I have chosen two Film openings that i like and have given me ideas for my own film noir opening. The first of my openings is Superbad (2007) directed by Gregg Mottola. The second is Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003) directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Superbad
I like the opening of the movie superbad because the style is unusual and interesting and i like the use of sound. It uses simple wide shots to show the two main characters dancing, their costumes are casual, but because of the choice of colours this is hard to make out. The use of music goes really well and i think gets you closer to the characters before you have even begun watching the film. The simple titles go really well with the style of the music and the action on camera. You can not tell what the characters are like from the beginning sequence but from what you can see, they appear to be two casual, young looking people. From the sequence i would guess that this film was either a comedy or a musical. The sequence gives away no hints to the story of the film but leaves it open and, could be considered to be one big enigma as you know nothing about the people on screen, where they are or their relevance to the film.
Kill Bill Volume 1
This opening is closer to the genre of film noir than my other choice. I like this opening because it uses pleonastic sound on the male characters footsteps and adds a much more dramatic feel to the scene. The cinematography is simple but it fits the mood very well, with the ttracking shot that follows his movement across the room. Also the close ups on the female characters face show her in detail and that she is clearly in trouble. The location appears to be a poorly lighted room that is dusty and not used often, the female character is wearing a wedding dress which suggests that she has some involvement in the male character who we see very little of. Pleonastic sound is also used on her heavy breathing, which gives you the idea that she is in trouble and is in pain and worried. Their is no music to this piece, dialogue and diegetic sounds are all that can be heard. The scene contains a certain amount of enigma until her final line reveals a major part to the story, their are no hints towards the female character and all you know about the male character is his name. I think from this small sequence iwould class this film as an action film, with a maturer target audience because of the violence and choice of characters.
Thursday 5 February 2009
Group treatment
All aspects of the shoot will be put into this post. Each member of the group had to do a treatment for each section that they were in chrage of. My section is the cinematography.
Treatment for cinematography on Film Noir shoot
The camera work for the film noir project needs to create the atmosphere and feel of a film noir. Lighting and various other aspects will also help to create the mood.
To begin with the camera will focus on a dimly light chair and a totally black background. To make sure the audience can see the whole room and get a feel for the atmosphere, I want to use a medium long shot.
Then for the next shot, the chair will have a person, who is tied up, sitting on it wearing a blindfold. I think a medium long shot will work best for this shot so the audience gets a clear view of the person tied up.
Then, a point of view shot from the man who is tied up, he is looking around the room. Medium long shot, but the effect will make him appear disorientated as the woman enters from the side. There is little light so it is hard to make out the room.
When the woman enters, a high angle shot to show the woman pacing around the man in the chair, the light should be focused on her and slightly reveal the man in the chair.
As the woman begins to speak, the light will reveal her face slightly, big close up to show the importance of what she is saying. The background will not be visible as it is still dark.
Then, a flashback of a busy street, this shot will be filmed at night; the only sources of light are streetlights. The shot does not require characters and is a very long shot.
Long shot of the woman and her boyfriend walking down the street, she is carrying an envelope and is trying to fit in with the crowd. The light is coming from the street lights, they are hurrying along. The camera follows them.
A very long shot of the woman, her boyfriend and the man who was tied up, walking into space under a streetlight, then just before they collide, it switches to an over the shoulder shot then when they hit the woman drops an envelope.
A long shot of the man picking up the envelope and giving it to the woman then as he hands it back her boyfriend comes along and hurries her away. The man walks away and then a point of view shot of him watching her walk away, as she looks back at him.
As the flashback ends, another medium shot of the woman pacing around the man in the cellar. The light is only on them and the rest of the room is still completely dark.
As another flashback begins, you see the woman, and the tied up man sitting on the bench in a park, long shot that focuses on them in clear daylight.
Then the flashback ends again, and the audience is returned to the cellar. Over the shoulder shot to show the woman still walking around the man who is still tied up. The light is still only on the two characters.
The next shot is of a close up of a mobile phone vibrating on the dashboard of a car. As the hand picks up the phone it’s a close up of the person who has answered the phone having a conversation. This part is filmed in the day in a car park.
Then the audience is once again returned to a cellar to see a medium shot of the woman still pacing around the man, the room is still dark and you can only see the chair and the woman.
Then a close up of the man’s head, as the woman leans in and whispers into his ear. A pair of hands come out of the darkness and then the camera changes to a medium shot, as you see a man come out of the dark and place a bag over the mans head the light is still only in the chairs area.
The screen then goes black, then after a short time, an extreme close up of the mans eyes wide open, the screen goes black again and the titles roll up.
Hannah Matthews – Art Director
Treatment for the opening of our film noir project.Cellar scenes. The cellar will be dark and lit with a single light, to give a spotlight effect on the character tied up in the chair. The character in the chair will have make-up applied to make it look like he has been beaten up. There will be blood on his clothing to make it look like he has had a nose bleed. His hands will be tied behind his back and his legs will be tied together, he will also have tape across his mouth. The female in these scenes will be dressed in ‘sexy’ clothing, giving the impressing that she is in charge and that she dominates the character that is tied up. She will walk around him very seductively and also whisper into his ear. The character that has been tied up will look scared and anxious and the female character will look compassionate and seductive. The ‘Mr Big’ character will be wearing dark clothing and will look very intimidating and heartless. He will never look at the character sitting in the chair. ‘Mr Big’ will not talk to the other male character everything he says will go through the femme fatale. There will be some sort of classical music playing over the top. There will no be much in the background of these scenes other than the obvious things you would find in a pub cellar such as beer barrels and stock for the pub. The setting will look cold and very uncomfortable to be in. It will look very unpleasant.Car scenes. This scene will be set during the day in the middle of no where and then in the middle of a field to give the impression that the couple have to hide their love for each other. It will be a very intimate scene with the couple sitting on the back seat of the car talking, giggling and kissing. The male character (man tied up in cellar scenes) will be in very casual clothing to show that he is not involved in the same sort of circle of people as the femme fatale character. The female character will be dressed fairly smart to show that she has some sort of importance. The scene will be lit by the natural light. The females phone will ring and she look at the phone but act very uninterested and throw the phone back down.Park scenes. This, as well as the car scenes, will be in a secluded location to show the need for them to hide their love. They will both be dressed in similar clothing to the car scene and will act very comfortable around each other. They will embrace each other on arrival and will sit and talk. This scene will be filmed in during the day and so there will be no need for lighting.The ‘meeting’ scene. This will be filmed on a street corner. The location will be a fairly normal residential area. The female character and the male character will be walking towards the same corner and bump into each other; again they will be wearing similar clothes to the other outside scenes. They will look at each other lovingly and will talk and smile for a little while and then ‘Mr Big’ will come from the same direction as the female character he will look at the male character with an evil look in his eye and drag the female character away. The male and female character will continue to look at each other. This scene will be set in during the day so there will be no need for lighting. There will be one prop in this scene and that will be the bag that the female character drops as she bumps into the male character.
Treatment for editing and SFX- By Muhaimin Sofique
The titles will be appearing on and off at the start of the film for example it will show the first title then show a couple of seconds of the opening and then cut back to another title, this is so the audience wont get bored from just seeing the titles at the start straight away so it will be divided up, or the some of the titles might appear on the screen as well as the footage depending on how long the opening is going 2 be.In our opening there are going to be a couple of scenes which involve voiceovers so there fore were going to have to film the footage and then record the sound and when editing we shall put the dialogue over the footage we have to make sure that the dialogue is not too long and matches the length of the scene. Are film opening also includes some flashbacks therefore we are going to have to decide on what effects to use when cutting to a flashback, the programme already has a range of different effects, one of the ones I liked was the ghost effect where it makes the characters look ghostly as they move I think it will be a good effect to use but I am not particularly sure if it is the right one for are footage. Furthermore we may end up changing he flash backs to black and white to help the audience know that it is a flashback or we could end up using black and white for some of the scenes if the lighting is not very good.Also at the start of are opening when the male character is just regaining consciousness and starts to look around the room we are going to find an effect that will make him look kind of disorientated, and the shot be a bit blurry to show the audience that’s how he is seeing things at that moment.I have also found and selected a couple of different types of music which I think will fit in well with our opening, but me and my group are still to decide on which one we are going to use.It’s going to start of with a quiet, slow piece of music at the start and then gradually increase in speed and sound as the opening progresses.
Treatment for cinematography on Film Noir shoot
The camera work for the film noir project needs to create the atmosphere and feel of a film noir. Lighting and various other aspects will also help to create the mood.
To begin with the camera will focus on a dimly light chair and a totally black background. To make sure the audience can see the whole room and get a feel for the atmosphere, I want to use a medium long shot.
Then for the next shot, the chair will have a person, who is tied up, sitting on it wearing a blindfold. I think a medium long shot will work best for this shot so the audience gets a clear view of the person tied up.
Then, a point of view shot from the man who is tied up, he is looking around the room. Medium long shot, but the effect will make him appear disorientated as the woman enters from the side. There is little light so it is hard to make out the room.
When the woman enters, a high angle shot to show the woman pacing around the man in the chair, the light should be focused on her and slightly reveal the man in the chair.
As the woman begins to speak, the light will reveal her face slightly, big close up to show the importance of what she is saying. The background will not be visible as it is still dark.
Then, a flashback of a busy street, this shot will be filmed at night; the only sources of light are streetlights. The shot does not require characters and is a very long shot.
Long shot of the woman and her boyfriend walking down the street, she is carrying an envelope and is trying to fit in with the crowd. The light is coming from the street lights, they are hurrying along. The camera follows them.
A very long shot of the woman, her boyfriend and the man who was tied up, walking into space under a streetlight, then just before they collide, it switches to an over the shoulder shot then when they hit the woman drops an envelope.
A long shot of the man picking up the envelope and giving it to the woman then as he hands it back her boyfriend comes along and hurries her away. The man walks away and then a point of view shot of him watching her walk away, as she looks back at him.
As the flashback ends, another medium shot of the woman pacing around the man in the cellar. The light is only on them and the rest of the room is still completely dark.
As another flashback begins, you see the woman, and the tied up man sitting on the bench in a park, long shot that focuses on them in clear daylight.
Then the flashback ends again, and the audience is returned to the cellar. Over the shoulder shot to show the woman still walking around the man who is still tied up. The light is still only on the two characters.
The next shot is of a close up of a mobile phone vibrating on the dashboard of a car. As the hand picks up the phone it’s a close up of the person who has answered the phone having a conversation. This part is filmed in the day in a car park.
Then the audience is once again returned to a cellar to see a medium shot of the woman still pacing around the man, the room is still dark and you can only see the chair and the woman.
Then a close up of the man’s head, as the woman leans in and whispers into his ear. A pair of hands come out of the darkness and then the camera changes to a medium shot, as you see a man come out of the dark and place a bag over the mans head the light is still only in the chairs area.
The screen then goes black, then after a short time, an extreme close up of the mans eyes wide open, the screen goes black again and the titles roll up.
Hannah Matthews – Art Director
Treatment for the opening of our film noir project.Cellar scenes. The cellar will be dark and lit with a single light, to give a spotlight effect on the character tied up in the chair. The character in the chair will have make-up applied to make it look like he has been beaten up. There will be blood on his clothing to make it look like he has had a nose bleed. His hands will be tied behind his back and his legs will be tied together, he will also have tape across his mouth. The female in these scenes will be dressed in ‘sexy’ clothing, giving the impressing that she is in charge and that she dominates the character that is tied up. She will walk around him very seductively and also whisper into his ear. The character that has been tied up will look scared and anxious and the female character will look compassionate and seductive. The ‘Mr Big’ character will be wearing dark clothing and will look very intimidating and heartless. He will never look at the character sitting in the chair. ‘Mr Big’ will not talk to the other male character everything he says will go through the femme fatale. There will be some sort of classical music playing over the top. There will no be much in the background of these scenes other than the obvious things you would find in a pub cellar such as beer barrels and stock for the pub. The setting will look cold and very uncomfortable to be in. It will look very unpleasant.Car scenes. This scene will be set during the day in the middle of no where and then in the middle of a field to give the impression that the couple have to hide their love for each other. It will be a very intimate scene with the couple sitting on the back seat of the car talking, giggling and kissing. The male character (man tied up in cellar scenes) will be in very casual clothing to show that he is not involved in the same sort of circle of people as the femme fatale character. The female character will be dressed fairly smart to show that she has some sort of importance. The scene will be lit by the natural light. The females phone will ring and she look at the phone but act very uninterested and throw the phone back down.Park scenes. This, as well as the car scenes, will be in a secluded location to show the need for them to hide their love. They will both be dressed in similar clothing to the car scene and will act very comfortable around each other. They will embrace each other on arrival and will sit and talk. This scene will be filmed in during the day and so there will be no need for lighting.The ‘meeting’ scene. This will be filmed on a street corner. The location will be a fairly normal residential area. The female character and the male character will be walking towards the same corner and bump into each other; again they will be wearing similar clothes to the other outside scenes. They will look at each other lovingly and will talk and smile for a little while and then ‘Mr Big’ will come from the same direction as the female character he will look at the male character with an evil look in his eye and drag the female character away. The male and female character will continue to look at each other. This scene will be set in during the day so there will be no need for lighting. There will be one prop in this scene and that will be the bag that the female character drops as she bumps into the male character.
Treatment for editing and SFX- By Muhaimin Sofique
The titles will be appearing on and off at the start of the film for example it will show the first title then show a couple of seconds of the opening and then cut back to another title, this is so the audience wont get bored from just seeing the titles at the start straight away so it will be divided up, or the some of the titles might appear on the screen as well as the footage depending on how long the opening is going 2 be.In our opening there are going to be a couple of scenes which involve voiceovers so there fore were going to have to film the footage and then record the sound and when editing we shall put the dialogue over the footage we have to make sure that the dialogue is not too long and matches the length of the scene. Are film opening also includes some flashbacks therefore we are going to have to decide on what effects to use when cutting to a flashback, the programme already has a range of different effects, one of the ones I liked was the ghost effect where it makes the characters look ghostly as they move I think it will be a good effect to use but I am not particularly sure if it is the right one for are footage. Furthermore we may end up changing he flash backs to black and white to help the audience know that it is a flashback or we could end up using black and white for some of the scenes if the lighting is not very good.Also at the start of are opening when the male character is just regaining consciousness and starts to look around the room we are going to find an effect that will make him look kind of disorientated, and the shot be a bit blurry to show the audience that’s how he is seeing things at that moment.I have also found and selected a couple of different types of music which I think will fit in well with our opening, but me and my group are still to decide on which one we are going to use.It’s going to start of with a quiet, slow piece of music at the start and then gradually increase in speed and sound as the opening progresses.
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