Evaluation

My brief is “The Little Picture House” 30 minute film contest, in which I had to create a three minute segment of any portion of the film. The style of the film i chose was ‘Modern-noir’. I also created blogs including documentation of the production process and also a fan blog creating film buzz and other related media to the project. The target audience for both was 16-30 year old, mainly focussing on the younger demographic, to revive interest in the genre and make it accessible to all. The target audience chosen is similar to that of the television series Fargo and Tarantino movies such as Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained. There are also several nods to classic gritty noir films such as The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown which make it relatable to the older portion of the audience.

The title I chose, “The Narcissist”, was chosen to create anticipation of the film, as people would want to know who the narcissist is. This question goes on unanswered throughout the whole 30 minute film, and many characters could be argued to be the title character. This creates a subjective point for the audience and thus a buzz as the online communities would flourish with arguments of who exactly it is. A big part of the film and it’s ideals, which strongly link with noir, is the concept of the flawed protagonist. Usually, in noir, main characters are selfish sociopathic. I have created many characters with similar flaws and a tragic outcome because of it.

Originally, ‘The Narcissist’ was chosen for our sleazy lawyer, “Michael Cook” who commits and organises crimes, only to charge the wrong people and get paid for his actions. He wears a shirt and trousers. This was done to create an air of commonality, so that the audience would initially sympathise with his actions as he is a simple man taking action in his own life. However, as the film progresses, his ideals get compromised and the audience lose their resonance with him, as a once attractive aloofness becomes increasingly inhumane, highlighted in the three minute section I created. Michael hires a young man, Daniel, about school age to help him on his quests. He is often seen in his school uniform or in his most traditional thug like outfit to show his excitement for the job he’s in. He is shown as giddy and frequently scared. This character was chosen to look like this to show the common outlook towards violence by young people and how we, as a generation, have become desensitised to danger. The character is also integral as it highlights the cold blooded nature of our lead character and adds to the tragedy of the story. On the other side of the law are our detectives, Holloway and Collins. I chose characters of opposing characteristics to show the increased tensions of police life. Holloway is the average rookie cop, recently promoted for exceptional work, he’s the stock character of the agent, although lacks the position. He shows intense attention to detail and is a hard worker. With him is Collins, the old-timer and drunk on the force who gets by on luck and little work. He’s tough, and streetwise, but is obviously indifferent to his job. These two have a rough relationship as they both see themselves as better cops, and only when they start working together are they both killed by Michael in the tragic 3 minute section I produced. Collins adds an element of humour to the film and is used to appeal to the older demographic as he employs dark humour and contempt for the younger generation. Holloway is the driving force of the police work and is frequently shown as out of his depth, despite wanting more work. The wardrobe choices of the men are a microcosm of their jarring relationship: Collins in a shearer jacket and Holloway in a square blazer.

In my section, the detectives are first seen in a brightly lit office. This challenges the dark dingy office of old fashioned noir to modernise it for a younger audience and also show the new age style of police work, which makes Collins’ character a dying breed, thus making his moody temperament endearing and treasured. This is especially evident from his vandalism of various whiteboards with curse words. This rebellion adds humour and charisma to the scene and even to the drunk cop who falls off his chair. The alleyway scene is shot between two big bins and a red brick wall. This was shot at night with backlighting to bring dark moody scene with classic chiaroscuro lighting. This is appealing as it creates ambiguity to the surroundings, immersing the audience into Holloway’s scared perspective. There is little to no light changes, even with the gunshots. This is purposely done to show the bleak reality of movie action and to show all young action-driven hopefuls like Daniel, that it is not like it is in the movies. This increases the tragedy of the film.

In my piece, the detectives receive a tip, which we know is from Michael’s apprentice Daniel which creates a dramatic irony and anticipation towards the killing of the two detectives. Holloway leaves a drunken Collins to pursue this tip, then Collins wakes up and tracks him down to help him. They are then both killed during an argument. Michael kills Daniel and he walks away. This complicated plot, full of expositions appeals to the classic noir audience and creates a lot of space for gripping drama and action. I scored this film myself, creating many classic noir themed piano and orchestra cadences to highlight the tip and the montage between scenes.

My section will fall just before the end. It is the dramatic climax of the film and i used this part as it was the most interesting and action packed piece to make. It meant I could use many props and close up shots to show the most vivid representations of the fear that Holloway feels as he’s alone in the alleyway. Using this portion meant I could create a sombre and slow ending, fully encompassed by the walking away shot from a low angle, this creates a powerful image of michael, and leaves the audience wanting justice and equilibrium.

The film was effective because it used surprising narrative moments such as Daniel being stabbed my Michael, and Collins showing up, creating tension. Audiences said that my film was “gripping and surprising” and they liked the buddy cop feel despite the tensions. I think that my films was effective because of Collins as a reliable and rebellious comic relief which also added to the tragedy. The tragedy of Daniel’s death is also very hard-hitting and effective as he is portrayed as a very young character, thus making the audience sympathise as they will be familiar with the family bond. I could improve on my film by using more colour tints like red and blue and more chiaroscuro lighting especially with venetian blinds. I feel like my modern-noir was a good balance of old conventions of noir and modern film but I could have used more obvious links to classic noir. I feel like adding the character of the captain would have added context to the detectives’ relationship and shown the tension of the workplace, meaning that people would have empathized more effectively with Holloway and Collins.

In my blogs, which I used to explore the blog format and also create media from the perspective of the film company and also from a gossip website, I used the same target audience as they’re in the same genre. My blogs are all clean and simple, all with comment section for UGC and user interaction, as well as social media links and obvious menu bars. I’ve had many comments about the functionality of my blog, and all posts are easily laid out. I made a good poster for my film too which I opened to user generated content, creating a poster competition on my blog. Print media will always be used for advertising in media and so is always good to create.

I enjoyed MEST2 as it allowed space to do a real and dark genre and produce a cleverly made media product. It was also good to create intertextuality between two formats.