Elegy for April: Evaluation

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

Our media product throughout incorporates various aspects of neo-noire. Throughout the development of our film we identified key aspects of neo-noir we identified the following as key aspects:

• The establishment of a sense of ambiguity and mystery.

• The highlighting of prominent objects and phrases.

•  The establishment of setting.
•  The use of narration.
•   The femme fatale.

The establishment of setting

The setting is  established from the outset of our film through beginning with a vertical panning shot down the side of a derelict tower block the sound of this scene helps establish the setting as we hear a police car drive past highlighting that the area is not safe, the setting is also established through several shots of areas which are to appear later such as the train station and train tracks.

The highlighting of prominent objects and phrases

This aspect of neo-noir is prominent in such films like Citizen Kane and the usual suspects, within our product we use close up shots of our  male protagonists mouth and the minimal use of dialogue so that the dialogue that does occur is prominent. We also highlight prominent objects through the close up shot of our male protagonist throwing a note onto the seat and the fact that the specific location on this address remains a mystery.

The use of narration:

Whilst narration is a key element of many neo-noir and noir films for our product we decided that in order to build a sense of mystery and ambiguity surrounding our characters, we would not place any narration within our film. This not only adds a sense of mystery but also helps to engage the audience.

The Femme Fatale

Within Noir and Neo-Noir women are usually portrayed as femme fatales. This archetype for women is a prominent feature for noir and neo-noir films and usually their role is to seduce and lead the main male protagonist to dangerous and deadly situations. However, within our product we challenge this convention as our female protagonist instead of seducing him comes to him for help 

The establishment of a sense of ambiguity and mystery

This is one of the most prominent conventions within the genre of neo-noir and this is a convention of the genre which both we and our target audience through feedback believe is among the most paramount features which need to be included within any neo-noir film. we achieve this element of mystery and ambiguity through several factors. Firstly we never reveal the face of our male protagonist only close ups of his face or from behind. 

The establishment of a sense of ambiguity and mystery

we took a minimalistic approach to the dialogue so that only very minimal details in regards to the plot however we made it sure that the story should still be conveyed. we also created a sense of moral ambiguity through the blunt and almost threatening nature of our male protagonist’s tone towards our female character, we also make it unclear as to what his role within the plot is making the audience question whether he is good or bad

Conclusion

Overall I believe on the whole our product follows the codes and conventions of other films within this genre however iIdo believe that we also expand upon the conventions we follow, however we also challenge the conventions through having no narration and disregarding the femme fatale trope.