Our film was set in the noir style of the 1940s-50s, incorporating gangsters and criminal plots. We used props, costumes, and locations typical of the genre. The film was edited in black and white to fit the noir aesthetic. Power dynamics were shown through speech and the positioning of characters in shots. Researching films like The Godfather helped us develop the theme of authority. Overall we aimed to capture the conventions of classic gangster-noir films to appeal to audiences interested in that genre.

1. Evaluation Questions
Question 1:
Our film was set around a noir style that incorporates many traits
associated with the classic noir films from the 1940’ s-50’s .Theplot
line was a stereotypical noir plot because it conveys the message of
gangsters and the criminal underworld. We used props such as guns,
suits, hats, accents; attitudes towards people and situations people
were often in. The power status shows a stereotypical divide
between the gangster’s authority and the victims.
The entire film has been edited to fit a grey scale, which is typically
associated with the noir genre. Our key theme was authority and we
decided to show this through the use of speech within the scenes,
which quickly display how the power has shifted between characters.
Locations were also picked carefully to fit the conventions of the
genre and mood of the scene, which include the promenade and the
seafront. We took inspiration from films such as the Godfather to
arch the overall theme of authority and power.
We also used quotes from other noir films such as Scarface, Public
Enemies and Godfather. We incorporated a sub-genre of a gangster-
noir, as the central image is that of gangsters portrayed in a
stereotypical, mysterious and powerful position.
Question 2:
Our opening sequence shows a representation of a lower-class male
opposing that of a middle-class gangster. We have showed the male’s
lower-class status through props such as an eviction notice and debt
bills. The smart attire of the gangsters and their overall status
represents them as quite wealthy people, especially as the
domineering gangsters has been situated accordingly with camera
angles, in the middle of every shot, showing importance and
dominance, commonly associated with men. AT the beginning of the
sequence, we also show a female hand twiddling a ring, showing
worry and fear over her husband, another emotion typically
associated with women. The ‘femme fatal’ figure that is also
commonly used in a noir genre has been challenged, as we show the
female weak and in a position of no power compared to the typical
strong and commanding attitude of a ‘femme fatal’ character, We
chose not to challenge the conventions of a noir film as it has proved

2. to be quite popular amongst audiences, which would enhances
profits and keep the audience interested.
Question 3:
Our media product could be produced in a Hollywood Studio as it
displays and conveys the conventions of noir used in past popular
noir films, which had dominated the box office, such as The Godfather
and Scarface. We’d like our film to be distributed worldwide, through
a staggered release to test out the market. We would keep our
interest of the film going by using certain popular social medias such
updates and advertisements on Twitter and Facebook. This would
then attract a wider audience and may appeal to more than the
average person who enjoys noir films.
We would also use a lot of guerrilla marketing methods, as these
seem to impact the best on audiences e.g. marketing for L.A. Noire;
which seemed to grab a lot of people’s attention. We would also use
various teaser trailers, showing different aspects of our film, which
will keep our audience interested as they allow us to drip-feed the
audience information. Our film could pursue possible merchandise,
which would include posters, mugs, T-shirts. Soundtrack, CD etc.
The use of an experienced directors such as Quentin Tarrantino and
Martin Scorsese would impact majorly on the direction of our film as
it would be on a large scale and convey more noir conventions which
means experience would be needed to perfect this.
Because the full film is in black and white, this would attract
audiences interested in black and white films yet could also attract a
wider audience shown in the recent release of The Artist, which won
various Oscars.
Question 4:
The age group our media film is aimed at is a 15+ age group as that is
the rating we have been given. This would, however be more suited
to people in their 20’s and 30’s as it uses conventions such as the
mafia and criminal underworld which has been used in previous
popular noir films such as: “The Godfather” series and “Scarface” and
due to this our target audience lends itself to stereotypes and
therefore, more males would be interested in this rather than
females. Subsequently, we researched “The Godfather” and “Scarface”
along with “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” so as to grasp the noir convention

3. as a whole and allowed inspiration from “The Godfather” to come
through, as that was the film that agreed with our themes we wished
to incorporate within our media production. All this has maximised
our potential revenue streams, as it doesn’t just apply to fans of the
films we researched but also a younger generation of adults. Due to
this targeted audience we were easily able to stick to our conventions
and themes throughout the plot line and scenes that are shown.
Question 5:
I think that our sequence would attract the audience it’s aimed
towards, due to that specific audience enjoying the more
serious/intelligent films. The demographic for this movie however
may be males, due to it involving gangsters which guarantees that the
film will having action basically meaning that it’s a manly movie,
however females may still enjoy this movie due to it involving a
female antagonist. However, at the box office I think that the
audience would consist of males and females, due to females going to
see the movie because of the men in the movie, which is a famous
film promoting technique, that films such as The Godfather used
which could potentially increase our grossing revenue at the box
office.
I think that it would sell well due to it being a masculine movie filled
with action and many twists to the plot, the many action scenes and
manly dialogue. I also think that it will be viewed as art, due to it
being a black and white, which is pretty rare to come across in this
modern day and age. Also, I believe that it may inspire more amateur
films makers to dabble in the noir genre, due to us being amateur
film makers and managing to pull off a somewhat decent noire movie,
despite having a low budget and having no experience in acting,
directing and producing what-so-ever. So due to it having this impact,
it would potentially create more positive reviews, thus promoting the
movie. We used many different camera techniques such as a shot
reverse shot which we used in the scene were the gangsters where
engaging in a conversation; Canted angle which we used in the scene
were Alex punched Nathan in the face, to create a more impactful
blow and a more realistic P.O.V. shot; match on action, which we used
in the scene were Nathan pulled out an eviction notice, which was
also used to create suspense. We received feedback such as: great
soundtrack, forced acting, a good storyline and impressive editing.

4. Question 6:
During the process of constructing the product, I have learnt a lot
about the technologies we used. The use of such an advanced,
professional camera was very new to me and I had to adjust myself to
this fairly quickly. I practiced pull focus and other camera techniques
before filming to familiarize myself with the camera. The tripod was
fairly easy to use, and there was a spirit level built into it so we could
ensure that no camera angles were tilted however, we did find a
problem with the size of the camera weighed upon the tripod. We
had to make sure the camera was held sturdy at all times whilst on
the tripod so that the camera did not fall off or make any of the
footage rocky. We did not use any new equipment such as the track
or TV studio as it was necessary for the shots used in the product.
I found the editing software quite difficult to grasp however, once I
uploaded my footage and had a mess around, I managed to quick up
the editing technique quite quickly. I used a programme called Live
Type to creating moving titles instead of standard ones as I felt this
fit in better with the noir theme and would make the overall product
look better. I also used an editing technique using Chroma key, to
allow the wine in the glass to remain red whereas the actual footage
remained black and white. I did discover a problem when editing
with the cutting off speech but I solved this issue by shortening down
the script and it patched in. Also, in final cut, I had to adjust the sound
levels of certain clips as some of the speech was drowned out by the
wind. I also added in special sound effects such as the walking of
shoes and the sound of someone being punched, as these were not
recorded loud enough when filming. As I progressed with the editing,
I found that my footage was coming together nicely and becoming
that of a high standard. Editing plays an essential role in the process
of creating an opening sequence and found as I went on editing, my
work progressed further, ending in a substantial and high quality
product.
At first, we attempted to use Garageband. However, due to the lack of
available sounds and quality of the recording, we had to change
programmes in order to create an efficient soundtrack. We used
Cubase instead because it allowed us to make a better quality
soundtrack and were more versatile to use. Due to our team’s skills
in music, we all found it easier to use Cubase to construct the
soundtrack. We were able to pick out relevant notes, scales and
instruments, which related to the noir genre. However, we did find
difficulty due to broken and lack of good quality headphones so we

5. resorted to creating a simple yet sufficient piece, which we were able
to easily fit around our film scenes and the noir genre.
Question 7:
Looking back to the preliminary task, the group overall have learned
a lot in terms of filming and editing. We have learned that planning
and organisation is essential in order for a film to be contrasted and
to work accordingly. As we have done more research into this task,
we have developed ideas and a better understanding of the genre,
which we successfully incorporated into our media production. We
have also developed our knowledge and understanding of camera
angles and how we can use different ones to convey certain messages
and characters feelings and thoughts in different situations. As we all
did independent research this allowed us to share ideas ensuring
that we achieved a good varied end product. During the creation of
the prelim, we didn’t fully understand the technologies and how to
enhance them to achieve the best outcome and we think this is
shown quite clearly when the two are shown in contrast to one
another. As the new technologies did take a longer time to adjust to,
we took the time out to step aside and learn how to adapt to them, as
we knew that they would give us our best outcome possible. As we
also used a more complex and versatile editing software in
comparison to our prelim task it allowed us to edit thoroughly and
efficiently to make sure that our end product was successful and of a
high stand we required.