In order to establish the ways in which my medium will be structured it is important to look at various media types. One media type that I looked at, was that of Film Noir. This was a significant genre compared to others like Action, Thriller, Romance or Sci-fi. This is because there are many types of generic conventions that often appear within it, for example the excessive use of black and white lighting and shadows to mask certain characters within the narrative. This helps to reinforce the 'darkness' of this type of genre that helps contribute to the diverse significance of the conventions that follow with it.
Another typical convention that is often seen in Film Noir is the honesty and sinisism of the characters within the narrative. This means that they speak bluntly so that there is no ambiguity for audience members trying to comprehend what the characters motives are within the text.
"Power women" are seen throughout the majority of all film noir pieces. This is reinforced through the tilting shots of the females starting from feet to head. Thus, meaning that the audience members can see through the eyes of the "male gaze" (another typical convention). Consequently showing that females are "playing the heroin but also the victim", in other words they are using "crocodile tears". This is suitable for this particular genre because it shows females to be a more dominant fixture which helps to steer away from the typical stereotypes that males have more power than their opposing gender.
Another convention seen in "Film Noir" is noted in the framing of the scene. It became apparent after watching a selection of film noir extracts that the male is on the left and the female is on the right. This again reinforces the subverted attitudes of power within gender types. Consequently, showing that females have the 'right' attitude or purpose within the narrative, in comparison to the male gender.
An obvious convention that seems to appear regularly in Film Noir extracts is the fact that there is never a happy ending. This is reinforced as most of the films end in a dark and unhappy atmosphere, instead of in sun/daylight. This also links to the convention that occurs when two 'lovers' within the text are unable to connect, instead typically one of them ends up getting hurt as the result of something that has happened earlier on in the narrative.
Whilst understanding some of the generic codes and conventions that appear in Film Noir, certain people within the documentary of the genre said the following things:
- "It promises suspense".
(Examples of this include "Kiss Me Deadly", "Out of the past", "Double Indemity", "Spell Check" and "The Killers").
- "It is a transitional genre that has become more graphic and violent in recent years".
From looking at the excessive codes and conventions that appear in the Film Noir genre I have decided that I will use ideas from this particular medium, however I will not copy them nor will I completely subvert them as I feel it is important to create a unique piece to represent the narrative that I am creating.
One particular feature that I feel would be appropriate for my short film is the idea of the "male gaze" as I felt that it helped show a diverse camera angle to keep the audience members engaged throughout the course of the text. Nevertheless, as my protagonist is female it is most likely that I will use a "female gaze" to help show this particular camera shot/ angle.
Another feature that I feel will help embody the issue of my short film is voiceover. Due to the fact that I am using an issue that is common in society, it means that the person giving the voiceover will be directing the issue at multiple people. Through using a female voiceover it will also reinforce the connotations of certain conventions that have been created in Film Noir extracts which is that of "Power Women" (i.e. women are dominant in comparison to men who appear to have less power).
Nevertheless, I also want to create a happy ending within my narrative as I feel that the underlying issue is already quite dark and troubling. Therefore, giving me an opportunity to really develop the narrative to create a much happier ending to a dark storyline.
Lastly, I will try to incorporate some element of black and white within my short film as I feel that it complements well with the dark storyline in which I am creating. However, I will not use this throughout the whole of the text as I want to show the development of time and thus happiness for the predominant character.
Monday, 7 September 2009
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