Location Ideas

The day after our first group planning session, James and I decided to search our home city of Norwich for locations in which we could set our Film Noir style OTS.

Being both dominant and ominous, the Church of England Cathedral would work alongside the dark, tense atmosphere of our OTS aswell as providing an iconic city backdrop.

The interesting architecture and cobbles of Tombland would work well to connote the 'old city' environment, but the area is popular with both regular visistors and tourists, so it would not be an easy place to film, and is probably best avoided.

Despite the busy nature of Tombland, there are streets around it which are usually quiet, and the buildings still have similar architectural styles. Small features like the old-styled street-lamps would make for an interesting homage to the mise-en-scene of classic film-noir.

Seeing as we originally intended to begin our OTS with the 'victim' character sat on a bench, the seating on Elm Hill will be perfect to use. The following shots could then follow the 'victim' as he runs through the winding streets. The narrow, maze-like nature of the area will allow us to be much more creative in our shots, as we will have lots of patches of varying darkness and light. These could be utilised in order to reveal and conceal characters as we see fit, allowing us to convey a sense of claustrophobia.

Although Gentleman's Walk is another busy area of the city, it is definitely one of the most iconic city environment available. Not only does it boast a vast array of architectural styles, but there is also a taxi rank, covered market and shopping arcade in close proximity. This rich collection of signifiers means that even a short sequence of the 'victim' running through the area would establish the location as a modern city, which is a popular convention of Film Noir.

Similarly to the Church of England Cathedral, City Hall offers an iconic city feature: the clocktower. The plain, bold architecture makes the building look judicial and bureacratic, so the look of the building would juxtapose well with the themes of criminality surrounding the 'victim' character.

There is another bench opposite City Hall, although it is unlikely we will use this in our establishing shot, as it is in an enclosed corner space and is therefore not as versatile as the bench space on Elm Hill. Despite that, it may still be interesting to use the Guildhall in conjunction with City Hall to show a strong orthodox and judicial presence that contrasts with our plot.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral is of particular importance to us, because the building is noticeably more malevolent than the rest of the city, with a sharp, clearly defined geometric shape. We intend to capture the Cathedral in the background towards the end of the sequence, as a reminder of morality and final judgement.

Although we intend to film in the evening in order to utilise patches of darkness to create a contrast in lighting, we are not entirely sure whether the capabilities of the provided camera will be able to cope with such conditions. Because lighting can be affected by a variety of environmental factors, it may be that we film certain sections of the sequence earlier in the day to compensate for the camera's incapabilities. For example, a shot in an alleyway may be too dark for the camera to film in the evening, but better in the early afternoon. If we do this, we will obviously have to ensure that the shots do not reveal the difference in time of day by directly showing the sky, for example. Such shots could be made to look more consistent if filmed skillfully and applied with a tinting effect.

Continuity Ideas: Analysis of Doorway Images

At some point prior to my main practical production, I will be performing a continuity task to show that I am aware of the principle and conventions of continuity. Here, I have collected five images of people using doors, and have explained the ways in which they may influence my continuity task.

1. As an incredibly low-angled shot, this would perhaps work in a film-noir in order to make a character look abnormal or insane. The odd perspective certainly warps the shape of the subject, and our mental interpretation of the character is warped as a result.

The issue with continuity is that the perspective of this shot is at such a low angle that the audience may become confused. If there was to be a relatively normal shot of the man heading towards the door, followed by a cut to this shot, the audience would be momentarily disorientated. This is precisely what should be avoided with continuity, and so the preceding shot should also use a low angle, probably focuing on the subject's feet.

Unfortunately, the environment is too 'office-like' and the exposure is too high, so the shot doesn't really fit with the gritty film-noir stylings. Also, the composition contains too much of the man's shoe, which could easily have been placed to the side of the camera to show more of the subject. Overall, the shot would not work for basic continuity in a film-noir production, because it demands too much of the camera position and actually looks more comical than gritty, due to the awkward composition.

2. Unlike the previous image, this shot focuses upon the bottom of the doorwar, and we cannot yet see the person behind it.

The high-contrast in lighting between each room implies that there is something different or peculiar about the dark room.

I think that this would work in terms of continuity if it followed a mid-shot of the person walking towards the door on the other side. From this very frame, as the door opens to let light into the room, the camera could tilt gradually up to reveal a sharp sillhouette of the character. Although this would work well for a film-noir with the single adjustment of colder lighting, the type of camera we are allowed would probably not cope with the ambitious high contrast.

3. Although this may seem like an unusual image to analyse for this purpose, I have noticed that an increasing amount of TV shows and movies have used either actual security cameras or at least simulated the effects of these on a shot. These work because they link the consecutive shots together as well as making the audience aware of the secuirty camera's presence.

The low-contrast colours and bordering time-stamp show us this is security footage.

This could follow a shot of the subject walking down a street towards the door, and could cut to a tracking shot of the subject inside the building once she has left the frame. Equally, this shot could be used for a split second in between shots either side of the door, or could follow a close-up of the security camera itself, much like an eye-line match.

4. Although the colour palette is way too warm for a film-noir, the composition would work well for a match-on-action, as the hand on the door jamb would link a shot from within the other room.

With colder lighting and a subject that looked more dishevelled, the shot could work well for a film-noir, as it would distance the character from their surroundings, and create a surreal and unnerving undertone.

5. Out of this small collection, this image is easily the most suited to the style of film-noir, as the absence of colour, scruffy subject, and dowdy environment work to evoke an atmosphere of pessimism and hopelessness.

Seeing as the shot clearly shows the subject leaving some place resembling to a pub, the preceding shot would simply have to show the character finishing his pint at the bar, or something similar. Because the shot is composed of a lot of connotative architecutre, the audience need not see a linking shot edited to match-on-action, they can simply tell that the character is leaving the establishment from this shot alone.