Ancillary Product 2: Film Review

This was my first attempt at a film review, I was pleased with what i wrote and how I had set the whole thing out. But I felt was a bit bare and didn't look as good as it could, as it had quite a lot of slack space that I wanted to fill. Therefore i decided to do some more research and look at professionally done reviews and see what I could add to mine to make it better. I had used the Empire Magazine website as my main point if research and had based my own film review layout largely on that one. I went back to take a look and compare my review with theirs and see what I could add to my own. I liked that they had used a screenshot from the film and I chose to use this also by inserting a screenshot into my own review. I also like the fact that you were able to 'share' the page/review with your friends with your through social network sites like Facebook and Twitter. 

I went to get the icons from the internet but I wanted to make mine different and fit in with the page, I therefore thought about changing the icons slightly to make them fit in with the colour scheme. I edited them on Photoshop to achieve this. I selected the icon using the magic wand tool, I then used the gradient tool to fill the shape this created the red to white effect I have which imitated the original black version where it goes black to white. I experimented with solid colour but it didn't look as good. I then repeated this process with the Facebook and Google+ icons to make them sort of my own. 

This therefore is my final film review:

These where the reviews I used to aid me in making my own. I thought the Empire site was a good one to use as their site is very popular and has loads of film reviews to choose from I decided to look at a film from my genre and another completely random film too. I liked how the reviews were quite short and too the point, yet they didn't give too  much of the film away whilst doing so. I also found the 'verdict' to be very honest and I agreed with what was said, this is what I intend my own film review to come across as.

Development Of My Film Poster

Although the original film noir posters are very stylized with bright colours with quite a lot going on in them. I wanted to recreate that style in photoshop but my attempts didn't work and the poster wasn't effective, and didn't work well. I think this was partly due to the fact that original film noir posters were drawn and trying to recreate that effect in photoshop doesn't work and looks very fake. If i was going to do an old original film noir poster I would be tempted to draw it myself to make it authentic. However I felt this would look as finished and professional than if i did it with photoshop. So then I then started to look at the style of the neo noir posters which being more modern would be easier for me to relate to and use to make my own. These posters were obviously darker with hardly any colour or the colour they did have was minimal and very powerful. Using a small amount of red for example to draw the eye in and have the instant thought of danger in the viewers mind. I chose to mainly focus on the neo noir style but have influences of the original style.

First I found two suitable images from when we took our character profile shots, I choose these two as the were very intense and I liked the directions they were looking in with Matt looking out into the distance with a very intense look on his face and Emilie looking out towards the audience with a softer look but there is still something quite ominous about her expression. I then merged the two images together and put them into black and white to reinforce the neo noir feel, also as our film is in black and white it would relate more with it than if it was in colour. I wanted the title to stand out and I noticed that sometimes in the original posters they would put something behind the title like a different colour I chose to do something similar I experimented with colored boxes but thy all looked too server so I used the brush tool to make this sort of smokey backdrop for the text. I think it works as it follows the direction of Matt's natural pose and leads your eye across the page. I then added in the text 'Le Mortel Liaison' (font: EccentricStd) originally I had the text in black with the red drop shadow behind but when I tried it in white I found that it looked better and made a change from all the black you see in the background. I wanted to keep the colour theme going so I chose to write the actors names in red and white (font: Mona Lisa Solid ICT TT) with their second name in a larger font than their first making them bold and more visually interesting. Although the font is different from the title font it is still in keeping and has similar qualities as it is quite tall and seems quite old fashioned. I wanted to make my poster as real as possible so I searched for posters and found out the type of thing they wrote at the bottom (font: Futura Condensed Medium) of the poster and the logos they included, and made my own version that was relevant to our film.

I think my poster works as it has the characteristics a film noir poster needs, it has a predominate use of black to reflect the dark story line and the general feel of the Film Noir genre. This is also reflected in the pose, expression and placement of the characters. They are both in shadow surrounded by black showing the audience that they are mysterious. I positioned Adrianna (Emilie) behind Bones (Matt) as I thought it linked them nicely and made them the main focus. I tried to include Barnaby (Luke) in the poster but it looked to cramped and the images didn't work well together. I think this way the whole thing looks more clean and profession compared to if I had tried to much into it. The layout itself is very simple but it works and doesn't loose interest. Also with the elements of red that I brought in through the text instantly suggests danger to the audience and maybe even love/lust which in either interpretation of the colour would be true in regards to the film. Therefore I think the edition of the colour works well and even more so as it is the only flash of colour amongst the black and white making it all the more bold. Although I wanted the characteres to have a connection I felt that using these images together made them disjointed in a way as they were put together and they weren't really interacting with eachother. which I ended up quite liking in the end as I felt it gave a subtle insight so the story and the relationship between the two characters.

We also merged our posters with images of possible poster advertising to get a feel of how they may look in the public, I choose a London bill board for mine.

Ancillary Product 1: Film Poster

Filming Schedule

We planned to mainly film during our media lessons as we would all be present and able to do it, although we needed some shots on location which we weren't able to do within the lessons. Therefore we planned days and times that we were all free and would be able to film.

Even though we planned everything and we were all available and able to do it we ran into problems that we couldn't control like the weather, when we originally planned to film the church scene it was heavy rain and we couldn't risk using our equipment in bad weather along with the fact it would not make good shot types. The next time we planned to do the church scene it got dark very quickly and we lost light and we were unable to continue however we did manage to get the outside shots of the church. Due to our bad luck with filming the church scene we decided to try and get permission from the local church to use the interior for filming. We gained permission from Father Andrew to use the inside of St. Mary's Church in Baldock. We found this to be a much more visually exiting place to film and worked a lot better that just using the graveyard would have been. 

Filming Roles

We elected roles for eachother so we all knew what we had to do and the responsibilities that came with them and what was needed of us to make our film work. Although some of the roles we shared and took on as a group.

All Of Us

• Writers: coming up with the storyline for our film.
• Casting: deciding who would be in our film.
• Actors: performing in our film.

Emilie Cherry

• Screenplay: making our storyline into a script.
• Assistant Film Editor: helping to edit the film.
• Location Scout: helping to find locations that we can film.
• Wardrobe Supervisor: deciding the costumes.

Matt Williams

• Cinematography: making sure the shots looked good as well as filming.
• Film Editing: the main editor of the film.
• Music Supervisor: finding the music for our film.

Luke Jones

• Main Actor
• Assistant Film Editor: helping to edit the film.
• Location Scout: helping to find locations that we can film.

Raya Renney

• Secondary Cinematography: making sure the shots looked good as well as filming.
• Assistant Film Editor: helping to edit the film.
• Property Assistant: finding suitable props.
• Location Scout: helping to find locations that we can film.

Script

PROLOGUE

<echo, reverb sounds>

MATT

‘’I can’t help it, I love her!’’

LUKE

‘’Not like I do!’’

(gun shot)

TITLE SEQUENCING – (Exterior shots of area)

~~~~~

ACT 1

~~~~~

SCENE 1

Montage of Luke and Emilie getting ready.                              

Emilie is getting ready. Focus on pendant on the table.  Mirror shot of her putting it on. Luke approaches from behind. Focus on feet, low angle shot. 

LUKE

(into mirror) ‘’I’m going.’’

EMILIE

‘’Nervous?’’

LUKE

‘’Why should I be?’’

EMILIE

 (sigh) ‘’Just be careful.’’

LUKE

(at doorway) ‘’I always am.’’ (closes door and gets into car)

ANONYMOUS VOICE OVER

‘’it was detective Frisco’s first day back. He had been on leave for… personal reasons. “

<Montage during voiceover and then music >

·         in the car; shots inside and front of car

·         walking into station/office - shot from behind, tracking forward

·         through corridor

·         shot opening door, light behind him, turning lights on.

SCENE 2

<Music cuts/fades out> sits at desk, and gets adjusted/climatised to room.

Raya knocks on door, see him turning around and then point of view seeing Raya by door.

RAYA

“How are you coping without him, Frisco?”

LUKE

“not a day goes by when I don’t think of him”

RAYA

 “Mm, it can’t be easy/it must be hard”

LUKE

 “It doesn’t get any easier”

RAYA

 “They still haven’t caught him…”

LUKE

 “No…not yet” *angered*

===

“*thump on desk* We’ll catch him, don’t you worry” <looks at photo of Goodwin>

*PHONE RINGING*

LUKE

(into phone) “Frisco (pause)     I’m on it.”

SCENE 3

--- Transition cut to murder scene: tunnel, including establishing shots of the industrial area, leading to tunnel. ---

Detective Frisco goes up to body, kneels down by it. <Over the shoulder shot>.

Inspects body, goes to hand, note rolls out of hand. <close up on hand>

<close up slow motion of necklace falling out of the note as he opens it> <reaction shot>

Frisco picks up the necklace and inspects it.

<close up of necklace in Frisco’s hand.>

< Mid range shot of Frisco> standing still, holding the necklace.

Noise at end of tunnel, footsteps. <long shot of tunnel, darkness>

LUKE

 <shouting> “Who’s there?”

Noise of footsteps running away/ figure in darkness

Luke runs to end of tunnel, gives up. <close up of reaction>

~~~~~~~~~~~~

ACT 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~

SCENE 1

---Back to office----

<high angle shot> Frisco at desk, deep in thought.

·         Note and necklace at desk, cigar in ashtray, smoking.

<time lapse shot> clock changing time, static/fade change. Showing Frisco in same place.

<Quick shots> now showing frustration, slides papers off desk, shouting.

<point of view shot> picture of them in church, showing hand picking up photo.

<close up on face>

LUKE

 *murmurs* “the church”.

SCENE 2

<Establishing shots of church, low angle>

Frisco running onto scene.  Breathless, unsure of where to go. Looks around and moves to decided location (bell tower or church interior)

Finds wife tied up.

LUKE

 “Are you okay? What happened? Who did this?” No answer from Emilie, just head down.

Matt comes up from behind and knocks him out. <Blurry background then Black out.>

<Close up of head on floor>

<Disorientated shots, ceiling etc> Passes out again.

Bones is above Frisco, watching him. <Start out of focus, moves into focus>

MATT

 “Hello old friend. I’ve seen you in better states.  (ad lib: explains how he’s still alive, his wife’s gone behind his back and the plan to get him here)

<close up of Luke clenching fist and getting angry>

They both start to fight, lots of quick shots of punches etc.

Luke strangles Matt, then shot from behind, Luke slumps off.

Shot of Emilie with gun.

END CREDITS

We choose to combine our script with our screenplay to make it easier when learning our lines along with knowing what to do. As it showed camera work as well it really helped during filming as we knew what was going on all the time. Even though we included all the scenes and dialogue in the script some of it will end up being cut due to time limitations.

Props

We wanted our film to be detailed and one of the ways we thought we could achieve this would be to use props, not all necessarily important but more to help set the scene and make the settings believable. There were however some props that were key to the storyline and important in context.

Generic Props
Props that appear throughout the scenes but have no real purpose or meaning to them in the film. Some are used to get the Film Noir/old fashioned atmosphere across, for example the old fashioned telephone or the lamps to create low key lighting.

Office

• Stationary; pens, folders, books etc.
• Clock
• Lamp
• Telephone

Bedroom/House

• Make-up
• Perfume
• Mirror
• Picture frames
• Lamp
• Jewelry stand
• Car
• Keys

Murder

• Flash light

Character Props

Props used by particular characters that are important within the storyline or to the character. The gold locket for example which is used from start to finish and is the main clue along with the note that links Adrianna to the crime. 

Barnaby Frisco (Luke Jones)

• Gun
• Note (found on dead body)
• Adrianna's gold locket (found on dead body)

Bones Goodwin (Matt Williams)

• Crutch

Adrianna Frisco (Emilie Cherry)

• Gold locket
• Barnaby's Gun

Costumes

We chose not to have a particular time period in which our film would be set as it would be difficult to make all our props and locations fit in within it. Therefore we chose to have quite simple costumes which wouldn't suggest a certain year, but they were however more old fashioned than modern.

Barnaby Frisco (Luke Jones)

• Gray suit
• Black shirt, top button undone
• Black tie
• Black shoes
• Black coat

Bones Goodwin (Matt Williams)

• Gray blazer
• Black trousers
• White shirt
• Black or red tie
• Black shoes
• Navy coat
• Red jumper

Adrianna Frisco (Emilie Cherry)

• Black jumpsuit
• Black heels
• Fur coat
• Assorted jewelry, pearl bracelet, earrings, ring
• Gold locket

Secretary (Raya Renney)

• Black pencil skirt
• Cream shirt
• Black tights
• Black heels

Dead Girl (Bekky Newton)

• Black leather jacket
• Red skirt
• Black patterned tights
• Plain top
• Black shoes

Locations

Office
We needed a good office space that we would use and make into Frisco's office where he spends quite a few of his scenes. We found an set of offices some of which where currently not in use but were still furnished with office things. Leading up to the office was also a corridor which was fairly plain and usable to show the work environment and how it differed from the home environment. Although the office and furniture within is quite modern we thing we will be able to use some props to make it seem slightly older and as we are going to be converting the film to black and white the bright, modern colours won't be seen. The office also some skylights with floaty blind/curtains that we will be able to use as a source of natural light.

Church

For our final scene we chose to shoot in a church as we thought this would be a dramatic place for the climax to our film. It will also be visually interesting and ironic place to film a Film Noir as all the characters have sinned and done wrong. We also thought it was a very grand place to film with the stain glass windows giving us a different type of light source, with perfect areas to do tracking shots with added feeling due to the detailed surroundings. We thought it would also be a good place to build up tension and suspense as a church has gained the reputation for being scary and although we are not using it within the horror movie genre the effect will still be the same on the audience.

Tunnel

We wanted a setting for the murder that would serve as an interesting background for this scene. We knew that we wanted something urban to keep within the Film Noir genre. We found this tunnel and thought it was very suitable setting as it was quite private and had the feeling that could be prone to crimes. The area also gave us the opportunity to use some interesting shot types as there where many various platforms in and around it along with the perspective shot of the tunnel itself proving to be very powerful and eerie. The surrounding area of the tunnel is also very urban as it is a run down industrial area which can be used for establishing or tracking shots. 

Film Name & Character Development

Film Name
We wanted a very atmospheric name for our film we had a few idea, but our favorite was 'the deadly affair' but to make to make it sound more interesting and fitting to the genre we chose to tranlate it into french which made it 'Le Mortel Liaison'. We found this to be a very fitting title as it fitted with the story. It also takes Film Noir back to it's French roots giving the film title a very sophisticated feel.

Character Development 
We then went on to deciding the names of our characters we wanted to have fairly old fashioned names which would relate to the Film Noir Genre. We came up with Barnaby Frisco as we thought it worked well and as they we would be using last names more predominately in the film we thought that Frisco would be a short memorable name. Barnaby Frisco is the main protagonist/anti-hero. Next we thought up Bones Goodwin as his first name is very ominous and sounds more like a nickname making his character instantly more mysterious. Last we needed a name for our femme fatal we chose Adrianna for it's meaning; dark one, this is to be very relevant to her character with her underlying dark nature.

Storyline

The Back Story
Detective Barnaby Frisco shoots his partner Detective Bones Goodwin in act of passion as he is in love with Frisco's wife Adrianna. No one knows that it was Frisco that shot Goodwin.

Present Day
It is Frisco's first day back from personal leave after his partner Goodwin went missing. After receiving a call reporting a murder he investigates he finds a note along with his wife's necklace telling him to go to the church at 10 o'clock. Then returning to the office he waits to go to the church where he finds Adrianna passed out and alone. He proceeds to try and wake her up but gets knocked out himself, as he starts to come around he sees his old partner Goodwin who he thought was dead, Goodwin then explains how Adrianna saved him and how he survived the shooting. They then engage in a fight and the gun is knocked to the floor out of reach of both of them. As Frisco is strangling Goodwin you hear a gunshot and Frisco falls to the floor reviling Adrianna with the gun. Thus proving that Adrianna was in it from the start and the whole thing was an elaborate plan to get Frisco out the picture so Goodwin and Adrianna could be together.

I think our storyline is in keeping with the film noir genre with the protagonist/anti hero being Barnaby Frisco with his shady past but his good traits are also obvious. The classic femme fatal who is the centre of the storyline with the men obsessed with her and keen to do anything for her. Along with all the twists and unseen connections between the characters. 

Story Board

RELM PRODUCTIONS

We discussed many possible names for our productions and experimented with many variations. We finally settled on 'RELM' as it contains all of our first initials in it (Raya Emilie Luke Matt). It is also a take on the word realm meaning kingdom or area of interest, we thought that this definition worked well and suited a production company.

When designing the logo we kept the definition of kingdom in mind and used this predominately in our logo. We chose a simple crown image and preceded to edit it using Photoshop. We turned the crown to a dark red/burgundy colour, to represent danger. Red also has semiotics connected to royalty which links in with the crown and our name. We then chose a fairly old fashioned type text that was easy to read and bold, using the warp text tool arc the text so it followed the line of the crown then slightly mirroring this with 'productions' below using the same text and colour but arcing it in the other direction slightly to give it some shape. 

The Team

We then split into groups that we would be working in to make our film noir. 

Luke Jones, Matt Williams, myself and Emilie Cherry