Filming Schedule

1. ONE REHEARSAL IDENT

• 1.1: I plan to introduce my film with a parody of the 30's-40's Universal Ident in which a plane flew around the Earth, as the Earth rotated to reveal the words 'A Universal Picture'; however in my version the words will be 'A One Rehearsal Picture'. This will also introduce two aspects of the short that exist throughout; it's vintage cinematic style and the fact it is a parody of Film Noir.

2. TITLE SEQUENCE

• 2.1: For the opening sequence, I plan to use a still image of the main protagonist, Marshal Mallow, and put the films title over the top. I might also add in credits during this section. I want to do this in pre-production rather than post as in the 1930's and 40's, film makers would have printed the titles onto transparent plastic sheets and put them over the top of the still image or the footage and then filmed the screen. I will film a computer screen which has the still image of the detective with the text over it and change the slide in time with the music. 

3. INT. MALLOWS OFFICE

• 3.1: For the establishing shot of Mallow himself, I want the shot to begin completely black and then Mallow strikes a match to light a cigarette, and the flare created from the match light sup his face as he says "The name's Mallow...Marshal Mallow". This links the Mise-en-scene to the narration by establishing the character. 

• 3.2: In the next shot I plan to have Marshal walking through his office with his arms out stretched to play on the joke that the lighting in Film Noir is always very minimal to represent the dark narratives. I want Marshal to hit his leg against the cabinet in his office and hobble to his chair in pain to again play on this joke. The only lighting I will have in his office will be a light coming through lattice blinds to create an interesting effect on the wall; as using lattice blinds to create shadow effects is very conventional of Film Noir. 

• 3.3: I should probably involve a cut-away here to the detectives door. The door will have the words "Marshal Mallow Private Dick" with "Inspector" written underneath "Dick". As well as being another comic moment that adds to the parody of Film Noir, it also adds to Mallows character, and helps to introduce him, as it helps to establish that he's a detective. 

• 3.4: Here I will have Mallow spin around in his chair and turn the lamp on which will light up the office significantly, however will not take away from the stylistic, Film Noir look. The room will still be quite dark to distinguish the style as being Film Noir and not just in black and white, but the visibility will be clear enough to see everything in the room. In this scene Marshal is peeling the label from a bottle of whisky to highlight boredom, from his lack of cases, as well as him not being able to afford to get a replacement because he hasn't been paid as he hasn't had a case in so long. 

• 3.5: This shot will be of the same but from the opposite angle, so the camera will actually be on the desk facing Marshal as his feet will be in the foreground, up on the desk, with gum on his shoe (Gumshoes were given this name as they used to fix the holes in their shoes with chewing gum). 

• 3.6: The next shot returns to the same wide shot as seen in 3.3. Here, he throws the empty bottle into a bin and spins his chair around towards the camera. He does with a bored expression on his face. 

• 3.7: Cut to a cutaway of a non-ringing phone when he says "...Unless a case comes in, and soon." This whole set up helps to illustrate the helplessness of the detective, as well as the economical struggle of the 1930's in which the film is set. These are conventional traits of a detective of Film Noir. 

• 3.8: Then cuts back to the wide shot as Marshal stands up and puts his jacket on. 

• 3.9: Cutaway to a Cluedo Board in which the cards have been pinned to it with red ribbon going between each card, as if it's a detective's cork board; which is said when Marshal says "...‘Miss Scarlet’ had done it..." when talking about the last case he'd been in, which was just a game of Cluedo.

• 3.10: In this shot, Marshal has now put his jacket on and walks towards the camera until his tie is right up against the camera. 

• 3.11: In this scene Marshal is peering through a slit in the lattice blinds, just looking around, until he notices the Fem Fatale, Lotta Clivage, walking down the alleyway of which the building he is in is on. He notices her as the narration says "Dames equal Danger" which is followed by a dramatic chord to establish that the fem fatale will end up causing the downfall of the gumshoe, as conventional of Film Noir. 

4. EXT.ALLEYWAY SEEN FROM WINDOW

• 4.1: This shot consists of Lotta walking through an alleyway, looking for a certain address. She walks around looking puzzled for a while, until she finally realises and walks off towards the office in which Marshal is in. This is supposed to represent Marshal's POV. 

5. INT. MALLOWS OFFICE

• 5.1: Cut back to the long shot of Marshal in his office. In this shot he walks away from the window and he quickly tidies up his room, i.e. putting cups away, hiding the bottle that he put in the bin, putting his laundry away etc. This will later be sped up in a Benny Hill-esque manner and will be accompanied by a sped-up royalty free version of "We're in the Money".

• 5.2: The next shot is of the door again, which will have a light behind it so that when Lotta walks in front of the light, her silhouette will be casted against the window of the door. During this, Marshal describes the way she looks. At the end, she begins to open the door.

• 5.3: The following shot is from the opposite side of the door, showing Lotta opening the door and walking from the corridor into the office. The way she walks is going to be quite seductive. 

• 5.4: This is a close up shot of Lotta. Her appearance is narrated by Marshal as the camera zooms into her eyes, then moves down to her lips, then down to her cleavage.

• 5.5: This is a two shot which opens with Marshal's face right up to Lotta's breasts. She waggles her finger to suggest to him that she doesn't like what he's doing so he jumps back up. This is the shot in which actual dialogue, rather than narrations, are introduced. 

• 5.6-5.14: The next few shots consist of shot reverse-shots filmed over the shoulder of each camera, facing the other character as they speak. In this, Lotta tells Marshal that "Her baby is missing" and that she "Needs (Marshals's) help", however Marshal just nods and pretends to pay attention when really he keeps staring at her breasts. Eventually Lotta's dialogue changed from actual sentences to her saying "Blah blah blah boobies blah blah bank account". Her voice then fades out till she can no longer be heard. 

• 5.15: This shot is a POV shot from Marshal's perspective facing Lotta. The camera moves down to stare at her breasts and then moves into her breasts until the screen goes black. 

6.EXT.ACTION MONTAGE

• 6.1: The next shot is of a train going through a tunnel. Marshal's head is out of the window so as the train gets closer to the end of the tunnel the hole gets larger so more of Marshal's silhouette is visible until the train is in full light and he is no longer a silhouette. As the scene begins with the light at the end of the tunnel not being visible, the transition between this shot and the last will not be scene and it will appear natural. 

• 6.2: The next shot would be of the side of the steam train as it drives past quickly.

• 6.3: This shot is of Marshal running through a tunnel towards the camera. 

• 6.4: The next shot is of Marshal firing a gun. The light will be behind him to cause a silhouette so that the flash of the gun will light his face up briefly.

• 6.5: Back to the shot of Marshal running towards the camera but this time he is closer to it. 

• 6.6: A shot of Marshal standing there in silhouette after the gun has been fires, surrounded by the smoke from the gun. 

• 6.7: Another shot of Marshal running through the tunnel, but this time he runs right past the camera. His hat will fall off to add comedy to the scene.

• 6.8: The final shot is of Lotta punching towards the camera. As her fist makes contact the shot cuts to a black screen as if she punches the camera out. This represents Marshal's POV illustrating that Lotta knocks him out.