Day 2- Filming Script

Day 2: Filming- 2nd January 2016

Location:

Xena's grandma's house and an alleyway- Staplehurst

Meeting Point:

We have arranged to meet at Xena's house at 10:00am and from there we will walk to the alleyway to get the filming done before it begins to rain. 

Props:

Xena: Xena will bring the filming camera, tripod, polaroids and picture board. 
She will also arrange to use extra props available at her grandma's house. 

Mindi: As Mindi is the actress she will bring the costumes (three different ones) along with jewellery. She is also bringing a spotlight, briefcase, documents, fake money and a typewriter.

Zayanah: Zayanah will provide the fake cigarettes, a tape recorder and a tape to play inside the recorder.

Hazel: I will bring the parcel which will be used by the detective in the opening scene and the venetian blinds prop which we can use to create the shadows.

What will be completed?
Actors will be informed of what to wear before they arrive. By the end of the day we hope to have filmed all of our scenes. We will complete the alleyway scenes first, where Xena's dad will act as the detective, a family friend will act as the kidnapper and Mindi will act as the femme fatale. All of the actors will be filmed in the alleyway where the exchange of money will take place and Mindi will be revealed as the real villain. 

Next we will film in the detective's office (Mindi's grandma's house). These scenes will only require the detective (Xena's dad). In the office he will receive a package, pack his briefcase and listen to a tape recording. 
Sounds and music will be edited in after this day therefore we do not need to worry about this.

Finish time = 3:00pm

Deconstruction of Film Noir Names

Often the name has something to do with the plot of the film. By looking at different examples of Film Noir names it could help us to come up with a name for our own film noir opening.

The names usually convey the dark mood of the film. As Film Noirs often include guns there are a few names that involve this theme such as 'Gun Crazy', 'Crossfire' and 'This Gun For Hire'. Another common theme in the names are the locations of the films this includes 'The Dark Corner', 'Side Street', 'Night And The City' and 'Sunset Blvd'. Lots of names also have the word 'The' before them.

After having some peer feedback we decided on the name 'Harlem Sunset' the definition of this is 'a fatal wound caused by a knife fight'. This would suit our film opening as it is dark and conveys a sense of foreboding. As we have only created a film opening there could be a knife fight scene in the full film therefore this name would suit the film and gives a sense of what may happen.

Practical Task- Venetian Blind Shadows

In many film noir's venetian blinds are used and more commonly their shadows are used. I thought that buying a set of venetian blinds wouldn't work as it would be hard to hang them up and if we were filming somewhere without windows a set of venetian blinds wouldn't be of any use. Therefore, I decided to see if I could create these shadows myself, allowing us to possibly use this type of shadow in our opening scene. Also, meaning that we wouldn't have to hang any blinds up and if there were no windows we could create an effect that would make it look like there were windows.

Whilst I was researching how to create the shadows I found this image:

We don't have any special lighting equipment that would allow us to put in a small filter to create the shadows so I decided to create a larger filter that we could put in front of a light to create a similar effect.

Firstly, I found a piece of cardboard and then marked it into different sized rectangles similar to the image above.There was one large rectangle in the middle and two same sized smaller rectangles on the outside.

Then I cut out every other row of rectangles. Once I had finished I used a torch and held up the cardboard cut out in front of the light which created a shadow which looked like venetian blinds. 

The shadow could be used in front of a person's face to look as if though they are standing in front of a window. 

Evaluation

Overall, I thought that this turned out well and would look really good if we could incorporate it into our opening scene. However, this prop may be hard to hold up without seeing the shadow of a hand.

Inspiration- Detectives office layout

In our opening scene we have a detectives office so  I have decided to look at the layout and positioning of certain items within the office. This will enable us to get some ideas when creating our own detectives office.

I began by looking at images of detectives offices inspired by/in film noir movies. Below are some of the images I found.

I found that many of the offices contain small desks with many items placed on top. Items that were commonly on top of the desks included:

• A typewriter
• Alcohol
• Gun
• Lamp
• Paper
• Cigarettes and cigarette trays
• Parcels
• Letters
• Old fashioned phones

I then looked at the layout of the whole office. Some examples I found are shown below.

Both images show that the wall behind the desk has maps, photographs and pin boards placed on it. There are also some framed photos around the room. Other items include a cabinet for files, books, chairs, boxes and the detectives clothing.

I decided to create a plan of what our detectives office may look like and the position of certain items within the office.

Day 1- Filming Script

Day 1: 22nd December 2015-  Setting up the location and Taking polaroid shots for picture board prop

Location:

Xena's house and her grandma's house- Staplehurst

Meeting Point:

We have arranged to meet at Xena's house at 10:30am and from there we will walk to her grandma's house which is not far away. 

Props:

Xena: Xena will bring the filming camera and her polaroid camera. She will also help us to decide what items can be used as props within her grandma's house for example chairs, glasses, lamps and a desk.

Mindi: As Mindi is the actress she will bring the costumes (three different ones) along with jewellery. She is also bringing a spotlight, briefcase, documents and fake money.

Zayanah: Zayanah will bring the fake cigarettes with a lighter which will be used by Mindi in the polaroid shots. She was also bring a tape recorder which will be used by the detective.

Hazel: I will bring the parcel which will be used by the detective in the opening scene and the venetian blinds prop which we can use to create the shadows.

What will be completed?

By the end of the day we will have taken all of the polaroid shots of Mindi needed for the photo board prop. These pictures will be taken in various places around Xena's grandma's house and garden. Some of the locations will need to be cleared in order for the shots to be taken.For example the garage will need to have a corner cleared and a chair placed in front of a wall in the corner and we will need to clear the office so that all the modern devices, such as a laptop, are not seen in the shots. We will also prepare the detectives office with the correct mise-en-scene so it is ready for when we come back to film. In addition to this we will also agree a time to next meet to make sure our actors are ready to film.

Finish time = 1:00pm

Practical Task: Cut Out Lighting

For my practical task I investigated the use of cut outs and lighting. Often in film noir, cut outs are used to pool light on to a character's face or certain parts of it. This makes it more dramatic. It is an easy lighting technique that greatly increases the visual interest of a shot and creates more intense shadows. Here is an example.

I tried my best to recreate the effect with some paper, cardboard, and a lamp.

The first image is just a desk lamp aimed at this stuffed toy. The second is the same desk lamp shone through a thin paper cut out, and the third is shone through a cardboard cutout.

In the last two, the light pools on the head, as one would expect, however they are quite different. In the third one, more of the light is blocked out, creating a more dramatic effect. However, in the example, the use of this technique is very subtle, and I think the subtlety of the second one might work better, as unlike using a cut out to create the shadows of Venetian blinds the point of this is not to have crisp shadows, but to draw attention to a specific point on a character.

Deconstruction of Opening Credits

To look at what we should write for our opening credits I decided to look at film noir films for examples.

The first example I looked at included:

• Director of Photography
• Casting
• Editor
• Wardrobe
• Hair and Make up
• Set Decoration
• Assistant Director
• Score
• Sound Design
• Special Art Effects
• Colourist

This specific example shows all of the opening credits on the screen at the same time. The role is in a different font compared to the name of the person who played this specific role.

                             

The next example I found showed only one credit on the screen at a time and instead of having dots between the role and the name of the person (as seen above) the word 'by' is written. This example also shows the use of different fonts for the role and the name of the person. However, the name of the person is in larger font compared to the role they played.

The most common type of transition used was the fade. As one credit faded out another credit fades in over it. This can be seen in the image below. As the credits fade into one another the credits end fairly quickly compared to some modern films where the credits are played throughout the film opening.