, as well as sticking to the desired genre, is always a must.

Promotion: promotion is also a key factor within film openings, such as promotions of actors and directors, which give the audience insight in to who created this film. if it's good, they will perhaps gain traction, especially if it's independent. if it is a mainstream films and people already know the actors within the film, then it's always good to show the director, and show the audience the "main" actor that they hired, mainly for media attention, acting talent, perhaps even publicity, also so it automatically appeals to a certain audience that revolves around that one particular actor. one further point about promotion is that it will promote the institutions that helped create this film, usually part of the big six, e.g, Warner Bros. Universal, 20th Century FOX

Establishing shot and location: The establishing shot is key when trying to define our set location and time period, as well as a small part about the film. To really engage an audience, the director may make use of Todorov's theory, and put the "disruption" within these first few key scenes. Although this may be too fast for the disruption to take place, it does ultimately draw in the audience, and sets the whole film up for the rest of it's screen-time. based on how the establishing shot is seen on screen, an audience may be able to define the key genre that the film leans towards, which also links to generic conventions. if my group wants to add an establishing shot to the film opening, we will need to consider the generic conventions of our chosen genre (Film Noir) so that the audience can identify this.

Mise En Scene: some audiences like looking for the hidden details within films and / or the connotations of things in some scenes. The use of props, sound and location can really be linked to the general quality of the film all together, and can lead to a better outcome than a film that is poorly planned with no relevant props, sound or location shooting, hence why it is good to look at Mise in all aspects of filming, as it will lead to a better outcome for our own opening sequence. One key thing mentioned here would be the use of sound. in film Noir compared to horror, we may use a sequence of jazz music (links back to generic conventions within the film Noir genre) to add an element of mystery or sophistication within our opening, whereas a horror movie for example would use a screeching violin to help build tension among their target audience.

Character: the film opening will almost always portray the main character, and will give the audience an idea of what this character is like. Seems the character will be the centre of attention throughout the whole of the film, it's a good idea to reveal a little bit about them at the beginning, especially if they're supposed to be mysterious. revealing little information draws the viewer in better than revealing no information, and more information about this mysterious main character can be revealed within events in the film, which would help layout the story-line of the film as well

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Conclusion:
The opening scene is key to all films, and this is probably the reason why we have a project based around it because it is that important. Combining generic conventions of our chosen genre with the elements needed for a film opening will result in a much better film opening as a whole, and the more research done in to how we can portray these conventions, the better.

Making a film opening with jelly babies

Why we did this:
This was mainly for practice as we had just gone over credits in opening sequences and their order. we're going to need to include this in our own opening sequence which we end up creating. We didn't have the same genre however, as we had not decided on our genre when we had started this, so we chose action.

The Scenes

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Note: I know this isn't in the correct order, mainly because we forgot to add some main credits in, so we had to rearrange the scenes so it still told a story, at the price of correctness

The order should go:

PRODUCTION COMPANY presents (distributor)

a PRODUCTION COMPANY production (producer)

a FILMMAKER film

Film Title

Lead Cast

Supporting Cast

Casting Director

Music Composer

Costume Designer

Associate Producers

Editors

Production Designer

Director of Photography

Executive Producer

Producer

Writers

Director

(In this order)

In this opening scene layout it went:

Music composer

Writers

Production Company

Actors

Filmmaker

Executive producer

Costume Designer

TITLE

(in that order)

What the scenes show:

We wanted to portray an opening scene of a bank robbery, so we wanted to show each camera shot.

1) The robber is picking up a can of coke (one of the scenes that we forgot to put in, music producer shouldn't be first in the credits list)

2) The robber is then walking past the isle which he grabbed the drink from, showing credits for the writer and co-writer

3) The initial starting point. This was the first scene we created, hence why it has our Production name there near the counter. It shows people (jelly babies) lining up and paying for what they're getting from the store. the robber is walking towards the line.

4) Aerial shot of line. one person has already finished paying so they're walking out of the store, now its the next person in line. Dwayne Johnson is the lead actor

5) The previous person has left the store by now, the shot shows only the cashier, the person paying, and the robber from a side on view at around a medium / long shot range. Filmmaker is Joe Fisher

6) The camera is now at a close up shot of the robbers and the person who is paying for their items feet, showing tension building up

7) The camera would then tilt upwards, revealing the executive producers name, Joe French. in the foreground, it shows both of the people, one being the robber, one being the customer. Eyeline match does not occur, they are not looking for the same outcome.

8) The customer has now finished paying, and the next in line is the robber. in this scene we can see the customer walking towards the door. The costume designer credit then appears, Oliver Jewers

9) Over the shoulder shot from the robber, who is facing the cashier, "In..." appears behind the cashier, as in the next shots, the film title will appear, any background noise now has faded away

10) The robber then pulls out a gun and the cashier gives the robber the money in the bag, a lot of shouting

11) The robber walks out of the store, only to be confronted by the LAPD. "The Robbery" (name of the movie) is in the background.

We liked the idea of Dynamic credits, which seem to appear in a lot more films nowadays due to digital improvements, we also chose to be a mainstream company here, hence why actors like Dwayne Johnson are in this film. We also colour coded the Jelly Babies:

LAPD: Green

Cashier: Yellow

Civilians and customers: Pink

Robber: Black

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Conclusion:

I think this was good practice of how an opening scene could lead out to be, even though we didnt get the credit orders correct. although this wasn't from an independent film perspective, we can still apply it to our main film opening