Evaluation Question 1

‘In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?'

Introduction

As part of my AS level Media Studies, I had to plan and film the opening scene to an original film. Working together with my group, we created a fiction Film Noir set in the 1920s.

Throughout this evaluation, I will be exploring how my film opening uses forms and conventions of real media products. My objective is to illustrate the forms and conventions of the genre Film Noir, and to show how my media product uses these. When comparing and analysing the forms and conventions of my media product to real media products, I am going to use examples from the famous Film Noir 'Double Indemnity'. I will also refer to 'Downton Abbey' and 'The Great Gatsby', as these media products were an inspiration for my film opening, so I feel that they have had an impact on the final film opening product.

Narrative

To begin with, the most common storyline of any Film Noir is based around a murder. The narrative is then told in a series of flash backs, and the audience can discover why the murder took place. This is shown in the film Double Indemnity, as right at the beginning we see the 'anti-hero' of the Film Noir telling the story of how he killed the Femme Fatale's husband: "I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman". In summary, one form and convention of a Film Noir, in terms of narrative, is that the story is told through flash backs.

My film opening has challenged this convention, as there is an element of it used in our film opening when there is a flash back to the protagonist Catherine's wedding before entering into the 'present day' setting of the film. However, my film opening does not begin with a present day scene with the anti-hero performing a soliloquy to introduce us to the context of the film, so in conclusion my film opening has used but furthermore challenged this particular convention of a Film Noir genre film.

Themes

Throughout the films Double Indemnity and The Great Gatsby, many of these key themes of a Film Noir are presented:

• Jealousy
• Betrayal
• Revenge
• Justice
• Guilt
• Desperation

• Love
• Moral corruption
• Greed
• Murder
• Paranoia
• Secrets

In comparison, the themes which are present in my film opening are: Love; Murder; Paranoia; Secrets; Betrayal.

Double Indemnity 1944

The Great Gatsby 2013

For example, the theme of love is shown in my film opening in the wedding scene. The couple Charles and Catherine are getting married, and through their marriage they have declared their love for each other.

Themes

As part of my additional research during the planning stages, I designed and carried out a Survey Monkey to find out what an audience's expectations of a Film Noir were. Their response to the question 'What main themes would you expect to be in a Film Noir?' are as follows:

Using these results, we were able to ensure that our storyline suited an audience's needs and expectations of a Film Noir opening. It assured us that we were on the right tracks when planning our film opening so that when we showed it to our target audience, they were pleased with the result.

Cinematography

The Film Noir genre is notorious for its classic cinematography. Some examples of this are the use of mirror reflections and oblique and unusual camera shots to make an audience feel uneasy, both of which are present in my film opening.

One example of where we use mirror shots is in the bedroom scene. There are a total of 5 shots in the bedroom scene which use the reflection of the mirror to show the audience what the character is doing.

Here is another example of how our film uses forms and conventions of a Film Noir- as this is a shot which makes the audience feel uneasy. It is a dutch, low angle shot showing a man holding a knife, but we don't see his face so there is a lack of identification of character.

Mise-en-scene

As our film was set in the 1920s and Film Noir's were more commonly set in the present day 1940s and 1950s, we were inspired by the costuming and mise-en-scene from the television series Downton Abbey, as the most recent series are set in the 20s.

We were influenced by the simplicity of the costumes in Downton Abbey, having been inspired by the basic white dress, the head piece and the veil for the bride's costuming, and the plain black suit for the groom's costuming. We used our own knowledge and some individual research into costuming, mise-en-scene, hair and makeup to ensure that our film opening was as accurate to the time era as we were able to make it.

The Ring

Downton Abbey

Characters

In a Film Noir, there are three typical characters which can be identified. Here I have used the film Double Indemnity as my example, and I have shown where my film has used this particular form and convention of a Film Noir in its opening:

FEMME FATALE:
The femme fatal is a seductive woman who leads their lovers into dangerous and even fatal situations.

Due to our film only being a film opening, we only had enough time to introduce one of the classic Film Noir characters, the Femme Fatale.

VILLAIN:

The villain is someone who gains pleasure from ruining other people's lives through various secret plans.

ANTI-HERO:
The anti-hero lacks the attributes of a typical hero, such as courage and honesty, and are led astray by greed and lust.

Sound

Finding the right sound for our film opening was challenging but very rewarding. In the end, we found a piece of music called 'Victoria's Vintage Pearls 2' from the website Epidemic Sound. It fits perfectly with our film opening and sets the right mood for the rest of the film. This piece of music also reflects the characteristics of a Femme Fatale character, as it sounds mysterious yet graceful and elegant at the same time.

We used many foley sounds in our opening, however the sound of the Alvis car horn beeping is one of the only sounds which truly connects the film opening to the 1920s. Cars are often used in Film Noir's, especially when used as a source of escape from a life-threatening situation like a murder or a crime scene.

Another foley sound we used to connect our film opening to classic films is the crackling sound from playing an old film. We put in this sound effect because it added an extra vintage feel to our opening which we feel was needed to give maximum effect of the film being set in the 1920s.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I feel that my film opening has used many different forms and conventions of the Film Noir genre in terms of themes, narrative, mise-en-scene, sound, characters and cinematography. I feel that some of these conventions have been challenged and adapted, such as the structure of a Film Noir narrative, to give my film opening a modern twist, making it more interesting for the audience to watch.