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Monday, September 17, 2012

Rough Synopsis

The Setting will consist of shots of my house in Bowling Green and downtown Bowling Green. The atmosphere of the piece will be neo noir dealing with down and out characters with pessimistic attitudes. The entire film will be shot in black and white. The film will evoke a similar feel to the old noir classics, but with contemporary clothes and technology. The clothes will also be layered up to create a detailed look that was accustomed in earlier films. The lighting will also be consistent with noir classics with a single main light casting rich shadows throughout the scene. The Rough draft of my story consists of the main character pulling into a driveway that the audience isn’t familiar with yet. The dialogue of the character begins with a narrative of why he is showing up so late and his general feelings. He gets out of the car and takes in his surroundings. He goes on to discuss why he is doing this in the first place. His situation is dire, and that means turning to a less legal means of getting cash. The main character walks into the house to find a man sitting waiting for him to enter. The man says that he has a job for the main character. He needs important documents wiped from a computer that could potentially incriminate him. After some investigating (Such as finding key objects within a location, or perhaps roughing someone up to gain information) Main character eventually tracks down the location of the computer, but someone has been watching our main character discover these secrets. After checking to see if the computer was the correct one the main character gets into his car. The camera pans back to reveal a man already waiting in the passenger seat. The man asks the main character what he has been doing. The main character determines he must be more careful or he could get himself killed. Main character eventually finds a way to get to the computer after the antagonist leaves his house for a short while. Upon copying the files, the main character learns of the double cross from his employer. The main character must figure out what to do now. He decides to catch the man off guard and question him then. We find the man at home going about his business when he walks into a dark room and clicks on a light. The light reveals the main character is already sitting in the room. This climax has to happen in a visually complex area just like noir classics. The questions begin to fire off. This culminates into the climax of the main character avoiding a missed shot/knife slash from the man. The main character incapacities the man and grabs the money to leave.

Monday, September 10, 2012

More Pictures

German Expressionism

Noir Plot and character types

Crime, usually murder, is an element of almost all film noirs; in addition to standard-issue greed, jealousy is frequently the criminal motivation. A crime investigation—by a private eye, a police detective (sometimes acting alone), or a concerned amateur—is the most prevalent, but far from dominant, basic plot. In other common plots the protagonists are implicated in heists or con games, or in murderous conspiracies often involving adulterous affairs. False suspicions and accusations of crime are frequent plot elements, as are betrayals and double-crosses. According to J. David Slocum, "protagonists assume the literal identities of dead men in nearly fifteen percent of all noir."[158] Amnesia is fairly epidemic—"noir's version of the common cold", in the words of film historian Lee Server.[159] By the late 1940s, the noir trend was leaving its mark on other genres. A prime example is the Western Pursued (1947), filled with psychosexual tensions and behavioral explanations derived from Freudian theory.[160] Film noirs tend to revolve around heroes who are more flawed and morally questionable than the norm, often fall guys of one sort or another. The characteristic protagonists of noir are described by many critics as "alienated";[161] in the words of Silver and Ward, "filled with existential bitterness".[162] Certain archetypal characters appear in many film noirs—hardboiled detectives, femme fatales, corrupt policemen, jealous husbands, intrepid claims adjusters, and down-and-out writers. Among characters of every stripe, cigarette smoking is rampant.[163] From historical commentators to neo-noir pictures to pop culture ephemera, the private eye and the femme fatale have been adopted as the quintessential film noir figures, though they do not appear in most films now regarded as classic noir. Of the twenty-three National Film Registry noirs, in only four does the star play a private eye: The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Out of the Past, and Kiss Me Deadly. Just four others readily qualify as detective stories: Laura, The Killers, The Naked City, and Touch of Evil. Film noir is often associated with an urban setting, and a few cities—Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, in particular—are the location of many of the classic films. In the eyes of many critics, the city is presented in noir as a "labyrinth" or "maze".[164] Bars, lounges, nightclubs, and gambling dens are frequently the scene of action. The climaxes of a substantial number of film noirs take place in visually complex, often industrial settings, such as refineries, factories, trainyards, power plants—most famously the explosive conclusion of White Heat, set at a chemical plant.[165] In the popular (and, frequently enough, critical) imagination, in noir it is always night and it always rains.[166]

Top Neo Noir Films

Blade Runner 1982 Ridley Scott Blood Simple 1984 Coen Borthers (Also did Fargo, The Big Lebowski,No Country For Old Men Red Rock West 1992 L.A. Confidential 1997 Curtis Hanson Chinatown 1974 Roman Polanski

Post 1990's NeoNoir Films To watch

Brick-2005 Rian Johnson. On netflix instant Lost Highway-2007 David Lynch. The Usual Suspects-1995 Bryan Singer. Seen it Collateral-2004 Michael Mann. Memento-2000 Christopher Nolan. Seen it The Underneath-1995 Steven Soderbergh L.A. Confidential-1997 Curtis Hanson Seven-1995 David Fincher. Seen it Sin City-2005 Robert Rodriquez. Seen it

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Brainstorming list of what makes a noir film for me

1. Camera is usually hip to chest height. 2. Clothing usually has high contrast between dark coat and white shirt. 3. Everyone Smokes 4. Usually raining when outside shots. 5. Stories are usually a darker tone. 6. Character tells about the love of a young woman and how he has never seen that gaze of love across her face. 7. Directional lighting with only a few main sources of lighting. 8. When things are joyful the lighting fills the room. 9. Usually always someone working an angle to get the best of someone. Can be open to the viewer or could be hidden. 10. The main character usually has no family left or very terrible family relationships. 11. Dialogue usually has many layers to it, background information for developing the characters.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

BFA Show Layout

Contract

Jacob Pocock Senior Studio Contract My piece will be a live action short. The film could be 5-15 minutes long. This piece will also include the concept, synopsis, concept art, storyboards, and final film. I will be handling the entire production process of the film. I'm not set on a concept yet. I really wish to be sure of what my film will be about and the tones it will take. I would like the film to give some type of message or touch on an issue. I may even manipulate the space where the work will be displayed. The aesthetics will include very interesting compositions with depth of field and lighting taken into consideration. I'm toying with the idea of going full black and white to really push my ability to find good light source and dramatic angles. All these elements should help push the concepts message. The final form of the piece will be a rendered final video for playback on a projector or television of average to larger size. The other elements of the project will be professionally displayed with the film. Production needs include. Cameras, Lighting equipment, photoshop, audio equipment, FCP, audio manipulation software, and tripods. Display needs include. TV or projector and canvas, and a power source to play media, possible dvd or hard drive? (Depending on how playback is done)