Hayden Woodcock's role in our production

My main role within the group is the producer, meaning that I am entitled to plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as: coordinating writing, directing and editing, as well as organising the filming in terms of location and time. I am also responsible for the acting, as I have accepted to take on the role of the Vampire antagonist, since Hubert was the main actor last year. Even though I am experienced with acting, film acting is very different. Therefore, I will use our acting skills research to gain some tips on how I should alter my acting for the screen. Another role that I am partially responsible for is directing. This means that I will be in control of the making of the film trailer and required to supervise the actors. However, Hubert will be the main director, so it is fair to establish me as a co-director. We will both be in charge of the post-production process as we are neither experts or inept in these areas.

Shooting schedule (By Hayden Woodcock)

Flash Card Deck created by Hayden Woodcock with GoConqr

Shooting Script

The Bitter Kiss dialogue script (By Hubert Osinski)

Risk Assessment

The Bitter Kiss shot list

Brand Identity (By Hubert Osinski)

Costume ideas (By Hayden Woodcock)

We already own the Vampire outfit, so there are no worries about sourcing the clothing from a particularly shop. However, the fangs will need to be sourced, likely from either ASDA, Aldi or Amazon. My Uncle is also sourcing the Detective outfit, again meaning that we do not need to source the clothing from a particularly shop. Therefore, the clothing seems easy, however, sourcing the props will provide a challenge.

Prop ideas (By Hayden Woodcock)

Mind Map created by Hayden Woodcock with GoConqr

Location hunting (By Hubert Osinski)

1. Interrogation room. We've taken our school theatre as a possibility due to its potential for lighting the scene.

2. Potential crime scene, we thought this would be a good area to shoot the crime scene because it's an open space with trees around it which gives us space for mise-en-scene

3. Ambience shots, the pines are really tall therefore they'd be good for capturing wind whispering through trees.

4. This is an establishing shot of the forest, looks very plain and boring without any mise-en-scene. For mise-en-scene we'd have detectives roaming the area.

7. This would be for interior ambience.

 

6. This is a small ditch in the forest, it is big enough to fit Hayden's body, it'd be ideal for the shot of the dead victim.

7. This would potentially be a shot of the detective or a character getting into the pond to take a dead body out of the water. 



This location would be great for the detective to walk down the path with a lantern in his hand to light his way, creating a sense of mystery.

Resources/Equipment (By Hubert Osinski)

Institutional Regulations (By Hubert Osinski)

The Bitter Kiss age rating & censorship from Hubert Osinski

Film title research

1. Deadly Night: This title would refer to the night-time setting and the dark low-key lighting used within the generic Film Noirs and Horrors. The use of the word 'deadly' connotes the innocent deaths that take place throughout the narrative, and the stereotypes of a Vampire (our antagonist.) This title should provide the audience will pleasure, specifically entertainment from the 'Uses and Gratification Theory' because they would expect a sinister and climatic mood.

2. Vampire Night: This title is informative and specific because it is clear and it makes the narrative already quite obvious. The Vampire killings occur at night, so the title is very self-explanatory. However, this name does not leave the audience with anything to think about, which would prevent audience capture and interest. Additionally, this title is not generic for a Film Noir because there is no incorporation of an adjective, meaning that it would not relate to our conventional narrative.

3.  Nightfall: This title is short and sweet, whilst the use of the 'night' signifies the time of the murders and the theme of darkness. Also, the 'fall' will connote how the innocent victims fall to their death in the hands of the Vampire. Lastly, this title creates a sense of failure, perhaps the protagonists or the antagonist. As a result, this will lead to audience anticipation because they are not aware of who will fall.

4. The Dark Detective: This is a conventional Film Noir title, as their is a mention of his name that makes the audience consider more why he is a dark character. The lexical choice of 'dark' also implies that the Detective goes through a transition and change in his usual attitude towards the law, perhaps he has began to use darker methods to solve his cases. Lastly, the alliteration creates a sharp sound, signifying that this character will have a flaw.

5. The Vicious Vampire: Again, alliteration is used to emphasise the represented villain within our Film, whilst being conventional for Film Noir. The use of the word 'vicious' connotes harshness, evilness and anger being stereotypical for a Vampire and an antagonist. As well as this, this alliteration enables the audience to be entertained because the title could be easily exaggerated, making the character sound instantly cool and quite tongue-and-cheek which is want Film Noir is often all about and what we desire.  

6. The Night Hunter: This title seems effective because it sums up the roles of Vampires and their desires to suck on blood because of their blood-thirst. The use of 'the' creates a sense of importance, the 'night' signifies the time of day this character completes their hunt and the lexical description of 'hunter' connotes a savage and secretive character. Therefore pleasuring the audience because we want to know who the night hunter is and who the victims are. All of these connotations represent a dark character, as well as highlighting a predatory-like demeanour.

7. Night-Stalker: This title links to the predatory representation of the 'night-stalker.' However, the term stalker modernises this title and emphasises that this character will be presented as creepy and weird, so the audience will already have expectations and judgement. Again it provides audience enhancement because it is not clear of whom the night-stalker is, for hype. Plus, I think that it is another short and sweet title that will certainly attract the audience and force them to desire to want to know more.

8. The Bitter Kiss: This title connotes that the Vampire takes his victims, by seducing them and killing them. Furthermore, the 'bitter(ness)' will signify how the character is cold. We would use this title to surprise the audience as it clearly represents a negative character and kiss, but we will present the Vampire as softer and more humorous for a twist, again creating the tongue-and-cheek effect.

9. Down to the Sacred Grave: This Film title could show how the killings have more of a sacrificial element, creating a religious aspect. This would link to our desire for our film narrative and themes. It is clear that the character is killing for blood and survival, in a old and traditional manner.

10. The Dark Wanderer: This final title appears to be strong because it incorporates the 'dark' and evil connotations simultaneous to the secretive and humorous character. As well as this, the use of 'wanderer' seems to modernise the title, juxtaposing the old fashioned Film Noir style also involved. Overall, I think that this title is also effective for contradiction and twists in the way that it shows importance and quietness, perhaps making it more stylistic.

We have conducted some research and decided to share it on social media in order to fully widen the amount of research we can attain. Social networking research is vital and widely used nowadays because so many people are associated with it.

We have sent this email to our friends and other students for a younger demographic response as well.

Response from the church

The church officials require more detail about our adaptation of the film noir genre, we can't give them a detailed response until we come up with a complete plan for our production therefore the response would be delayed.

Possible shots to include in our Trailer

We like the use of the setting here, as it is clearly in an interrogation room. The low-key lighting on the interrogator creates secrecy, and draws the focus onto the suspect who is sweating, connoting anxiety. The level provides the interrogator with realistic power.

This is an establishing shot, which is seen in 'Third Man' trailer. The location creates a sense of the unknown and connotes that the character is running away from someone, setting the idea of a chase. The use of the silhouettes increases the climatic tones and the lighting in the centre of the shot signifies a place of escape.

We like the use of dry ice here, creating smoke, conventional for Noir. Also, the darkness has created shadow outlines of the characters connoting mystery.

This close up creates a sense of verisimilitude because we feel close to the character, and the camera viewpoint takes the natural perspective of another character. The shot denotes his determination, representing a typical Noir Detective hero, thus we will consider using a shot like this.

We like the use of a mini in the background because this is another generic convention within Film Noir. The lights within the darkness creates a sense of hope, connecting to the foreground's characters clear plea for help, perhaps representing a Damsel.

Final Pitch

1.       Title sequence with exterior and interior shots of a Church, with a religious undertone, to create tension and a montage

2.       Film noir conventional first-person narrative creating a biased point of view towards the events and the characters

3.       Aerial shot of the city of Leicester to establish the setting and to also increase the variety, to show off

4.       A discussion between the Boss and the Detective, describing the Vampire’s power and the urgency of this case, to allow the audience to recognise the intense task the antagonist creates. This will emphasise the power and help to create a typical Propp ‘Villain’

5.       Appropriate mise-en-scene, for example: a Detective’s office and the props required for his desk, following the research into Film Noir’s and our use of google to explore the conventional props from images

6.       An interrogation scene between the Detective and the suspect after his wife has been murdered. This will be one of the climatic events within the trailer, used to raise the tension and to create an enigma because the audience will not be completely aware of the background and context

7.       Different close ups of the Detective and the Vampire-the main characters to build audience suspense, to allow them to divert from their everyday problems as they try to discover who the characters are. The closeness within the shots will also create verisimilitude, as the realism from the detail and the shot type will enable the audience to connect to the shots and actually feel like they are really witnessing them

8.       Random shots of dead body parts, for dismemberment, creating the violence and macabre style-linking to the Director’s intentions and style, as well as offering a taste for a wider audience particular males, because they stereotypically prefer violence

9.       A two-shot of Gangsters to again offer variety, and more character types

10.   Pathetic fallacy-non-diegetic sounds and flashing of lightning and thunder to create a darker and intense atmosphere, whilst being conventional to the retro Noir. This will effectively foreshadow the deaths, leading to the binary opposites of life vs death and good vs evil to occur, for a professional plot

11.   We will explore how we can use the weather in the shots, for example a shot of a Mini in mist or a Vampire standing in fog

12.   A crime scene will take place. We are planning to film it in a Forest to create the clichéd and conventional horror, that is recognisable and somewhat iconic for many audiences

13.   The song we are planning to use is: ‘Night of the Vampire.’ This is dramatic and intense, and appropriately connects to the antagonist and his joy he is gaining from achieving his desires

Online tutorial on Film Noir cinematography (By Hayden Woodcock)

This video discussed lighting, focusing upon challenges you may face when filming. For example, reflections, wanted to show the filler lights naturalistically, in this case a lamp and how the light needs to be placed in the right position for a hard-edge on the actors face. Therefore, he placed the main light directly opposite his nose.

This tutorial also explores costume. The typical protagonist in a classic Film Noir would never be denoted with a flowery shirt, because it is essential that he is represented as hard-boiled and a stereotypical working man. This pairs with the hard shadows for a clichéd, connoting mystery and moral ambiguity.

Using reference photos a suitable desk for a Detective would include: typewriter, a magnifying glass, a notepad/diary, folders and maybe photo albums. All of these would signify a busy, hard working and committed Detective.

Our production:
Overall, all of these details create a simple and effective Film Noir look for a conventional mise-en-scene. In regards to our production, I think that it is necessary that we consider the props on the characters desk because we want it to look professional and conventional. Therefore, we will try to borrow or use these props in order to make our trailer more relatable and firm in the genre we have chosen to mainly focus upon. Obviously we are producing a hybrid, but the horror genre will only be an added detail for innovation and a different exploration, hopefully intriguing the audience further.

Online tutorial on the basic lighting of Film Noir (By Hayden Woodcock)

What I have learnt?

• Low key lighting is a commonly used to emphasise shadows and harsh lighting in order to create a sense of depth and deception.

Traditional three point lighting set up (in terms of lighting a face):

•  The most important light on a set is the key light. This is often the brightest and most dominate. Complimenting the key light is the filler. This is often placed opposite to the key light, in order to fill in the shadows. The final light is the back light. The function of this is to add an outline that separates the main focus or subject from the background.
• For an effective Film Noir look, a strong key and back light is essential, whilst the fill lights are not as dominant because an exaggerated contrast is vital for the low key look.
• Film Noir generally uses hard lights for a sharp edged shadow, created by a single point of light.
• However, soft lights are used subtlety. For example, for glamorising female characters.
• Another light that is used often is the eye light. This is used by illuminating the eyes and the brow for a dramatic look. In order to do this, we can use flags which are like solid cookies that do not let any light through apart from the intentional sections. Or we could use barndoors. These are leaf-like and they attach to the light fixtures, acting like mini flags.  

Since shadows are so effective, here is a list of the equipment necessary:

• Cucoloris (cookies). These are cut outs of wood, metal, plastic etc. for casting a pattern shadow, including a venetian blind pattern.
• Gobos: made of metal or glass to cast a crisp shadow, but they require a light with a projection lens.

How has this affected our ideas?
We are obviously using the convention of low-key lighting because this is an essential element for Film Noir as well as the horror genre. Also, we will focus on the key light and were it is placed in order to create emphasis and attention upon a certain character, object or setting, whilst complimenting this with a filler light (perhaps in the form of a lamp or a chandelier.) We are not planning to use glamorous females because of the struggle for actresses, so hard lights for a sharp edged shadow will be used highly within our trailer and ancillary forms. Moreover, Venetian blinds are conventions of Film Noir, but unfortunately we are planning to subvert this because of issues and the inability to source again or find an appropriate location. Although, since we are producing a hybrid, the conventions we could include have dramatically widened. As a result, we are able to subvert more conventions if we believe they are a challenge. Lastly, we would like to use eye lights to highlight the eyes and the brow for dramatic facial expressions, mainly on the Detective. However, we are aware that the equipment may cost and will require organisation, so this will be under consideration when completing the storyboard.

Email to St Andrews Church in response to filming at this location

Progress Report

Following our initial research, here are our current idea possibilities for our Film Noir trailer, poster and web page.

Main production ideas:
Character types-

• Stereotypical Film Noir horror
• A traditional horror monster, e.g. werewolf, vampire or lunatic as the antagonist
• A conventional Detective who wears a fedora hat, a suit, uses a walking stick, a jacket, a Detective watch/magnifying glass, a pipe and leather gloves.
• A dead body
• And possibly a Damsel-in-Distress
• Stereotypical 1950's gangster

Plot ideas-

• The title sequence=shots of the decorative ornaments and church objects.
• A Detective is called up for a crime scene, which shows a dead body on the outskirts of a forest.
• We will have a shot of the antagonist biting his arm.
• Shots of detective body parts-but we do not see his face until the final shot.
• Narrative voice-over describing what's going on during the action and he will set the scene.
• Gangsters in a pub discussing the monster.
• We will have a shot of the victims hands crawling away from the murderer.
• The detective drives to the murder scene in his mini.
• An interrogation against the Detective from the Gangsters.
• Detective in a pub with a female character screaming, he rescues her.