Soundtrack

For the soundtrack, we decided to have a minimal soundtrack, with music in the film diegetically from radios and only non diegetically when in the title sequence, ending scene and the credits. I am currently researching which songs to use. Most music I have found has been copyrighted, but there are ways around this. Ways included:

Claiming the piece if being used for education.

Putting a Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 which allows for 'Fair Use' of the song.

Most Film Noirs use tense, dark, subdued music to create a dark atmosphere which are mostly piano led.
Very few film noirs use electronic instruments due to them not being available in the 1950s.

Neo Noir "Drive" had an electronic soundtrack to bring it into the 21st century. Below is the introduction to Drive, showcasing the tense, night time atmosphere but using a Electronic soundtrack.

This is unconventional compared to original Film Noirs as it is a Neo Noir, and is set to push the codes and conventions of Film Noir. Most old Film Noirs use music in restraint, with it only coming in at the start, during emotional events (death, betrayal) and the end. 

We will most likely use the voices recorded on the day for scenes where the lips are visible, and not dub them over due to time constraints. We will use the studio to record voice overs and non diagetic sounds.

Story and Planning it out.

My group, who consists of Emilie, Raya, Luke and me, had a production meeting to discuss plots and ideas.
Before this, I had drawn up the idea of a plot and explained this to the group. We went on to discuss what could be done better, what could be removed and added to make the film clearer and flow nicer.

We ended the meeting with a name for the film and also a plot.
The name being: "Le Mortel Liaison". This means "The Deadly Affair" and is a comment on the plot of the film. We chose it to be in French as the many dark themes of film noir originated in post-war France, which was a dark, destroyed and depressed place. We also decided to call it this as we are basing our Film in France, made possible by taking advantage of a school trip to Paris to collect scenic shots of places of Paris, such as iconic landmarks to paint the illusion its set in France, while not actually filming acting scenes in France.

We decided unanimously to film the entire film in black and white, to instantly appeal to the Film Noir codes and conventions.

The story's synopsis goes as follows:

Barnaby Frisco has a dark past, and on his first day back after honorable leave it comes back to haunt him.
His first case back will test him to his very limits, physically and mentally. Bringing the job home was never a good idea.



The whole story is on this storyboard, as a first draft some shots may change or something may happen the on the day which would be better than the one on the paper.

Breif outline of the plot follows:

The brief outline of our plot is as follows: - Barnaby Frisco returns to his job as a detective after a period of 'honarable leave' following the 'death' of his partner 'Bones Goodwin' who he 'killed' because of Bones's feelings for his wife. However no one is aware of this. He is summoned to a crime scene where he discovers a series of clues that reveal that his wife is missing. He then attempts to work out where his wife could be, finally working out her location. he travels there to find that Bones Goodwin is still alive. Frisco and Goodwin then have a fight which results in the death of Frisco. Bones Goodwin and Frisco's wife then leave together.     

We decided to make the story follow the Narrative theroy, with 5 stages of the storys progression. 

These stages are as follows:

- Equilibrium - His first day back

- Disruption  - Dead woman and Note

- Period of disequilibrium - Trying to solve where is wife is

- Resolution - Fight

- Restoration of equilibrium - Death Of Frisco leaves the world peaceful again

These stages help us create a nice flowing stroy, with each stage at least taking a minute to be portrayed.

Ideas for film

I have decided on an idea on how to start the film. This idea if used will use Narration to introduce the character, his past and foreshadow the days events ahead setting a dark tone straight from the start of the film. I came up with this idea after watching American Cop Drama series 'Southland'. Every show starts with a flash forward, and sets up the events of the episode to follow. Before it cuts back to earlier that day, the scene freezes and an anonymous narrator says a sentence or two about the episode ahead. This is shown in the YouTube clip below.

My idea varies from this as it will not cut backward but instead forward to later in the day It will still have the narrator though.

Themes to include in my film

My film must have certain themes and characteristics in it to be classed as a true film noir. Such themes/archetypes/visual iconography to address are:

• Truth seeking Protagonists escaping a past burden, traumatic incident or crime committed out of passion (LA Confidential, Brick)
• Femme Fatale, often linked to protagonist in tragic way (sexually seductive and often can hold their own in a male world (Brick, Black Dalahlia, LA Confidential)
• Corruption in the law (LA Confidential)
• The Criminal underworld (prostitution, drugs, murder etc)
• Low key lighting - different shades to show mood of character - most often only half the face is shown to increase tension
• Odd angles - most noirs use low angles to show the ceiling. This creates claustrophobia and unease, also paranoia. Characters towering from the ground gives them a dramatic importance 
• Moving Cameras - long shots of a camera tracking a character through a location often created tension with suspense. Adding foreground objects make the viewer more interested. 
• Flashbacks - most characters have troubled pasts so showing the audience this is better than just retelling it
• Rapid Dialogue - most Film Noirs, such as the Neo Noir "Brick" have fast and short exchanges of dialogue, much like an interrogation. These Noir dialogues are often full of "wise cracks". (Brick) 
• Voice Overs - these often are used to put the viewer into the mind of the protagonist and to identify with the narrator. (Black Dahalia)