Shooting Schedule

Chantage (Script)

Film Animatic

Film Noir Storyboard

After completing the majority of my research I will now move onto creating my own film noir. I will be joined by Megan Byford, one of my classmates. Below is our storyboard. We have come up with a plan for our film which includes characters, locations/settings and props. The Camera angles are not as clear seeing as we couldn't represent them fairly on the software we used to create our storyboard. More information involving camera angles, sound and lighting will be coming  soon. For now, we have our storyboard that holds all the basic information about our film.

Film Noir - Audience Research

Question 1: How old are you?

The results to this question show that the majority of people who answered this survey are aged between 16 - 21 (78% were). This is useful information as we now have information that tells us how to create a relevant film noir for teenagers and young adults within the range of 16 to 21. This is very helpful to me as I categorize into that age range, this way I am able to relate to our target audience. This will come in very handy when planning, filming, editing, basically the whole production process as we make our film noir.

Question 2: What is your gender?

The majority of those who answered our survey were female (78% in fact). This shows that the majority of the audience research comes mostly from females, because of this the decisions that we makes based on this audience research will lead to a film made for females which could be a reason to create my film for females aged between 16 to 21 years old. Whether we decide to go through with that or not, we're still unsure.

Question 3: Are you familiar with Film Noir?

The results for this question were very close, 60% answered that no, they did not know what a film noir was. The remaining 40% answered that they did in fact know what a film noir was. This shows that in order for the 60% to understand and enjoy our film we will have to break or challenge some of the typical film noir conventions. We are also looking at including some typical genres of other films that those aged between 16 - 21 would enjoy for example, romance, thriller and action films. This will make our film much more relevant and enjoyable for our target audience. We will also include typical film noir conventions such as chiaroscuro lighting, dark alleyways and a crime based storyline to interest the remaining 40%.

Question 4: If you answered yes in question3, do you like watching film noirs?

Interestingly 62% answered that no, they do not like watching film noire which is understandable for an age group of 16 -21 year olds as originally film noir were popular in the 1950s and are definitely not considered modern films to be watched by teenagers and young adults. This again shows that we will have to include more modern conventions from other genres that will attract our target audience to our own film noir. This will then encourage our target audience to enjoy our film.

Question 5: In the films you watch, what gender is the villain usually?

The majority answer for this question was male. 73% answered that villains are usually male whereas only 7% answered that they were female. A small 20% answered that villains could be either female or male in films. In our film noir we have decided to go with a female as this will challenge our target audiences expectation and should hopefully intrigue them. Having a female villain is common in film noir which is our main reasoning behind our female villain, although we are challenging some film noir conventions we decided to keep within the female villain convention as it will be different to our viewers expectation.

Question 6: With a female villain, what personality traits do you expect?

In continuation with the film noir convention of a female villain we asked people what personality traits they would expect in a woman and gave some typical examples. The four most popular examples in order of highest percentage were as follows: Intelligent, Seductive, Mysterious and Charming. These four personality traits will be really helpful when portraying a female villain in our film noir. In order to show these characteristics we'll have to really think about our storyline, characters, props, costume and editing. These will be key in representing these four characteristics, especially as they are going to be key in showing that our female villain is just as good as a male villain. 78% respondents said that they would expect a female villain to be intelligent, in order to show this in our film I think that the story will be the most important factor when representing this quality trait in our female villain.

Question 7: What locations you would expect in a film noir (or something like a crime thriller)

Location is a very important factor in film, especially in film noir as there are common locations that appear in film noir. Some examples of these are living rooms, alleyways, offices or dark streets. Our audience research shows this as 82% of respondents said that alleyways were a location that they would expect in film noir. This is a film noir convention that we're going to follow as a dark alleyway with low street lighting

really helps with a dark, mysterious atmosphere for our film. 67% of respondents also said that mansions were a location that they would expect in a film noir. After doing some research on locations and where to film nearby we found that filming in a mansion would be hard as we don't own one and no one that we know owns one. We did however come to the realisation that we do live very near to some big houses that could easily pass for a mansion.

Question 8: What music do you expect in film noir?

69% of respondents answered that they would expect jazz music in a film noir, 67% answered that they would expect instrumental music in film noir. Based on my previous target audience research results it became clear that music is very important in any film, including film noir. This research shows me specifics of the type of music to include. Instrumental could be very useful when trying to create certain moods as it adds to the drama. Jazz music could also be very helpful in setting the mood, it creates a mood, specifically from the genre of the classical film noirs.

Question 9: What are some filters that you could see a film noir being in?

88% answered that they could see a film noir in black and white which is probably because black and white is a common film noir convention. Whether we're going to have our film in black and white or not we are still unsure because we still want our film to be relevant to our younger target audience. In order to keep our target audience interested in our film we may choose to challenge this convention and our target audience research and keep the film in colour. We have decided to film everything in colour and then decide in the post production process as to what filter our film noir should be in.

Conclusion

This audience research has been very helpful in making some of the big decisions we have to make as regards to location, music, actors/actresses, storyline, target audience and filters. Although we are still undecided on some of the questions asked, we have been able to make some firm decisions such as our villain will be female, we are going to have jazz and/or instrumental music in our film and our target audience is both females and males aged between 16 and 21. 

Neo Noir

Neo - NEW in Greek

Noir - BLACK in French

Neo Noir "is a style often seen in mordern motion pictures and other forms that prominently use elements of film noir. but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in filmnoir of the 1940s and 1950s"

It wasn't until the 1970s where neo noir began to exist as it's very own genre. Some neo noir films are "The Black Dahlia", "Bonnie and Clyde", "The Bourne Identity" and "Miami Vice". A man by the name of Robert Arnett claims that because "Neo-noir has become so amorphous as a genre/movement, any film feautring a detective or crime qualifies". Neo Noirs are a much more modern take on the classic 1940s - 1950s film noir. They contain modern conventions and stories. They're new and unique. Brick for example is a neo noir that I recently watched and studied. It was very unique, all very new. The overall theme of Brick was highschoolers involved in murders and drugs. A very interesting take on the film noir/neo noir genres. Neo Noir films are unique and interesting a very new take on the film noir genre. Perhaps more relevant to our modern day lives.

Brick

Brick is what's known as a 'Neo Noir'. A Neo Noir is "a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently use elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in film noir of the 1940s and 1950s." (Google Definition).

                                                  

 Brick is quite a hard film to watch as you have to be paying all of your attention to the film so that you don't miss anything because if you do, then you won't know what's happening. As Brick is a Neo Noir, it does not contain the usual plot of a Film Noir, it has a different plot... However, the same kind of characters are used. For example Laura is the classic Femme Fatale, a seductive woman who uses the main character (Brendan). IMBD says:  "teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend."

Brick is quite an unusual noir as it's actually set in a high school with almost all of the characters being students in high school. This makes the plot for Brick seem so much more twisted as it's not normal for teenage students to be getting involved with Crime Lords and murder. It's a very interesting and successful take on a noir that worked wonderfully and was loved by many viewers.

CHARACTERS

Brendan Frye is the main character of the film. He is a strong and independent guy who is still deeply in love with his ex-girlfriend Emily. Brendan has very few friends as he has cut the majority of them off. However, he does have one very close friend "The Brain" who gives Brendan all of the information and help that he needs. Brendan's a highschool student just like most of the other character in Brick. Brendan is fierce and unafraid. His main goal is to find the murderer of his beloved Emily. Along his journey to find the truth, Brendan meets a drug lord who goes by the name of "The Pin", Laura (the Femme Fatale), Tugger (The Pin's sidekick) and Dode (Emily's boyfriend). Brendan is determined and doesn't stop at anything. Brendan gets into a lot of bad situations but somehow manages to stay strong through them all. He finally finds out the truth from Laura who is the femme fatale. She tells him that the murderer was Tugger. Earlier on, Brendan had tricked The pin and Tugger which led to them being killed in an effort to avoid being arrested. Brendan snitches Laura up to the vice principle which leads to a happy ending afterall.

Laura Danon is the film's Femme Fatale. She is involved with the Pin and Tugger but hides it from Brendan. She tries hard to gain Brendan's trust but isn't at all successful. Laura is a seductive liar who is involved with the Drug Lord. She holds all of the normal qualities of a Femme Fatale. She is pretty, well dressed and high class. She attempts to win over Brendan's heart, but he's too attached to finding Emily's murderer to care. He also doesn't trust her.

The Pin is the Crime Lord who was involved with dealing 'the Bricks'. The Pin is a very shady character who is involved in dealing drugs to many highschool students in the film. The Pin is a very odd character, he is disabled and is forced to walk with a cane which is extremely odd for a villain as it gives him a weakness rather than a strength. The Pin's lair is also in his Mother's basement which is very peculiar. The Pin (as many villains do) wears all black as it represents darkness and is a stereotypical colour for the bad guy to wear. The Pin is a strong character, however he often cannot control his own sidekick Tugger as Tugger has an extremely bad temper and often can't be controlled which causes a lot of problems for The Pin. In Brick, The Pin gets punished for all of his wrong doings, Brendan is the one who finally turns him in which leads to his death as he tries to frantically get out of being caught.

Tugger works for The Pin. He is the one who killed Emily, all because she was with another man, Dode and she was also pregnant. He also then killed Dode because even though Dode was about to accuse Brendan of murdering Emily... Tugger thought that Dode was about to accuse him and so killed him before Dode managed to accuse anyone. Tugger is a bully and uses his strength and aggression to threaten Brendan to stay out of things.

The Brain is called the brain because of his intelligence, that's a clear given. He's also Brendan's one true friend. The Brain sticks with Brendan throughout the whole of the film and helps him every step of the way. The Brain is Brendan's companion and in many ways looks out for him. When Brendan is completely stressed out about what to do, he goes to Brain for someone to talk to about everything that's going on.

CAMERA

To the left is a Long Shot that captures the famous tunnel that is seen multiple times throughout Brick. This shot is used for dramatic effect. It allows the audience to take in the scene, as Brendan crouches in the left hand corner and Emily's dead body lies just outside the tunnel, half in a small stream that runs out from the tunnel. It's dark, creepy and creates a mysterious atmosphere. They help to create huge dramatic effects and allow you to involve a lot of action.

This close up is used again for a very dramatic impact. It focuses the audiences attention on one specific object which in this case, is a dead girls hand decorated with a few blue bangles which are seen again at later points in the film. The close up creates a a very impactful image that sticks in the viewers mind as the object is so big.

The shot on the right is yet another close up which again shows the significance of the small note reading midnight with what looks like an A. This shot however, also used a shallow depth of field meaning that only the note is in focus which puts the majority of the importance on what it says. However, you can also see the time in the background which tells the audience that it's only a minute until midnight. This creates suspense and mystery, it suggests to the audience that this note is really key.

On the left is a low angle shot of the Pin. Low angle shots in Brick are used to show the power that a character holds. The Pin being the villain (Crime Lord) holds a great deal of power and this shot represents his importance, status and power. There are various other low angles that are used in Brick. This is one key example though as it is very low. It makes the Pin look bigger and more threatening as his sits in his very odd and unusually decorated van.

SOUND

Since Brick is a neo noir, it doesn't follow all of the same conventions as the majority of film noirs. One convention that Brick breaks is sound. While the majority of film noirs use jazz or classical music, Brick uses something completely different. The video to the left is one of the pieces involved at the beginning of the film when you first see Emily lying dead just out of the tunnel. The song is eery and mysterious. This piece is actually heard a few other times throughout the film as it's mixed into other pieces. I really like the Brick soundtrack and it's inspired me to try composing my own piece similar to this one in order to create a very tense, suspense atmosphere in my film.