Analysis of previous student's A2 work

The film begins with a series of close up shots of items within the room as well as of a man's; some sort of doctor, face. This, along with the diagetic sound of a ticking clock, adds suspense to the video. The shot then changes to reveal a man on a therapist chair, terrified as he tells this therapist about 'Him'. This also carries this mystery. When it is revealed that the man is scared of his own shadow, the suspense is broken by humour, however the audience is still confused as to whether or not the man is clearly sick and scared of his own shadow or not. The next scene is of the man walking towards his car, to find his car being driven away. This again illustrates a thrilling vibe, but again is broken when it is revealed that the man's shadow, a man dressed in a black morph suit and a top hat, is driving away in his car. The audience now clearly know that the genre of the film is a black comedy.

Research Equipment

For my short movie, I will be using the Canon EOS 550D to film it. With a 1080p HD video recorder, this camera will allow me to capture crisp footage to allow for the best quality footage. The handling of the camera is very easy due to the large rubber-coated handgrip and a large thumb-grip area on the back of the camera and the buttons and dial are very easy to understand and master, allowing me to be able to increase the contrast and lower the brightness, as well as putting the footage into monotone to allow for the perfect film noir look; pure white against deep black.  

Film Noir Audience Research

It is hard to define a specific target audience for my short film as it could be appreciated for many different reasons. To address the Reception Theory; the belief that a 'text', whether it's a book, a film, a video game etc. cannot be passively accepted by their audience, as all audiences are active, never passive, and is instead interpreted by them based on their own individual experiences and cultural background. For example, in the case of my film, the humour elements would more likely be understood by somebody from the western world than from the eastern as the main protagonist, Marshal Mallow, is a parody of the western, archetypal man. The cultural theorist Stuart Hall came up with three hypothetical models in which audiences read media text; the first being a Dominant (or hegemonic) reading: the audience are fully aware of the text's code and they accept the preferred reading of it that the creator intended; in my case a dominant audience would be somebody who can both understand the Film Noir cliches that have been parodied, as well as seeing the character of Mallow as a mockery of the sexist nature of the 30's - 40's American white male. The second model is a Negotiated reading: the audience partly accept the text's code and they broadly accept the preferred reading of the text that the creator intended, but they modify it to their own interpretation. So, in my case, a Negotiated audience would be somebody who understands some of the cliches of Film Noir that have been parodied but perhaps miss many as they're not as familiar with the genre as a Dominant audience would be. The last model is an Oppositional (Counter-Hegemonic) reading: an audience who has a completely opposite reading  to that of a dominant audience, usually due to their social situation. They tend to understand the preferred reading of the creator, but they but completely disagrees with it; bringing their own alternative frame of reference to it. An oppositional audience for me would be somebody who disagrees that I have parodied any cliches of Film Noir. Due to the cliches that I have parodied being very universally known as cliches of Film Noir, by those who actually know the genre, if somebody where to think that I haven't represented Film Noir at all than it would be more likely that they are just unfamiliar with the genre and therefore do not know it's conventions. An oppositional audience may disagree with my preferred reading of my film, that it is in fact a feminist text; due to it being an on screen illustration of Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze'- The belief that media texts are very much seen through the eyes of men by portraying women as sex symbols, by my use of actually having the camera as his own Point of View as Mallow's keeps staring towards the Fem Fatale, Lotta Clivage's cleavage. An oppositional audience may see this as sexist, rather than criticising sexism, by interpreting my intended message differently from how I would have preferred them to do so. If I were to have to choose a demographic for my film it would most probably have to be males aged 20-40 due to the sexually explicit humour and the fact that, as the film follows the story of Marshal Mallow rather than focusing too closely on Lotta Clivage, a male audience could perhaps relate to the lazy, sexually obsessed and money orientated attitude that Mallow has.

Film Noir Theory

Analysis of Film Article

Analysis of Short Film

SOUND

The non diagetic, ambient backing track instantly sets the tone of this short film by adding mystery to it; as well as ambient music often being associated with sci-fi. The sound effects for the games which the protagonist is playing are specifically technological and electronic to again, inform the audience that this short film is a sci-fi. 

MISE-EN-SCENE 

The futuristic, virtual reality game which the man is seen playing, as well as his eyes glowing with a silvery blue colour instantly informs the audience that this film is set in the not to distant future; where gaming is better but the house and the clothing which the man is in is still modern and recognisably normal upon today's norms.  

CAMERA

Certain shots are filmed as if they are from the perspective of the protagonist as he watched the television or cooks food. This, along with the futuristic boarder and app pop ups on the sides; similar to that of The Terminator, helps the audience to visualise the extent in which technology has evolved to within this sci-fi. 

EDITING

The constant switch between game play footage and the protagonist simulating the game makes it easy for the audience to know that he is playing the game. The animation that has been edited onto the footage, such as when the protagonist opens the fridge and a pop up informs him of what food is what by highlighting each item, as well as telling him the temperature of the fridge, has been, again, used to simulate that the film is set in the not so distant future.

Analysis of Film Noir Movie Poster

Research into a Film Noir Director

Research into the Genre of Film Noir

Short Film Festivals

The Top 5 Must-Submits

• Sundance Film Festival (USA)
• Cannes Film Festival (France)
• Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (USA)
• Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France)
• Aspen Shortsfest (USA)

USA

•AFI Fest

• Los Angeles Film Festival

• Tribeca Film Festival

• SXSW: South By Southwest Film Festival

• Telluride Film Festival

• Seattle International Film Festival

• San Francisco International Film Festival

• Slamdance Film Festival

• Chicago International Film Festival

• Austin Film Festival

• St. Louis International Film Festival

• Cinequest Film Festival

• Atlanta Film Festival

• Santa Barbara International Film Festival

• Rhode Island International Film Festival

• Florida Film Festival

• Nashville Film Festival

• Hamptons International Film Festival

• USA Film Festival
• Los Angeles International Short Film Festival

• Chicago International Children’s Film Festival

• Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival

• Ann Arbor Film Festival

• Athens International Film Festival

• Black Maria Film Festival

• New Directors/New Films Festival

• Gen Art Film Festival
• Heartland Film Festival

• Starz Denver International Film Festival

• Mill Valley Film Festival

• Woodstock Film Festival

• Hawaii International Film Festival

• San Diego Film Festival

• Cleveland International Film Festival

• Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival

• Philadelphia Film Festival

• New Orleans Film Festival

• Stony Brook Film Festival

• CineVegas International Film Festival 
• Bumbershoot 1 Reel Film Festival

Canada

• Toronto International Film Festival
• Montreal World Film Festival

• Montreal International Festival of New Cinema
• Canadian Film Centre’s Worldwide Short Film Festival

• Vancouver International Film Festival
• Edmonton International Film Festival

• Calgary International Film Festival

Australia

• Flickerfest International Short Film Festival

• Melbourne International Film Festival

• Sydney Film Festival

Brazil

• Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival

• Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival

• Sao Paulo International Film Festival

Argentina

• Mar del Plata International Film Festival

Chile

• Santiago Chilean International Short Film Festival

Colombia

• Cartagena International Film Festival

Bermuda

• Bermuda International Film Festival

Japan

• Short Shorts Film Festival

South Africa

• Durban International Film Festival

• Cape Town World Cinema Film Festival

UK

• Raindance Film Festival

• London Short Film Festival
• Edinburgh International Film Festival

• London Short Film Festival

• Manchester International Film Festival

• Encounters International Short Film Festival
• Leeds International Film Festival

Ireland

• Foyle Film Festival

• Cork International Film Festival

Germany

• Berlin International Film Festival

• Oberhausen International Short Film Festival

• Oldenburg Film Festival

• Interfilm Berlin Short Film Festival

• Filmfest Dresden

• Hamburg International Short Film Festival

Spain

• Huesca International Film Festival

• Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films

• Gijon International Film Festival for Young People

• Valladolid International Film Festival

Italy

• Venice International Film Festival

• Turin International Film Festival of Young Cinema

Switzerland

• Locarno Film Festival

France

• Angers First Film Festival

Greece

• Drama International Short Film Festival

Bosnia-Herzegovina

• Sarajevo Film Festival

Poland

• Cracow International Documentary and Short Film Festival

Czech Republic

• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Belgium

• Brussels International Short Film Festival

• Ghent Flanders International Film Festival

• Leuven International Short Film Festival

Denmark

• Odense International Film Festival

• AFIA Film Festival, Aarhus

The Netherlands

• Rotterdam International Film Festival

Sweden

• Uppsala International Short Film Festival

• Stockholm International Film Festival

• Gothenberg International Film Festival

Finland

• Tampere International Short Film Festival

Norway

• Grimstad Norwegian Short Film Festival

Evidence of a Short Film You Admire

Batman: Dead End

 

This short film is entitles Batman: Dead End. This is a fan film made by Sandy Collora that premiered July 19, 2003 at the San Diego Comic-Con, and on the internet shortly there after.

As well as the unexpected destination of this short film fascinating me, I especially like it's Film Noir-esque use of lighting, shadows and smoke to give the illusion of mysteriousness. I am planning to use these aspects for my own movie for the same reasons as Collora has used in her short film.

As a huge fan of Blade Runner, I have always appreciated lighting effects and personally feel that the majority of films lack interesting lighting techniques. Therefore, I set out to create a short film that incorporated these, so I thought that Film Noir would be a perfect genre to try to replicate; as it is rich with lighting techniques used to create very stylized shots. 

Research into Short Film Companies

Channel 4's Random Acts

Channel 4 have their own segments of air time after advertisements that is solely based on showing and promoting short films and their makers. This air time is called 'Channel 4's Random Acts'. Being broadcasted on Channel 4, the short films are often of an abstract, artistic style and representing the directors views on something.

The Mob Film Company

The Mob Film Company are a media based company, that are part of the Red Arrow Entertainment Group, that create a variety of different films and moving image pieces to express their creativity and offer interesting advertisements and visuals for other media companies (such as products in need of advertising). They also focus strongly on culture and international commissioners. They create lot of short films, basing their purpose on  creating high quality videos and trying to look and be as professional as possible, without being a major production company.

Conventions of Film Noir

Influences of Film Noir

History of Short Film