ROUGH CUT
Les Lèvres
An orchestral soundtrack, a voice over, and a few key shots are to be added to the final piece.
An orchestral soundtrack, a voice over, and a few key shots are to be added to the final piece.
VIRTUAL STORYBOARD
Fade in. This first shot is an over-the-shoulder shot of the main character stood waiting at the train station smoking a cigarette.
The character then takes a seat on the train next to a window.
We then see a line of cocaine being snorted from the point of view of the nostril. The character is in the toilet cubicle of the train.
There is then a shot of her struggling back to her seat down the aisle of the train.
This is shot similiar to the fist shot of the character sat in her seat next to the window.
There is then a zoom into the character's lips; the cocaine begins to take effect and she smiles.
Now in Newcastle, a shot of the character disembarking the train an walking towards the exit.
A pan shot from her feet, walking, to her head.
Now cuts of the character walking through the city towards a bar.
The character arrives at a bar and orders a drink.
A birds-eye-view shot of the drink.
The character takes her drink and sits outside.
She begins to light a cigarette with a match; a pan zoom towards the cigarette.
A secondary charater sits opposite the main character.
There is then a close-up of his face, across the table.
They engage in conversation; over-the-shoulder shots and two-shots.
A third character, away from the characters on the terrace, enters a phonebooth and picks up the reciever.
Another close-up of the main character.A shot of the character in the phonebooth from outside.
A pan down reveals he has a gun in a holder on his waist.
A penultimate close-up of the main character.
A final close-up with a slow pan in to her lips, similiar to the lips shot on the train, taking a drag of her cigarette. Fade out.
PITCH
Title: Les Lèvres (The Lips)
Plot Synopsis
A coke-addicted woman leaves her hometown, seemingly running from someone or something, for the city of Newcastle, trying to start a fresh in a place where she will not stand out, but is unknowingly followed, and apprehended at a bar and told she has no chance of leaving, and wherever she goes, they will follow. She runs, and is chased through the winding, labyrinthe streets of the city, eventually escaping. She hides out at a safe-house for several weeks, living life as a normal civillian, to her best efforts, but always with the threat of her past catching up.
She begins to work, commits to a relationship, and all seems as normal. The threat still haunts her, and torments her, to the point where her own mind becomes the only real threat. She cannot live with her own personal torment to the point where she begins to hallucinate and eventually contemplates suicide. Her normal, ideal life suddenly shatters when she comes home from work to find the man she ran away from waiting in her flat. After a long conversation, he takes her down to his car and drives her across the city to the countryside. He lets her out of the car, explains why he cannot let her live, and shoots her in the back of the head. This is exactly where the audience leaves this woman's life, just when she does. The film ends on the gunshot with a sharp cut to total black.
Opening Sequence
The opening sequence of the film will consist of the train journey, the arrival in the city and her arrival at the bar. The film opens on the woman walking down the train to the toilet, entering and we cut straight to her sniffing a line of coke, setting up her drug addiction and obvious anxious personality, then to a shot of her pupil dilating. Then a slow push-in on her sat down on the train, as the titles appear in the frame. When she leaves the train, she walks to a bar, buys a drink, and sits outside with a cigarette before a man sits opposite her and tells her she will be followed everywhere she runs.
Creative Techniques
In the way of creative techniques, we will use a lot of innovative and exciting camera shots, as well as some tried and tested methods of emotional connection with a character (a slow dramatic push-in, for example). We will use a lot of noir conventions; the clothes (suits, a dress etc.), smoking, black and white etc. Our character's past will be an enigma, never being fully revealed and left ambiguous, for the audience to decide what she did and where she came from.
Funding/Distribution Issues
The film will come across some distribution issues as the style and story are slow and not particularly made for mainstream audiences. It would probably, if any, get a limited release in UK cinemas. The demand for a release in the US would be very small. Funding may also be a problem as it’s independent, it’s by a first time director and it’s of a very limited target audience. Although the film would not cost much to make at all, as it is almost void of action scenes.
A woman’s guilt and anxiety both come into play in this sparse, dark thriller about the consequences of running away from a dangerous problem.
Plot Synopsis
A coke-addicted woman leaves her hometown, seemingly running from someone or something, for the city of Newcastle, trying to start a fresh in a place where she will not stand out, but is unknowingly followed, and apprehended at a bar and told she has no chance of leaving, and wherever she goes, they will follow. She runs, and is chased through the winding, labyrinthe streets of the city, eventually escaping. She hides out at a safe-house for several weeks, living life as a normal civillian, to her best efforts, but always with the threat of her past catching up.
She begins to work, commits to a relationship, and all seems as normal. The threat still haunts her, and torments her, to the point where her own mind becomes the only real threat. She cannot live with her own personal torment to the point where she begins to hallucinate and eventually contemplates suicide. Her normal, ideal life suddenly shatters when she comes home from work to find the man she ran away from waiting in her flat. After a long conversation, he takes her down to his car and drives her across the city to the countryside. He lets her out of the car, explains why he cannot let her live, and shoots her in the back of the head. This is exactly where the audience leaves this woman's life, just when she does. The film ends on the gunshot with a sharp cut to total black.
Opening Sequence
The opening sequence of the film will consist of the train journey, the arrival in the city and her arrival at the bar. The film opens on the woman walking down the train to the toilet, entering and we cut straight to her sniffing a line of coke, setting up her drug addiction and obvious anxious personality, then to a shot of her pupil dilating. Then a slow push-in on her sat down on the train, as the titles appear in the frame. When she leaves the train, she walks to a bar, buys a drink, and sits outside with a cigarette before a man sits opposite her and tells her she will be followed everywhere she runs.
Creative Techniques
In the way of creative techniques, we will use a lot of innovative and exciting camera shots, as well as some tried and tested methods of emotional connection with a character (a slow dramatic push-in, for example). We will use a lot of noir conventions; the clothes (suits, a dress etc.), smoking, black and white etc. Our character's past will be an enigma, never being fully revealed and left ambiguous, for the audience to decide what she did and where she came from.
Funding/Distribution Issues
The film will come across some distribution issues as the style and story are slow and not particularly made for mainstream audiences. It would probably, if any, get a limited release in UK cinemas. The demand for a release in the US would be very small. Funding may also be a problem as it’s independent, it’s by a first time director and it’s of a very limited target audience. Although the film would not cost much to make at all, as it is almost void of action scenes.
A woman’s guilt and anxiety both come into play in this sparse, dark thriller about the consequences of running away from a dangerous problem.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Film Noir attracts mainly an adult audience, due to their dark and gritty themes. They often have complex story lines that require a lot of attention and careful observation, meaning that the majority of the adult audience that go and watch these films immerse them into the world of Film Noir. The original Film Noir was in Black and White and, despite the story lines of murder and crime, showed very little gore and had no swearing at all. This meant the typical audience would be from the ages of 30 – 60. Examples of Film Noir include Casablanca (1940), Suspicion (1941) and The Big Combo (1955), an example of the low gore would be in The Big Combo when a stripper gets gunned down, and we see a limp arm flop down the side of a chair.
The more modern Film Noir, often referred to as Neo Noir, have much more violence and swearing, for the modern, desensitised audience, and the story lines are less complex, meaning they draw in a younger audience from ages 20 – 50. Some examples of Neo Noir include In Bruges (2008), Sin City (2005) and Oldboy (2002), all of which are rated 18 for the excessive amounts of gore, for example in Oldboy when the main protagonist cuts off his own tongue and we see blood pouring from his mouth.
A lot of Film Noir is rated PG by the BBFC, showing how mild it is. The BBFC dictates that “Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed, if justified by its context”, and a lot of Film Noirs do have a lot implied violence, like in the example from The Big Combo above. One act of violence from In Bruges is when one of the hit men jumps off a tower and hits the ground in what can only be described as an explosion of blood. This amount of violence mean the film got an 18 rating, meaning the audience age would have to go up.
Our opening will be rated 18, because of the drug use and language meaning the audience we will intend to attract will be aged from 18 to 40.
BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CLASSIFICATION 
Suitable for 15 years and over.
Rated 15 films include the following features:
discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, and violence and are unsuitable for any persons below the age of 15 to rent or buy films of this certificate.
18 rated films similarly contain the same elements as a 15 but the violent behavior, language and nudity may be of a stronger nature.
These elements contribute towards the rating of the film and are allowed in films but are not allowed to be focussed tOo much upon in the film.
The more modern Film Noir, often referred to as Neo Noir, have much more violence and swearing, for the modern, desensitised audience, and the story lines are less complex, meaning they draw in a younger audience from ages 20 – 50. Some examples of Neo Noir include In Bruges (2008), Sin City (2005) and Oldboy (2002), all of which are rated 18 for the excessive amounts of gore, for example in Oldboy when the main protagonist cuts off his own tongue and we see blood pouring from his mouth.
A lot of Film Noir is rated PG by the BBFC, showing how mild it is. The BBFC dictates that “Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed, if justified by its context”, and a lot of Film Noirs do have a lot implied violence, like in the example from The Big Combo above. One act of violence from In Bruges is when one of the hit men jumps off a tower and hits the ground in what can only be described as an explosion of blood. This amount of violence mean the film got an 18 rating, meaning the audience age would have to go up.
Our opening will be rated 18, because of the drug use and language meaning the audience we will intend to attract will be aged from 18 to 40.
BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CLASSIFICATION 
Suitable for 15 years and over.Rated 15 films include the following features:
discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, and violence and are unsuitable for any persons below the age of 15 to rent or buy films of this certificate.
18 rated films similarly contain the same elements as a 15 but the violent behavior, language and nudity may be of a stronger nature.These elements contribute towards the rating of the film and are allowed in films but are not allowed to be focussed tOo much upon in the film.
THRILLER NOIRS
Thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements. Thriller Noir is a popular sub-genre of noir films.
TOP RATED THRILLERS
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Inception
3. The Dark Knight
4. Goodfellas
5. Fight Club
6. Rear Window
7. Psycho
8. The Usual Suspects
9. The Silence of the Lambs
10. Elite Squad 2
TOP RATED THRILLERS
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Inception
3. The Dark Knight
4. Goodfellas
5. Fight Club
6. Rear Window
7. Psycho
8. The Usual Suspects
9. The Silence of the Lambs
10. Elite Squad 2
NEWCASTLE
To set the scene for our noir film, we decided on the closest city to us; Newcastle. The municipal buildings and labrynthian layout are key aspects of basic noir. We also decided to shoot at night, as the dark atmosphere seems more fitting to the genre.
NOIR SOUNDTRACKS
Sultry songs sung in small, smoky nightclubs dominate the film noir music landscape.
What's more, these songs usually aren't just decorative wallpaper; they are the heart and soul of the theme of the film. They often speak volumes more of subplot and character than the rest of the script.
Besides the nightclub songs, which were usually jazz, there are the theme songs in film noir music, with or without lyrics. These tend to have a bittersweet, melancholy or moody quality more often than not.
ASSORTED JAZZ
Unfortunately, all of these jazz tunes are copyrighted so I won't be able to use them in my piece, however I will try and replicate the fast-paced 1940s style using the GuitarBand program.
HOW TO: FILM NOIR
I found both these videos on YouTube in my search for some inspiration. They show the audience how to create the effects of noir conventions; lighting, props, etc.
BLOOD SIMPLE TRAILER
Blood Simple is an American neo-noir crime film and was the directorial debut of the Coen Brothers. Starring John Getz and Frances McDormand, Blood Simple was released in 1984, so is a more post-modern noir and in full colour.
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE OPENING
A Clockwork Orange is a darkly satirical neo-noir film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel. This cinematic adaptation was produced, directed, and written by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1971.
POINT BLANK OPENING SEQUENCE
Set primarily in and around Los Angeles, Point Blank combines elements of film noir with stylistic touches of the European nouvelle vague, psychological themes, sudden violence, complex flashbacks and rapid rhythm changes. Directed by John Boorman and released in 1967.
NEO NOIR
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.
It was not until after 1970 that film critics began to consider "neo-noir" as a separate genre by its own definition. However, noir and post-noir terminology (such as "neo-classic", "hard-boiled”, etc.) in modern application are often disclaimed by both critics and practitioners alike due to the obscurity of such an unrefined genre.
Unlike classic noirs, neo-noir films are aware of modern circumstances and technology—details that were typically absent or unimportant to the plot of classic film noir. In the films of the early 1940s and '50s, audiences are led to understand and build a relationship with the protagonist or anti-hero. Neo-noir films of post-1970 often reverse this role. Unconventional camera movements and plot progression remind them that they are merely watching the film and not partaking in the story.
TOP RATED NEO-NOIRS OD THE '00s
1.Mulholland Drive
2.Michael Clayton
3.The Man Who Wasn’t There
4.In the Bedroom
5.Memento
6.Training Day
7.Minority Report
8.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
9.Layer Cake
10.Brick
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN TRAILER
Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was released by Warner Bros. in 1951. The film stars Farley Granger and Ruth Roman and adheres to origional conventions of film noir.
SUNSET BLVD. OPENING SEQUENCE
Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. The film stars William Holden as an unsuccessful screenwriter and Gloria Swanson as a faded silent movie star.
THE BIG COMBO OPENING SEQUENCE
The Big Combo is an American film noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis and stylistically photographed by cinematographer and noir icon John Alton. Released in 1955 and starring Cornel Wilde.
VISUAL STYLE
The low-key lighting schemes of many classic film noirs are associated with stark light/dark contrasts and dramatic shadow patterning—a style known as chiaroscuro. The shadows of Venetian blinds or banister rods, cast upon an actor, a wall, or an entire set, are an iconic visual in noir and had already become a cliché well before the neo-noir era. Characters' faces may be partially or wholly obscured by darkness—a relative rarity in conventional Hollywood moviemaking. While black-and-white cinematography is considered by many to be one of the essential attributes of classic noir, the color films Leave Her to Heaven (1945) and Niagara (1953) are routinely included in noir filmographies, while Slightly Scarlet (1956), Party Girl (1958), and Vertigo (1958) are classified as noir by varying numbers of critics.
Film noir is also known for its use of low-angle, wide-angle, and skewed, or Dutch angle shots. Other devices of disorientation relatively common in film noir include shots of people reflected in one or more mirrors, shots through curved or frosted glass or other distorting objects (such as during the strangulation scene in Strangers on a Train), and special effects sequences of a sometimes bizarre nature. Night-for-night shooting, as opposed to the Hollywood norm of day-for-night, was often employed. From the mid-1940s forward, location shooting became increasingly frequent in noir.
CLASSIC CONVENTIONS OF FILM NOIR
The primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia.
Heroes (or anti-heroes), corrupt characters and villains included down-and-out, conflicted hard-boiled detectives or private eyes, cops, gangsters, government agents, a lone wolf, socio-paths or killers, crooks, war veterans, politicians, petty criminals, murderers, or just plain Joes. These protagonists were often morally-ambiguous low-lifes from the dark and gloomy underworld of violent crime and corruption. Distinctively, they were cynical, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, sinister, sardonic, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive - and in the end, ultimately losing.
FEMME FATALES IN NOIR
The females in film noir were either of two types (or archetypes) - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women. Usually, the male protagonist in film noir wished to elude his mysterious past, and had to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him).
Invariably, the choice would be an overly ambitious one, to follow the dangerous but desirable wishes of these dames. It would be to pursue the goadings of a traitorous, self-destructive femme fatale who would lead the struggling, disillusioned, and doomed hero into committing murder or some other crime of passion coupled with twisted love. When the major character was a detective or private eye, he would become embroiled and trapped in an increasingly-complex, convoluted case that would lead to fatalistic, suffocating evidences of corruption, irresistible love and death. The femme fatale, who had also transgressed societal norms with her independent and smart, menacing actions, would bring both of them to a downfall.
TOP RATED NOIRS
1. Sunset Boulevard
2. Double Indemnity
3. The Third Man
4. The Maltese Falcon
5. Touch of Evil
6. Strangers on a Train
7. Notorious
8. The Big Sleep
9. Ace in the Hole
10. White Heat
G321 FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO: FILM NOIR
PRODUCTION COMPANY LOGO OPTIONS
V O I D
GROUP MEMBERS
Liam Grieves
James Fitzsimons
PLANNING (20 MKS)
Your planning should include the following:
Understand the brief and sign up to Blogger and create a blog account.
Research task: What is Film Noir?
Identify the characteristics and conventions of Film Noir.
Research into the history of Film Noir/Horror.
Individual analysis of an opening sequence of a similar media text.
In groups begin to exchange ideas and develop a synopsis
Research and develop a audience profile for your film.
Produce a mind map/ word cloud of initial ideas.
Produce a storyboard and script for sequence.
Animate the storyboard.
Take some still images of locations
Actors in character (Make up, costume etc.)
Produce Shooting Schedule.
Book equipment/Studio etc.
ASSESSMENTS
1: 22/01/10 Mind map into the conventions of Film Noir.
2: 22/01/10 Analysis of opening sequence of similar noir film.
3: 27/01/10 Research into target audience and genre.
4: 29/01/10 Mind map/word cloud of initial ideas.
5: 03/02/10 Pitch Idea.
6: 05/02/10 Organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
7: 11/02/10 Animatic.
8: 11/02/10 Shooting Schedule
9: 12/03/09 Rough Cut
10: 19/03/10 Final Cut
Important Deadlines
Research and Planning (20 marks) 11th February 2010
Main Task (60 marks)
Rough Cut 12th March 2010
Final Edit 19th March 2010
EVALUTION (20 MKS)
1st Draft: 1st April 2010
Final Evaluation: 23rd April 2010
TUTOR BLOG
V O I D
GROUP MEMBERS
Liam GrievesJames Fitzsimons
PLANNING (20 MKS)
Your planning should include the following:
Understand the brief and sign up to Blogger and create a blog account.
Research task: What is Film Noir?
Identify the characteristics and conventions of Film Noir.
Research into the history of Film Noir/Horror.
Individual analysis of an opening sequence of a similar media text.
In groups begin to exchange ideas and develop a synopsis
Research and develop a audience profile for your film.
Produce a mind map/ word cloud of initial ideas.
Produce a storyboard and script for sequence.
Animate the storyboard.
Take some still images of locations
Actors in character (Make up, costume etc.)
Produce Shooting Schedule.
Book equipment/Studio etc.
ASSESSMENTS
1: 22/01/10 Mind map into the conventions of Film Noir.
2: 22/01/10 Analysis of opening sequence of similar noir film.
3: 27/01/10 Research into target audience and genre.
4: 29/01/10 Mind map/word cloud of initial ideas.
5: 03/02/10 Pitch Idea.
6: 05/02/10 Organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
7: 11/02/10 Animatic.
8: 11/02/10 Shooting Schedule
9: 12/03/09 Rough Cut
10: 19/03/10 Final Cut
Important Deadlines
Research and Planning (20 marks) 11th February 2010
Main Task (60 marks)
Rough Cut 12th March 2010
Final Edit 19th March 2010
EVALUTION (20 MKS)
1st Draft: 1st April 2010
Final Evaluation: 23rd April 2010
TUTOR BLOG
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