Film Noir Evaluation

Our objective for this topic was to make a Film Noir based on a story we had to follow. We were split up into groups of 4 and were assigned different roles among the 4 people in the 4 group. The Film was about a man who recently committed a murder as he was ordered to do so. 4 Different scenes were given to us and we were assigned to do one of the 4 scenes. We got scene 1, where a person enters an office, pours a glass of wine, only to get a phone call where the same person proceeds to ask “is it done?”

The filming

The filming process went well. I had to take on the role of being the cameraman and so I was in charge of getting the camera shots right. A difficult task was actually getting some of the camera shots due to the position they were in, for example, the close up of the phone had to be filmed behind the table. Despite this, I feel like the shot was pretty decent as they helped convey the scenario and scenery.

For the camera shots, I feel like they could have been improved upon seeing as some of the shots has a lack of good field of view. Alongside this, I could have done a better job at aligning the camera correctly and possibly keeping it still in some shots. One side note I’d make is that I felt like most of the shots that we got were too long, which would be good to make the beginning slow as it is at the start, but was a little too slow in my opinion.

Editing

As for the editing, I figured it could have been done better. First of all, mainly due to the fact that most of the shots that we had were very long and instead of cutting most of them up I left the majority. Though it was rushed due to time and so changes will be applied later to make it better.

On top of that, the sound design was okay as well, Though the choice of music at the beginning compared to the end is a little off as I don’t think they go well together. One could argue and say that its to represent the change in scenery but personally, something else could have been better to fit.

What I liked

My favourite parts would have to be the sound for the man waking up in the room. We wanted to emphasise the feeling of isolation in that scene and so sounds similar to ones you’d hear in horror felt like a good choice. The beating heartbeat is to represent the fact that he woke up, nervous and not knowing where he is, then it increases as he tries to open the door, showing his true fear as he realises he’s trapped. The ambient sound that builds up is also to emphasise this further.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the film noir could have been done better, but it wasn’t the worst in the world. Most of the shots run on for too long and it probably would have been better to cut them down more and even rearrange them to better narrate the storyline. As a result, it probably wouldn’t bore people as much. Though I do like some of the shots, especially the ones that take place outside, and some of the sounds and music used too which helps define the scenario and scene, Though not all of it.