Research poster

Below is the image of a research poster which we created, based on the opening of 'Casino Royal' and how it uses conventions of Film Noir. We commented on shot types, camera angles, costume, lighting,  mise-en-scene etc.

Font decisions

I was aware that the decision of my font was important, as each font has completely unique connotations. Especially with our Film Noir sub-genred thriller, when a suitable font (1930's style) is difficult to find. We actually managed to find a number of suitable simplistic fonts which we were aware may work well within the contents of our thriller. Yet the one we found to be most effective was 'Belta Regular' - it was simplistic yet stylish, it emphasised the glamorous and stylistic aspect of the beginning yet was not over exaggerated or too much. I couldn't think of another film which used the same font either, which was promising due to the fact that often films are associated with the fonts used and that is partially how they are remembered.
Such as the 'Saw' films, the font is so unusual and iconic that when the audience think of the film, often that font comes to mind. It sticks in the audience's head, especially due to the slightly haunting aspect of it. In this case our font is disimilar, it is not haunting nor outrageous yet is extremely simplistic - it simply fades onto the screen for a couple of seconds and fades off. This in itself presents an eerie feel, as if the situation is delicate and fragile therefore anything could happen. The use of it placed in empty space throughout the shots also emphasizes this, the font is so subtle that with a blink it could be missed - therefore the audience must pay attention since some of the fonts appear in slightly unusual places in unusual angles. This presents the idea that boundaries shall be broken or that the film will not be fully conforming to the Film Noir genre, a suggestion that the audience may be surprised which will provide interest from the audience.

The pure white font is almost sinister since it is so pure and simple that the audience can almost predict that the plot will not end quite so glamorously. The white mixed with the flickering candle light behind in this shot, also is symbolic of heaven aka death. Therefore from one of the primary shots the audience may be made aware that the plot will take some kind of sinister turn, the suspense of this creates an interested audience. 

Shooting Schedule

Below are images of our shooting schedule:

Final cut of thriller

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Prezi was a particularly good piece of technology since it enables so much flexibility in the form of presentation. Without prezi there would be no oppurtunity to create any research/work in such a flexible and creative way, since it creates such a fluid and modern way of presenting information. It is one of my favourite forms of presenting due to the oppurtunity to embed a variation of images and add a unique design and various pieces of font to create an interesting presentation. 

During both research and evaluation, YouTube played a vital part. YouTube provided such easy access to such a wild variety of film clips or trailers, which enabled us to gather information and connotations of a film in a very short space of time. It also meant that we did not have to go out and buy a variation of DVD's in order to carry out research, which before technology developments would of quite obviously been the case. We were able to upload and therefore share our thriller's in a viral manor. It also meant that we were able to freeze the thriller on a particular shot, giving me the ability to point out a variation of connotations and denotations of that shot, which otherwise would be difficult to talk about and therefore detail may be missed out. It also shows digital literacy to possible future employers/university's when these video's and multi-media products are embedded within a blog.

When choosing sound effects and investigating suitable fonts 'Dafont.com' and a huge variation of copyright-free music sites such as 'artistdirect.com' meant that a variety of necessities when creating a thriller, were easy and quick to access. The music websites were especially useful, since without them locating a vast library of copyright-free music and soundtracks would of been almost impossible - especially when having a very particular piece of music in mind - violinist suspense music. It resulted in me having a number of possibilities for a soundtrack piece and therefore enabling a large degree of flexibility.
'Dafont.com' produced a huge range of fonts for a variation of purposes, we found many fonts that especially suited to a Film Noir style (that would otherwise of been very rare to find). We then had a selection of possible fonts to use, so had the ability to swap them around in order to see which was the most appropriate.

In terms of production, technology was so important. During filming it was important to use a good quality in order to produce an effective thriller, so that movement would not be blurred and the audience would feel that what they are watching is realistic and therefore engrossing  We used a simplistic yet HD video camera in order to meet this aim - the small size of the video camera meant that it was easy to carry around and maneuver unlike the more old-fashioned video camera's that a few years ago, film makers would have to endure. This enabled us to walk to a variation of locations which were reasonably far away as we did not have to worry about the weight or difficult in terms of lifting the equipment around. The camera that we used had a long-life battery which enabled us to film for a long period of time, without having to worry about the battery dying and leaving us with a lack/minimalistic footage. It gave us the opportunity to to shoot for a long period of time, capturing a huge variation of shots within a reasonably short space of time (we did not have to return to locations on regular intervals in order to get a sufficient amount of footage). By using an SD card within the camera meant that transferring footage from the camera to the computer to be edited was so easy. Considering before tapes of film would have to be paused and played in the right place exactly from one machine to another. 

The flip-able screen meant that two of us were able to view the footage as it was recorded and therefore be considered by everyone involved in teaming - the footage is also seen as a video not just through a lense which ensures us to visually see exactly what that piece of film looks like/any errors that may occur within it.

Technology played such a vital role in editing 'Scarlett' (quite obviously) without the computer and modern software the quality of the film produced would of been undoubtedly different. We used 'Adobe Pro' in order to edit our footage into an actual film - adding a variation of effects, titles, deleting and cutting clips etc. The software enabled me to see one clip that could feature within the plot line on one screen at the same time as placing it in chronologically, in the right screen. The software is easy to maneuver with a variation of tools. One of the parts I consider most useful was the effects on the sound, it can be manipulated to build at very varied points in collaboration with the footage. It can be faded and cut in order to create an abrupt effect (such as when Scarlett slams the music box) or faded with non-diagetic music in order to create a smooth loop which goes unnoticed by the audience yet enables a short clip to be replayed as if an entire song.
In terms of footage, I found it very simple to catergorise film clips, select those to particular folders and then select the strongest of clips from those. With 'Scarlett' from primary planning, I was aware that I strongly wanted the thriller to be edited into black and white to truly fall into the Film Noir genre. I had an idea of huge buildings and slightly dimly lit alleyways, glamorised by a simple yet stylistic greyscale effect. Due to this editing software this was able to happen, yet I was also to view exactly what it would look like in colour.
With our thriller we posed some concern on the lighting throughout, since a variation of shots were taken when the night rapidly fell dark and we were worried on the basis that the clips may look out of place beside each other and lack a chronological impression if the lighting jumped from night to day time. Yet again, by using contrast and brightness editing, this was far less noticeable and the scenes don't seem to jump or jolt. There were two particular shots that seemed out of place due to the actors being featured going in an awkward direction, in this case I was able to edited the shot and flip it horizontally to ensure that it fitted more suitably. This would have no way been a possibility yet again if technology was not as advanced as it is.

In terms of evaluation, the use of technology made such a difference. In one window I had the ability to have YouTube open in two windows - one featuring my preliminary and one with 'Scarlett', therefore as I wrote up my evaluation I had the ability to create fresh ideas from certain shots, screen shot them and then add them to the explanation.

Q5:How did you attract/address your audience?

Q5ff

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Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?