Experimenting With Film Noir Lighting

All these pictures show us in a studio experimenting with all the differnt types of lighting we could use in our own film noirs.

Most of them are using a shadow which adds mystery.

THE FEMME FATALE CHARACTER.

In our media project we have one character which is the Femme Fatale. The typical characteristics of a femme fatale;
she would typically be, Alluring, mysterious,glamourous,duplicitous, subversive, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative.
they are women who are dangerously seductive and always in control.
Femme fatale literally means "fatal woman" in French. It can be defined as "the kind of woman men want...but shouldn't have!".
At the start of a film noir the Femme Fatale would typically be in control, she would have the male protagonist (the hero) where she wanted him.
Although they start out as the dangerous, powerful ones they always meet their match and it is common that they die at the end of the film noir.
They are related to red and black clothing and make-up, which gives the feeling of danger.
An example of a typical modern real life Femme Fatale is Dita Von Teese a burlesque dancer.
we will be styling our Femme Fetale around Dita von teese, red lipstick, pale skin, dark smokey eyes, much like her look in this picture.

Camera Techniques We Are Using.

Our project is in the style of a film noir so we have decided to give it a older style for example we will be making it darker or changing it to black and white.
We ( me and my group mates) have researched into some film noirs where they use lighting in a unusual way.
We will be providing and using our own lighting and props.

Conventions Of A Film Noir

Classic film noir developed during and after World War II, taking advantage of the post-war ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion. It was a style of black and white American films that first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic "Golden Age" period until about 1960 (marked by the 'last' film of the classic film noir era, Orson Welles'.

Film noir is not a genre, but rather the mood, style, point-of-view, or tone of a film. It is also helpful to realize that 'film noir' usually refers to a distinct historical period of film history - the decade of film-making after World War II, similar to the German Expressionism or the French New Wave periods. However, it was labeled as such only after the classic period - early noir film-makers didn't even use the film designation (as they would the labels "western" or "musical"), and were not conscious that their films would be labeled noirs.
Primary Characteristics and Conventions of Film Noir: Themes and Styles.
The primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia.

Idea's For Our Product

Myself and my team mates, Daisy Conway and Lydia Earl (links to their blogs at the bottom)have been brainstorming ideas as a group for our set task which was to make a film noir and
we have decided to combine the genres Film Noir and Youth Drama as the concept of 'youth drama meets film noir'.

In our media lesson we were asked as a group to produce a A5 piece of paper stating our ideas and showing we understood the task that had been set, it was called Continuity Task, we then compared our ideas with others in our media class and this helped us see what changes we could make or do differently.

Before we started planning our Film Noir we researched what a film noir entitles, what techniques it required and concepts. We used the internet to do this. We also watched film noirs such as, The Black Dahlia and Casino Royale.

we also researched the type of camera techniques, this helped us realise the things that we shouldn't do and gave a reflection on the task. i will be posting my ideas on this blog throughout the duration of this task.

The BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is the organisation legally responsible for film classification within the United Kingdom.

It was believed to be responsible for video and some video games until August 2009.

The BBFC currently issues the following certificates. The category logos were introduced in December 2002, replacing the previous ones that had been in place since 1985.
Certificate
Name
Definition

Universal
All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.

Parental Guidance
General viewing, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 8.

12A
Suitable for those aged 12 and over. Those aged under 12 are only admitted if accompanied by an adult at all times during the performance (cinema only).

12
Suitable only for those aged 12 and over.
No-one younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12 rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game.

15
Suitable only for those aged 15 and over.
Nobody younger than 15 can see a 15 film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15 rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game.

18
Suitable only for adults.
Nobody younger than 18 may see an 18 film in a cinema.No-one younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18 rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game.

Restricted 18
For adults only.May only be shown at licensed cinemas, only to people 18 or over

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Board_of_Film_Classification