Bobby's House - Scene five - Part Two

In this scene we chose to use an office that belonged to Antonia's Father, we wanted an authentic office, and i believe this one looks nicely old fashioned with the simple desk layout, white walls and black support beams. It also has a nice triangular ceiling which gives it a unique edge, therefore we can make an audience believe that it belonged to someone wealthy. We had to set up the office to make it look old fashioned, which unfortunately did take a while, for example we had to take pictures off the wall and move the computer off the desk. (As there wouldn't have been flat screen computers in those days) - The blinds were red which projected a dark atmosphere on the room, we also tried to keep the desk simple with an authentic lamp, put of food, large decorative gun and some papers to show that he is working (and a business man).

Detective Carter has on him a slightly smaller gun (pistol or revolver) which he keeps in his pocket, this is because he wants to try and keep it hidden most of the time while he is working, yet he still wants the protection of having a gun on him. What the audience doesn't know is that Bobby has another large gun which he pulls out from under his desk, this is to show his boss like status as he can get hold of weapons whenever he wants to. This increases pressure and danger that Carter is facing because Bobby has two very powerful guns and Carter only has a smaller gun.
Both men wear suit again to show their professionalism and business-man nature, Carter's is normal, sharp, gray/white and black, he also wears his hat as he believes that he is in control of the situation. Bobby however wears a slightly more elaborate suit to show off his wealth and power, he wants to try and intimate the Detective. We attempted to show the nature of conventional Film Noir rivalries here, both of the men are rude and catty (In an attempt to intimate, or show off to the other) despite both of them having been played by Bonnie in similar fashions.

When Bobby get shot he decides to tell Detective Carter about Bonnie's plot (Obviously Bobby also has feelings for Bonnie as he tries to cover up her actions) - When Carter realises Bonnie isn't all that she seems he helps Bobby, telling Chester to help Bobby to the hospital. The Detective has obviously put aside his differences with the mob boss, or has decided he wants to get his revenge when Bobby is actually doing wrong (and therefore named the hero). However there is a strong feeling that he doesn't want to kill Bobby, therefore sending out the ethical issues with murder being wrong. Bonnie gets away with her actions and trickery...but we decided to challenge the convention of a heartless male protagonist (main character).

On the day we had a few problems with shooting, getting some of the props became difficult as other media groups/drama groups had obviously borrowed the same things for their own performances. We also had a problem with one of our actors as he decided to arrive 40 minutes late, this made us really pushed for time as we only had a 2 hour slot. This is why we didn't get as many angles as i wish we had, however overall i am quite Happy with it. I was the main director/camera person of the scene because i didn't have to act in this one, so i really wanted to make it perfect, Hence why i added to mirrored fan on the start to really set the scene.

Carter Office Scene - Scene One

This scene is the first time Detective Carter meets Bonnie Kensington, so we felt it important that she assert her authority within the office. The first thing you see is Bonnie through the door, straight away you notice her red lipstick which stands out against the pale background - we wanted to highlight this so to refer to the femme fatale conventions of film noir, also with accordance with this we had Bonnie (a.k.a me) have big curly hair (which is a sign of lust, and has sexual edge to it), she was also wearing a white dress to try and make the audience believe that she is an innocent and pure character, and she wears a large fur coat - in that time period the coat would have shown wealth and power (as we wanted to show that she has the power over the detective) but also we chose to use a pale coloured fur to again highlight her innocence. We wanted Bonnie to really be able to wow the detective, so when she enters he stands and removes his hat (the metaphor in this film for his control of the situation) - later in the scene the audience may believe he hasn't fallen for her charm "Is there actually a problem here..or do you just want some appreciation" - however this is not the case as we see in the next scene that he has done as she says and taken her out to dinner.

We used on of the school offices for this scene and we were really pushed as the office we had originally booked was being used, but we decided to push ahead and use another office (unfortunately taking us longer to set things up) - We did want to use an office with venetian blinds but in the short period of planning before hand, we couldn't find one, so we settled for the schools blinds which were similar. We also used a number of props to make the setting look authentic and realistic (trying to hide the computer on the desk) -which again made it take a long time to set up the scene.

This scene is very much to do with Bonnie trying to win over Carter, she throws herself on the desk in a very suggestive manner "oh there's a problem, a big problem" - we wanted to make her very flirtatious to try and persuade Carter to do as she wishes using her sexual capabilities to her own favour. We see it has had a big affect on Carter as he jumps on the phone to Chester as soon as she leaves.

At this point we also filmed the first and last scenes.
The first scene being him just looking at the photos with a voice over and music to set the scene on the whole film. The last being him reviewing the situation "This isn't Over" which is a cliff hanger to maybe a sequel in the future. He finishes off by putting his hate over the camera lense for the black out. He wears his suit through all the scenes to try and keep his professionalism and smartness.

Restaurant Scene - Scene 3

On Monday the 5th we set out to film the restaurant scene of our film noir, we decided to use one of our local pubs situated on the outskirts of Baldock called 'George the fourth' - we chose this because it has a very homely archaic atmosphere and we believed we could use props to make it look like a classy restaurant from that era of time. We also chose to use three extras in this scene (Gemma Inglis, Shiv Handa and Beth Robson) to create the atmosphere of a date in a popular restaurant, we didn't want the tables around to be empty because we would have lost the illusion of the date - we also didn't want to fill the restaurant because firstly, we didn't want to make to much noise for the owners of the George because they were being very kind to let us film there in the first place, but also we didn't want to lose the audience's attention towards the main characters.

The pub allowed us to film the scene in a section of the restaurant after ten o'clock (meaning we were up late and didn't finish til around half eleven/quarter to 12) - by half ten we had set up the camera and the scene using all the props, the actors had got into costume and we were ready to film. We had asked the extras to come in costume of that era so they matched the characters (Bonnie and Carter) so not to look out of place. Bonnie Kensington (me) was wearing a short yellow dress, red heels and a fur coat (when outside) with Detective Carter in a smart suit, he is also not wearing his hat signifying his loss of control of the situation as he falls for Bonnie. We filmed a variety of angles, for example using the femme fatale convention of red lipstick, which we decided to highlight with a close up of her drinking from the glasses - the glasses and most of the props were given by me as i had some that would look right in this era of film. The old furniture gave our scene an antique feel, while the soft lighting gave it a romantic edge that we wanted for this section.
Outside the restaurant we chose a well lit section so we could see the actors in the darkness (of eleven o'clock at night) - Antonia filmed different shots so we had a selection when it came to the editing stage. Unfortunately the one problem we had was that there were cars going past as the pub is next to a busy road, we overcame this by using a voice over on the original filming so we could hear the script. We did this because many of the lines are crucial to the films plot - for example "Is there any way i can repay you?" "Anything for you" this show the detective feelings for Bonnie, and after the night the audience realises why Carter has fallen for Miss Kensington. I really like the way this scene has come together, even if we were one film maker down.

Story Boards

First few scenes : Carter in his office to the flashback where her meets Bonnie Kensington for the first time then takes her out for dinner - which finishes with a kiss outside the restaurant. These storyboards are looking at the angles and shot types that we plan to use while shooting the film.

These story boards are of scene 5 - Where Detective Carter turns up to the house where Scarlett Jones answers the door, she tries to defend Bobby but the Detective insists he talks with her boss. Once he get inside there is stand off/ argument between Bobby and Carter which ends in them pulling guns on each other.

These Story Boards are from the last few Scenes, Bobby gets shot and then spills Bonnie's plans to the detective...he tries to rush out after her but she has already got away in her car.

Name Ideas

Our list of potential names for of film noir title:
• Double Cross
• Scarlett Shadow
• Fatally Female
• Crazed Lust
• Inky veil
• Black soul
• Lady in Scarlett
• Passion for treachery
• The dark Betrayal
• Dark Heart
• A soul for a lie.
• Forgive, Forget, Kill.
• Veiled Conscience
• Money makes the world go round.
• Crime or justice?
• Betrayal of the heart.
• Lustful injustice.
These are some of the names we thought of for our Film Noir.
We decided on: LUSTFUL INJUSTICE :)
It is snappy and classy enough to be recognised with that time era, while combining all the events of the film... Lust and Justice are two major themes of our movie so would thought it would be perfect to put them together for our film title :)

Production Company Name:
We got a little confused about what to name our production company and quite a few different names got suggested. We thought the easiest thing to start us off would be to use the initials of all of our first names, which are AET (Antonia, Ellen, Toby) - then we played around with the order and finally agreed on T.E.A. to start us off with. At first i thought of some ideas like 'Tea time productions' or 'After tea Productions' to symbolize that the films that the production company would make would be more designed for an audience of adults (hence why the film was rated at a 15) and i originally designed a logo of a teacup with the name on the front. However after being given some advice we changed it because it seemed that it didn't actually fit the film noir genre very well. So we changed it to the simple yet memorable 'T.E.A. Productions' as a minimalistic approach to the film - we originally all decided that Toby was the best person to create the logo for the production company name, however when it came to crunch time, we didn't have time to get the text off of the school network and onto our film.

Doorstep Photo Edits

I decided to edit these three photographs to give us a good understanding of what the scene will actually look like. This was done using a basic photo editor (rather than photoshop, which we used for our other photographs) therefore the quality isn't brilliant, however this may be a good thing because we want our film and the photographs to look authentic, so we like it if they are slightly blurry or pixelated.

Filming the doorstep scene!

Scarlett and Carter scene:


In this scene Detective Carter shows up at Bobby's doorstep, at which point Scarlett opens the door (one of the mob boss's girls) - she tries to defend her boss and no let the detective in the house, however Carter has come armed so after going inside and checking with her boss, she finally lets him in.
In this picture Scarlett stands in a very protective way in front of the door. The picture is shot from an over the shoulder angle, the darkness of this

shot is very conventional to the film noir era
especially once we change the footage into black and white.

This next photo is a picture of me filming and checking the lighting from different angles (which end up in me sitting on damp grass) - we had to strategise when shooting this because we chose to shoot it in the dark with the only light coming from the house and the porch light.
However we liked this because it gave the film a more mysterious feel because it cast some amazing shadows across the characters faces.

I personally love this next photo of Detective Carter, it took quite a few shots to get this

particular photograph. I like it because of the shadow across the actors face create by the porch light. Also it is seen almost as just a silhouette of the character because of the light from the door. I also like the patterning on the front door because it seems very old fashioned and has a slight 1950s-esque feel to it. The suit he is wearing will also contrast nicely in black and white because it is a grey suit, white shirt and black tie.

This next photo was one of our practice photos

just to make sure we got our actor in the right place when we actually decided to film the scene. We have a few of these kinds of photographs, all from different angles because we had to see what the character would look like at all the times on camera. This is because we didn't want to waste time filming so we wouldn't have too many unwanted minutes of film to sift through when we comes to editing our movie, it will take long enough without loads of film we cant use. We will also make an out-takes video because it took us a few takes to get some good ones because our actors would sometimes forget their lines or start laughing at each other.
However we got some really good takes because our actors accents were spot on for what we needed, as both Antonia and Ed were very convincing in their roles which really brought together our whole scene.
This picture is almost a freeze frame from the action of the scene, as you can see Detective Carter looks very suspiciously towards Scarlett, he knows she is hiding something/covering up for her boss. Scarlett however looks very angry at the Detective especially when she realises that he has come to the house armed. This scene was a very interesting one to film, its only a short scene though it took quite a while to film but we enjoyed every second of it and cannot wait to carry on filming, as we are filming again really really soon :)

Locations!

We have sorted out all our filming locations for our film noir!

We thought long and hard where to do each scene because we want each one to be perfect.

Our first scenes (the ones in a police office) we have decided to do in a spare office in our school, the size is good for what we want. The only problem is that the office isn't very 1950s America authentic, however we plan to kit it out in props from home and the drama department.

Our third and fourth scenes (the restaurant scenes) we more difficult to sort out, but i rang up a reasonably local restaurant that has an American theme to it because we believe that it would be perfect for our movie. We still need to make a few more calls and we have a back up restaurant just in case.

Scene five will be at first outside Antonia's front door (Scarlett and the detective meet) because she has quite an old looking front door. The rest of the scene (Bobby's office) will be shot in Antonia's dads office which we believe will be perfect for it.

The change over scene which will come in in clips of scene 6 will be shot in a small town called bygrave near where we live. A road we know would be perfect for this scene.

We also have a filming schedule:

Scene one	School office	Tuesday 6th march	Phone/lamp/costumes
Scene two	School office/corridor	Tuesday 6th march	''
Scene three	Restaurant	Monday 5th march	Costumes/extras
Scene four	Outside the restaurant	Monday 5th march	Costumes/extra light
Scene five	Front door/Office	Weds 2nd/Thurs 8th	Office things/Porchlight
Scene six	Office/road in Bygrave	Thurs 8th/Thurs 3rd	''/ suitcase/envelope

We are all free at the times we are needed and want to have all our film team there at each session because we want every ones ideas to be used to make it perfect. We are so looking forward to starting to film because we know the editing is gunna take a while to make it as perfect as want it to be.

Story Boards and scripts

Today we finished of the story boards and the script.

We now have:

• A completed script with a few stage directions and all the correct lines (previous posts)


• A complete detailed story board of the whole film


• A basic detailed story board of each scene with details of shots (e.g. angles and lengths)

We are now looking towards locations to set a few of our scenes, we are looking at an authentic achiac american restaurant to set our restaurant scene.

Scripting - Scene 6

Scene 6:
(Setting: Bobby’s house. Bobby just been shot. Confession that it was femme fatale who devised the drug deal)
Bobby: [In agony on the floor] It wasn’t me!
Detective Carter: Cut the bullshit, Bobby
Bobby: I’m telling ya, detective, it wasn’t me. I swear to god
Detective Carter: Swear to me! [Punches bobby]. If it wasn’t you who was it, huh?
[Detective punches him again. No response/confession from Bobby. Detective turns to leave, about to walk out the door]
Bobby: Wait… [Detective pauses then turns. Paces slowly, menacingly towards him. Bobby gets up, hunched over desk, struggling for breath]
Carter: Who was it? [No reply] Bobby, who was it?!
Bobby: [Reluctantly] Bonnie. [Detective pauses in shock] I couldn’t tell you before but-
Carter: What? What do you mean?
Bobby: She’s been playing you like a fool and me as well apparently! Right now your so called beloved is dealing 100 grands worth of smack, she got us both right where she wanted. Out of the way!
Carter: No no wait, that can’t be right!
Bobby: sorry detective but little miss bonnie is probably out with hundred grand right now, and you won’t ever see her again. Trust is a powerful thing isn’t it.
Carter: Chester get him to hospital, I’ve gotta get after that bitch!
(runs out)

Scripting - Scene 5

Scene: Detective Carter arrives at Bobby the mob Boss’s house.
-Knock knock-
(Scarlett, one of Bobby’s comrades, comes to the door, she opens it a crack. Obviously trying to protect her boss. She is trying to make detective Carter leave. He Refuses. )
-Door opens.-
Scarlett: And who might you be?
Carter: I’ve come to speak to your boss, now move aside sweet cheeks I haven’t got all night.
Scarlett: I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, ya know its past eleven, I could call the cops on you for making such a nuisance of yourself on my doorstep.
Carter: Good luck with the cops, now I’m here to see mister Dents, Bobby Dents. I’m sure he is here, now either you be a good girl and let me in, or things could get pretty nasty around here (opens jacket, a revolver on show)
Scarlett: Shit okay, hold on just a second mister.
(Door closes, Carter is left outside, and He sparks up a cigarette while he waits)
Scarlett: Okay sir, he will see you now
(She holds the door opens as he steps through)
-Bobby is sitting at a desk writing, he hardly acknowledges the detectives arrival. Scarlett walks over and perches herself on the side of the desk.-
Bobby: Step outside darling
Scarlett: But sir he…
Bobby: Leave us! (Slightly shocked at his outburst Scarlett slips out the room) Now detective, what was so urgent that you had to almost knock down my door at this time of night?
Carter: Maybe I just wanted a chat, its come to my attention that you might come into some money soon, (pause) ya know try about 10 K. This drug heist you’ve got going on, don’t insult me by saying you don’t know what I’m talking about, that amount of smack could make L.A. drop back into the oblivion that it was just crawling its way back out of! Now Bobby, if you would be so kind id like you to tell me where the deal is happening, then come with me to the station. Now this is gunna happen, you either tell me then walk there, or ill beat it out of you and drag you there, and I wouldn’t wanna rip that tailored suit of yours, would I?….So?….What’ll it be?
Bobby: Well sir seems you’ve floated out into some rather deep water; you don’t wanna mess with the sharks out here, so I suggest you run along and keep your nose outta my business.
Carter: I don’t want things to get messy, just tell me what you know!
Bobby: You have no idea what you are talking about, obviously whoever opened their trap to you, and I have a good idea who it is, isn’t telling you everything…
Carter: Cut the crap Dents.
Bobby: Uh uh uh, I wasn’t finished. (Pause) Now you should go and find out what is really going on, because Miss Kensington isn’t as she seems.
Carter: Leave her outta this!!
Bobby: Ahh I see, she already has you round her little finger, just be careful you don’t get scratched. Now I’m gunna give you 5 seconds to get the hell outta my house, or the next time you see your beloved Bonnie is at your funeral! (Puts a gun on the desk)
Carter: (pulls out gun) I said leave her outta this! Tell me where the deal is taking place!
Bobby: 5…4…
Carter: Don’t make me kill you; I wouldn’t want that information splattered over the wall behind you.
Bobby: 3…2…last chance detective.
Carter: Spill it Dents! (Raising his gun)
Bobby: 1...well I am sorry it came to this, shame you let your heart rule your head (picks up gun) rookie mistake kid.
-Starts firing at each other, Bobby behind his desk, carter behind the door-
-Bobby gets a hit in the stomach; he falls to the ground with a cry of pain, the gunfire ceases-

Scripting - Scene 2, 3, 4

SCENE 2
Detective John Carter: Chester! Get in here. We’ve got a case to unravel.

Chester and Carter look through the people bobby has supposedly murdered, and Carter’s father’s photograph appears. Music comes in and shows his face as he looks at it determinedly.




SCENE 3
(out for dinner)
Detective John Carter: (VOICEOVER) I couldn’t work out for the life of me what it was about Miss Bonnie Kensington that made me fall so fast. Knowing she had the control and was almost in charge of me made me weaker than I’d ever imagine.
(Giggles, leg rub under the table, laughing, drinking)
Fade in sound of them conversing but also the hustle of the restaurant. No focused dialogue.

SCENE 4

Bonnie: I’ve had a wonderful time
Carter: I shall sort this thing out for you baby.
Bonnie: Oh you are so kind Detective. I wish I could repay you!Carter: No repayment needed. It’s for you and me both.
Bonnie: Thankyou.
Carter: Anything for you! (they kiss, long shot)

Carter calls chester:

Carter: Meet outside the station. We’ve got to sort this thing out now.

Scripting - First scene

SCENE 1
(In office)
Detective John Carter: “I was told that these photographs of the towns latest criminals contained some of those we have before seen on many occasions. They were not wrong. 'Bobby' as he had been known had been in these photographs of the most wanted since he shot my father. He had also been drug dealing since I began my job back in '34. This lady was supposedly known to have a connection with him. I knew it was my job to try and find the two so that I could finally be at peace with the death of my father. Had I known what wool was to be pulled over my eyes, things could have ended very differently."

Date put on the bottom to show change of time.
SCENE 2
(In office)
(knock at door)
Detective John Carter: Come in
Bonnie Kensington: hello, sir. (waits by door)
Detective John Carter: What may I help you with, madam?
Bonnie Kensington: well, I’ve been thinking for some time that I should perhaps tell you policemen something, but I keep changing my mind. I don’t know if I should, oh
Detective John Carter: Maam you know we’ll help you and have your best interests at heart.
Bonnie Kensington: yes I know. Okay well I came over here 5 years ago from England, and my family, well, they weren’t to well off you see. I met this man called ‘Bobby’ one day after class and he promised me he’d make things better for us. So I believed him.
Detective John Carter: Bobby? Bobby Dents?
Bonnie Kensington: oh have you heard of him?
Detective John Carter: the name is a little familiar.
Bonnie Kensington: I’m not supposed to tell anyone what he’s doing with all his business but he does bad things to me sir, and I can’t take it no more.
Detective John Carter: what business?
Bonnie Kensington: Oh I couldn’t
Detective John Carter: Look doll, you gotta tell me what you know if you want this man to have the justice he deserves.
Bonnie Kensington: Well, okay sir. I know for a fact that if I was to be perhaps taken out for dinner by you I’d be more persuaded to tip the scales in your favour. You see, I can’t just give in to you immediately. He’ll have me shot!
Detective John Carter: Is there actually a problem here? Or do you just want some appreciation?
Bonnie Kensington: Oh sir there is a problem. A big problem. But there’s something about you and I don’t want to let you get away. So take me somewhere I’ll like and we can sort this thing out.

Our characters - Miss Scarlett Jones and Chester

Miss Scarlett Jones:

This character is the other female character, she is very loyal to Mister Dents (which is the opposite to our main femme fatale, Bonnie, who seems to only be loyal to herself). She puts up with the detective's abuse to try and protect him and then even takes Bobby being rude to her. This shows she might not be a very independent woman and likes having the structure and reliability of working for Mister Dents. In this photo she is show as quite a dark and mysterious character with her dark hair, eyes, dress and a dark background...these however compliment her pale skin. Her red lips show a sign of lust which makes the audience wonder if there is more going on than just a working relationship between her and her boss.

Chester:

Chester is a small part in our film noir, he is another police officer at the station with Detective Carter and seems to be pulled in to do all of the detectives dirty work (being the one who has to get Bobby to the hospital). However a hierarchy within police was common at that time and usually officers lower down in the force would have to do everything their superiors said. Just like our other male characters in the film, we have put him in a suit to show that he does have some responsibilities and wants to look professional. In this picture he is looking directly at the camera, leaning on his hand to show a slight sense of mystery about him (like all our other characters, as mystery was a big part of film noir) - however he looks honest and intelligent which is just what policemen were suppose to look at in that time period.

Our characters - Mr Bobby Dents

Mister Bobby Dents:

This character is our second lead male character, the opposite of our detective, what some audiences might call the "baddie".

In this photo he is looking straight at the camera with a slightly menacing stare, almost like he is trying to intimidate the audience. This is like what he does in the film, he tries to intimidate our main character ( Detective Carter) as he is obviously older and a lot more powerful the the detective. Again we have put the picture in black and white and slightly blurred it to give it a more conventional and authentic look of old film noirs. His suit is also important as it shows his wealth, and the fact he is a business man (as all important men of that era used to splash out on nice suits). He believes he is above the law, and most people, as he talks down to and patronises the detective. He also shows his power by controlling people, the Scarlett Jones character is there to prove this as she at first protects him by trying to not let Carter in, then after showing her loyalty is rather rudely told to leave the room by Bobby.

Our characters - Miss Bonnie Kensington and Detective John Carter

Detective John Carter:
This is our main male character of our piece, this specific still shot of him is interesting because it has the conventions of a detective of the era (the hat, the suit, being clean shaven etc) however we have added the shadow of half of his face to show the mystery behind the character. He isn't just the straight police officer that he is shown to be at the beginning. We chose black and white to suit the period as we thought it would be more authentic, and slightly blurred it. This character falls in love with our femme fatale and on her word goes to a mob bosses house. Now the audience doesn't know whether it is through love he does this, or through revenge as it is mentioned at the beginning that Bobby actually killed his father. The outfit we have put him in is much like that of the character in the film double indemnity, we liked the typical conventions of it so the grey suit, white shirt, hat, black tie and over coat will also be used in the actual filming as well as it being in the still shots. We show him falling for Bonnie through the dinner scene as at we will show laughing and flirting and at the end will show a glimpse of a kiss between the pair from a far. Her influence is all he needs as a reason to go after Bobby.

Miss Bonnie Kensington:

This is our main female character, aka our femme fatale, the first picture shows her lying down, her eyes not directly on the camera and her hair flowing down towards it. It is an incredibly suggestive photograph. The dark lip colour, bold eyes and blond hair are very authentic conventions of film noir, almost all film i have seen the main female character wears red lipstick to show an essence of seduction around the character, this will be shown in our piece as Detective Carter starts lusting after her, and eventually she manages to seduce him enough to get exactly what she wants. Miss Kensington seems to play both male characters off each other, making the both distracted while she slips away with the money. She also wears a white dress to begin with to suggest innocence and purity (when she acts hurt to persuade Carter) however during the film her outfit get darker, to show her passionate and deceiving

side. (As show in the photo earlier when she is wearing a bight red dress and black hat). In this next photo she is looking directly at the camera with a slight smile on her face, this shows her strength and shows the has no remorse about her actions towards the other characters in the film. The fur she wear indicates she has power and wealth (prefers the finer things in life) which is conventional to most femme fatales who wear lavish clothing and jewellery.

The background is dark to show a complete contrast towards her hair and outfit, however it shows that this character may not be all that she seems. Which is very true as she lies and manipulates everyone around her so she can get away with the deal without the police or the gangsters able to stop her. This is conventional because most Femme Fatale's are very self centred and are only bothered about themselves.

Our still shots

Miss Bonnie Kensington:

We chose this photograph for our still shot of our femme fatale because of many reasons. We also tried to stick to as many of the conventional aspects of film noir as we could so we could have a realistic look for each character - and therefore a realistic character that an audience would believe.

The white background was chosen because she is a main character in our film so we wanted her to stand out. It also could be a portrayal of innocence, but because we chose to have our shots in black and white it also may signify a sense of mystery around the character.

Her costume was chosen very carefully, this outfit is more like how she will look towards the end of the movie when she doesnt have to pretend she is innocent. She is wearing a bright red dress which signifies lust and passion - which she uses to manipulate the characters around her, however it also signifies danger - to show there is some underlying characteristics that the men don't know about. This is also mixed in with the red lipstick and nails which is very conventional of femme fatale's in film noir, as the colour red is almost seen to lure in the unexpected men into her trap. The shawl we decided to use is made of faux fur (which is conventional, though in those days it would have been made of real fur), this signifies wealth and status as fur was often only worn by aristocrats who could afford it in those days. The hat was also chosen to hide part of the actresses face, this is to show the audience that she is hiding something from the other people in the film. It also gives her a sense of mystery which is perfect for our film. Although you cannot see it, she is also wearing heels to show off her femininity and power (coloured black) - and she is also wearing tights (maybe stockings as women of that era usually wore stockings with a suspender belt rather than tights) - this will make our character seem more sexual, which is what we want for this role. She will also wear some expensive looking jewellery, which will show off her wealth in the same way the the fur shawl does.

Detective John Carter:

Again we have used the white background to make the actor stand out. However we have faded in a slight blackness around the edges which for one makes him stand out even more, and second gives a slight bit of confusion to the character - this is conventional because in most film noirs, the detective is usually on the line of the law, he has a sense of justice etc however he has the wrong moralities to get what needs to be done (like in our film where he pulls the gun and ends up shooting Bobby). His costume is also perfect for the role:

The hat is black, very much like one which would be worn in that time period. It also stands out from the background. We are using the hat in our film as a metaphor for his control of the situation, he will take it off a lot around Miss Kensington (Our Femme Fatale) - then when he realises she has double crossed him and he runs out to try and stop her...his hat will fly off again in the process. The suit is also perfect for the role as in contrasts nicely, yet is in a very conventional style. Grey suit, white shirt and black tie go very well together and will be perfect for our film. What I particularly like about this shot is the shadow across half of the actors face, this again creates a sense of mystery surrounding the character, making the audience wonder if there is more to this Detective than meets the eye.

Mister Bobby Dents:

Now this shot is perfect for our mob boss, he has so much status without even having to look at the camera. Again we have put him against a white background to show his importance, but what is different between him and the other male characters in the film in this photo is that he isn't wearing a blazer. This signifies maybe that he has a lot of work to do, but also that he is the boss, he doesn't have to dress smart to impress anyone - however he does wear a suit (waistcoat, shirt, tie, trousers) which shows he likes to make sure people know that he is of a high status (which he needs as a mob boss, he likes to be able to intimidate people) - It also shows him as being clean shaven, as most business men were of that time, and hair fairly well groomed, quite short etc.

His hand also covers part of his face which again leads an audience to believe there is more to this character - which we realise at the end of the film when he was actually covering up for Bonnie. As you can also see from this photograph, our actor has quite broad shoulders, this is conventional because most bosses liked to be as big as they could to intimidate any enemies (however on our actor his broadness is due to muscles and bone, rather than fat) - He is much bigger in stature than our detective, this was done on purpose as in scene 5 he tries to belittle/patronise the detective.

Miss Scarlett Jones:

The significant difference you see about this photograph is the background, unlike the previous photos this background is black. Scarlett isn't really a main character in our film so we decided to use the black background, this is also because we do not know much about her character as her story isn't really told in the film - all we know is that she works for Bobby and is slightly protective over him (as you will see later in the filming of the beginning of scene 5).

The black background also mixes with her black hair and dress, this makes her skin really stand out nicely and her eyes look deep into the camera with a slight suspicion - this is the same look she gives the Detective when he turns up on Bobby's doorstep. Her arms are crosses in front of her which may make the believe that there is something she is keeping to herself..again bringing out the conventional sense of mystery of the film noir genre. Her lips like Bonnie's are painted red, to show a slight hidden lustful side of the character.

Chester:

Using the black background again shows that Chester is a small character in our film (mainly because we need the actor as he is our main camera man as he has the best skills out of all of us in this area). As a policeman he is also a professional business man and is therefore also wearing a suit. looking directly at the camera he looks interested and intrigued (with also the use of his hand) which is what a normal police officer would looks like when they have to try and unravel a case.

MEET THE TEAM :)

Ellen Bradford:

-Film Maker

-Character: Bonnie Kensington

(Femme Fatale)

This is me :)

I am so looking forward to be doing this film as media is a big interest of mine. I loved the authentic 1940's-50's black and white films as i believe they show of the conventions of this style of movie perfectly. I am the lead female character which was chosen cause of my fair hair and look etc...this is because we want our film to look as realistic as possible and in most film noir movies the femme fatale is usually blond with pale skin.

Edward Beard:

-Guest Actor

-Character: Detective John Carter

(Main Male Character)

We chose this person to be our main character because we thought he had the right look for the part, he is quite tall and lean (meaning we can part our femme fatale in high heels and he would still be taller) - this is because he has to believe he has dominance over her, even this it proves not to be true at the end. We also chose this actor because he has a lot of acting experience (also can do a very good American LA accent, which is good as this is where our film is set) as we wanted the audience to believe his character, rather than see it as a student acting.

Ben Humberstone:

-Guest Actor

-Character: Mister Bobby Dents

(Mob boss/bad guy etc)

We chose this person to be our mob boss because we believe he has the right look for the part (broad shoulders, strong look) - but also mainly because of his acting experience, the scene between him and Detective Carter is the pivotal point in our film and we want it to be perfect. He again can do the correct accent for the place and era that the movie is set in, while being able to be very convincing and slightly intimidating in his role which is exactly what we want.


Antonia Hunter:

-Film Maker

-Character: Miss Scarlett Jones

(One of Bobby's girls)

This is another one of our film makers who is really excited about the making of this movie. We decided to put her as our other female character in the film (Scarlett), she has a quite dark sultry look about her which is perfect for this part as the character is on the side of the bad mob boss; therefore shouldn't look too innocent. She is also a good actress as she plays her part with a thick accent.


Toby Fitch:

-Film Maker

-Character: Chester

(Small policeman part)

This is another member of our film making team, he was chosen as a small police man part as we think he would be really good as this part. The reason he doesn't have a main part is because he is our main photographer and camera-man because he has lots of knowledge in these fields and will be crucial in to getting the right lighting and angles to make our film perfect.

Still shot conventions.

Still shot research:
We chose all our photos from the black and white category, this is because our film is going to be in black and white therefore it is only natural that our photos should be the same - Because of this all the photos that i am going to research and analyse will also be in black and white otherwise it would be no help to our task.

Femme fatale (In our movie, Miss Bonnie Kensington):

This first photo we really liked as the lady is slightly lying down, head tilted back a bit in a quite suggestive way. The things we really wanted to focus on was how she looked in the photo, the big curls and her makeup were really helpful to us because we wanted the character to be as authentic as possible. The makeup is simple yet effective and really matches that era of movies, it is a minimalistic eye - mainly just liquid eyeliner, mascara, pencil liner and natural shades of eye shadow. The skin is quite pale with a slight blush to highlight the lady's bone structure, however the main point is the lips...the lips are a dark red, this is very conventional to the femme fatale character - this gives the character a really sexual edge, which we will need in our film as our very own femme fatale is suppose to seduce most of the male characters. She is also wearing very simple jewellery, and a quite low cut tight fitting yet long dress which hints a sexy, but also with class and elegance. The main ideas we have got from this photo is the suggestive 'lying down' pose and the styling of the woman, both of which are very effective and will really help us create that classy yet seducing female character of Bonnie Kensington.


My second photo is of the femme fatale from the film 'Double Indemnity' which we are using a lot of the techniques from for our own film. The actress in this film (Barbara Stanwyck) plays leading lady 'Phyllis Dietrichson'...who seduces the male lead and plots to kill her husband. Again the first thing you notice is the big curls, simple eye makeup and red lipstick - these are all powerful features in this photograph and film noir movies to represent the never before seen confident, powerful, sexy side to women. The white background, mixed with her white clothing really gives her character a sense of innocence, this is done to mislead the audience into thinking that she is genuine - however the lips and hair tell us otherwise. She has on one statement piece of jewellery on (her necklace) which leads the audience to think that she is wealthy, however classy enough no to overdo it. Her top is also interesting, it again confuses the audience - at first glance she looks like a modest innocent woman, first of all the colour (like previously mentioned) and then the style, it covers her up - neither her arms or cleavage are on show, which is what you would first think of when you would describe a 'sexy' photo . However the tightness really (in the un-crudest way possible) draw the eye to her breast because of its shadow underneath, therefore it is a sexy photograph but not in the conventional way. The things that i believe we should take from this photo are as follows: first again the style of hair and makeup, second the mid shot works really well and third (which i believe is the most important) the background and clothing being white, and the clothing having a modest touch because i believe it really puts a unique twist on it.

The Detective (In our movie, Detective John Carter):

The main thing i like about this photo is the shadows, the shadows are created by the direction of the light and the detective's hat that he is wearing. It gives his face a slightly mysterious feel to it, like there is more to the character than what meets the eye. It also gives us a great idea about the type of clothes a character like this would wear - therefore we are going to take inspiration from this photograph and have our detective wearing a black hat, white shirt, black tie and a grey suit - this is because his job (as a detective) would have been quite a professional line of work and therefore he would have had to play the part by looking professional. We can also tell that he is a smoker from the cigarette and lighter in his hands, we do not plan to copy this as none of our film making team smoke so we cannot get a cigarette out of no where for the shot (and we couldn't have it lit anyway in the studio) however at some point in the movie we will have our detective smoking, even if it is just a fake cigarette we have made. I really like this shot because of the shadows and it gives us a lot of ideas to use for our photos/film however i would really like our own still shot to be slightly more intense, which this really could have been if the actor had looked directly into the camera - therefore in our shots of the detective figure i think he should be looking at the camera.

My second photograph of the detective character is from the film 'Double Indemnity' (like the photography of Barbara Stanwyck above) and as we are using so many conventions of this movie we decided we should study the main male character (the protanganist) which in this film is the actor, Fred MacMurray, playing insurance salesman gone bad, Walter Neff. He is interesting because he is not the usual detective, yet uses the same conventions of ones we have seen in other movies. Again like the shot above, I like the shadow cast across the actors face as he looks towards the light - this creates a sense that he is looking back on his innocent good (light) life and about to turn towards the evil corrupt (dark) side. This is a mid shot showing slightly more detail of the characters outfit, however the basics that we want are there...grey suit, white shirt and black tie. Both photos of the main male character show him to have short hair and be clean shaven, this is how most business men of that time period would have looked therefore we want to make sure our actor puts across our detective as this clean shaven professional business man.

Mobb boss (In our movie, Mister Bobby Dents):

This last photo is perfect to help us create the still shot for our mob boss/drug dealer, Bobby Dents. Like the main male character this man is also wearing a suit, this show that like the detective he is a professional business man (just on the opposite side of the law) - he also has short dark hair and is clean shaven which just reinforces this point. What i also like about this photograph which i have said before is the shadow, it really gives the photo a sense of mystery which is one of the main conventions of any character in the film noir genre. The next thing that we also liked about the man in this photo is the fact he is sitting down, it almost gives him the power and authority over the situation, as he feels he doesn't have to stand for any person entering the room - we will play about with this idea and see how the still shots of our mob boss comes out when he is sitting down. The final thing i like about this photo is that as he is sitting down, his arms cross over his chest...this may signify that he is keeping a secret from the audience or other characters in the film which gives surrounds the character in the film noir conventional sense of foreboding mystery.