SUSPENSE
FILM NOIR (#1)
Film Noir is defined as a genre of filming distinguishable by evoking a sense of suspense during a scene causing a build-up of pessimism and worry.
Film Noir is typically projected in films featuring murder mysteries and the bloodshedder, detective, or Femme Fatale as the main character.
One example of a Film Noir projection is in the film The Third Man.
A scene in The Third Man arouses a sense of suspense when the watchmen who are on the lookout for a certain figure, are in a state of suspense themselves when a shadow appears around the corner that they presume to be the shadow of the man-in-crime but is actually the shadow of a harmless balloon salesman; arousing an immediate relief from suspense for both the watchmen and the viewer.
One of the watchmen.
The extract alternates from one deserted alley to the next to convey to the viewer that there is no sign of the expected figure yet. There is a mild sense of suspense and expectation.
When the figure finally comes into view, it arouses deep relief from tension for the watchmen and the viewer because the figure is not the expected man, but a balloon salesman.
The salesman.
The relief is all the more relieving when the tense soundtrack playing in the background tunes to a humorous and anti-climatic tune.
COLLABORATIVE FILM NOIR PROJECT (#2)
We, as a group, planned the plotline of the film we will be producing. We referred to our film summary sheets for reference and we have all settled on the film summary titled "The Outsider". The run time for "The Outsider" is expected to be around a minute.
According to the plot summary, it will be set in a small, isolated village and will follow a man named Jack - who is a newcomer to the village.
Plot Summary
Jack is trekking through a forest neighboring the village and discovers the dead body of Liam there. Jack reports his discovery to the townsfolk and they all accuse him as the one responsible for the killing. Jack denies being the murderer but the villagers grow all the more suspecting. He does not waste his time in denial as he knows that he has no way of proving it. Fearing he might be banished from the village, he returns to the location at which he found the body in search of anything that might have been left behind by the murderer. While he is searching the scene, he finds a camouflaged camera belonging to a wildlife photography association. He reviews the footage recorded and he finds that the footage has captured the murderer (Liam's partner) killing the victim. He returns to the village and shows the footage to the townspersons to demonstrate his innocence and they are finally convinced. Sheriff Grace closes the case by convicting Jack as guiltless and arresting Liam's partner.
Storyboards
An earlier storyboard of the film
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Camera shots (with run-time estimates)
First Draft
Scene 1
Long shot/establishing shot (of Jack entering the village) [6-7 seconds]
Scene 2
Shoulder shot (of Jack walking through the forest) [5-6 seconds]
Eye-level shot (of Jack appearing shocked) [3-4 seconds]
Shoulder shot (of Jack discovering the body) [4-5 seconds]
Scene 3
Mid shot (of Jack from behind addressing the angry crowd of villagers; villagers repetitively yell "Murderer!" throughout the entirety of the scene) [7-8 seconds]
Long shot (of Jack from the midst of the crowd declaring him to be a murderer) [4-5 seconds]
Eye-level shot (of some people in the crowd expressing anger, throwing fists of rage, and persisting in their repetitive and loud remarks) [2-3 seconds]
Mid shot (of Jack's face appearing concerned for his reputation in the village) [2-3 seconds]
Long shot (of Jack from behind standing before the crowd) [2-3 seconds]
Scene 4
Long shot (of Jack searching the scene) [4-5 seconds]
Close-up (of the hidden camera with Jack in the background walking up to the camera and dismounting it) [5-6 seconds]
Mid shot (of Jack reviewing the footage recorded and expressing shock because of the footage which has captured the murderer (Liam's partner) killing Liam. Jack runs back to the village intending to show the footage to the townsperson and the investigator (Sheriff Grace)) [9-10 seconds]
END
Total estimated run time: 59 seconds
Actual total run time: 1 minute and 17 seconds (77 seconds)
Final Draft
Scene 1
Establishing shot (of Jack crossing a main street) [5 seconds]
Scene 2
Shoulder shot (of Jack walking through the forest) [5 seconds]
Shoulder shot (of Jack observing his surroundings) [5 seconds]
Scene 3
Long shot (of Jack covering his mouth in shock as he discovers Liam's body) [5 seconds]
Medium shot (of the body) [5 seconds]
Scene 4
Close-up (of the body) [5 seconds]
Medium shot (of the body in the background and Jack in the foreground taking out his phone and dialing) [5 seconds]
Medium shot (of Jack reporting to a responder with moderate agitation) [17 seconds]
Medium shot (of Jack ending the call and inspecting the body closely) [10 seconds]
Epilogue (15 seconds)
END
Total run time: 1 minute and 17 seconds (77 seconds)
Background material
A street in a North American town.
(Scene(s) 1)
Photographer/Publisher: Caroline Makepeace
Date of publication: November 8, 2022
Opening in a forest at dusk.
(Scene(s) 2-4 and 6-7)
Photographer/Author: jonmsailer
https://www.vecteezy.com/photo/1430204-forest-at-dusk
Date of publication: Unspecified
Date of publication: Unspecified
(Scene(s) 5)
Photographer/Author: Yuylia Taba
Date of publication: October 20, 2023
SUSPENSEFUL AUDIO EXPERIMENT
EXILED
An exiled man deep in the woods after his hometown was invaded by a very hostile native tribe. He believes he has found sanctuary at an abandoned cottage, but a member of the tribe has followed him and senses his presence.
ANALYSIS OF A TITLE SEQUENCE
The Last of Us
This title sequence renders ultra-realistic graphics and motioned growth projecting fungi evolving and mutating.
The imagery is wholly animated and graphical. There is nothing that is photographic or hand-drawn.
The animation is three-dimensional and computer-generated. The animation lacks attributes of two-dimensional animation such as sequenced photographs of drawings or the absence of dimensional and spatial perspective.
The title sequence features sparse text, with that text rendering in a typeface featuring bolded glyphs and a lack of serifs. The text in the introduction is primarily typographical. The only exception is the title card which takes shape by the fungi at the end: the lettering is three-dimensional and organic, appearing as though it is a part of its surroundings and made of a fungal material.
Atmospherically, the introduction establishes an apocalyptic and infested environment because of the mild level of light and the organic and seamless movement of the fungal pathways which naturally radiate a hint of a biohazardous parasite that will be a great influence in the movie's plot and against the characters.
The parasite projected in this introduction is a fictionalization of Cordyceps - a parasitic fungus that is highly lethal to insects. The Last of Us suggests that Cordyceps has evolved to infect humans and therefore pose a serious threat to humanity, consequently igniting a worldwide pandemic.
EXPERIMENTAL TITLE SEQUENCE DEVELOPMENT
This development of a title sequence follows the employment of the tools and systems of the Adobe software, After Effects to understand the foundational features of the software such as applying effect presets and inserting keyframes to set intervals and differences in value for the applicable effect.
The composition is comprised of two main bodies including the text that phrases the title of the movie and a distorted rectangle.
The Text properties panel with the size setting set to 62 pixels under the typeface selection and left of the line spacing setting.
The layers panel with all layers in the composition.
I have duplicated "OUTSIDER" to fashion a "cross-hatch" or "glitch" effect with the text. By duplicating the layer, I would apply the same, or a similar effect to both, to visually intensify the effect.
The applied effects to both pieces of text are seen in the expanded Effects panel below:
I applied the "Radial Blur" effect to generate a radiant glow or hue effect. Two keyframes have been inserted to set the points at which the quality of the text deteriorates or optimizes by set values.
Another effect is the "Sharpen" effect which allows the modification of the text's sharpness quality. A keyframe has been inserted at the point at which roughly three whole seconds have passed and its value has been set to forty.
TITLE SEQUENCE DEVELOPMENT
The Title Sequence
(The duration of the video is prolonged because of an unmarked end)
For this project, I have developed a custom title sequence linked to the film The Outsider. Because of the relation to the film, the title sequence has been adapted to be relevant to the film's genre and cinematic environment.
To establish the desired setting of a forest at night, an audio file recording chirping tree crickets has been uploaded to the audio track to play in the background continually throughout the entire sequence.
The audio file layer in the layers panel.
Another audio file is a short audio recording of a car passing by that has been uploaded to play for a few seconds.
The audio file layer in the layers panel.
The time the intensity of the transparency and distortion of the title card drops to zero and the sharpness and contrast increase to maximum, the volume of the recording reaches its peak and is at its loudest. This visual and audio effect is to suggest that the car's headlights are beaming against the text as the car passes. The value of the text's transparency and distortion starts to rise to the point that the text is no longer visible as the car drives away.
The audio file of the car passing by has been amplified slightly so that it might be more audible.
The audio level has been set to 12 decibels (default: 0).
The audio level for any audio recording is always zero by default despite the original level of audibility of the recording because the original level of audibility of the audio is not recorded by the system and parallels the audio level to zero.
The audio files and layers inside the layers panel altogether.
I also attempted to edit the audio to fade in as the marker (Current Time Indicator) reaches the beginning of the recording and fade out as the marker reaches the end of the recording by applying a "Delay" effect which I presumed was the effect that would generate this desired audio effect.
The percentage value for the "Wet Out" variable increments by around 12% every 20 to 30 milliseconds. The first keyframe at roughly the point at which a whole second has passed and the recording of the car passing by begins playing, has the Wet Out value set to 0.00%. This is because I hoped that as the audio starts playing, the Wet Out value will gradually increase and reach the next whole value (6.00%) when the marker reaches the second keyframe as the car in the recording approaches and the car's engine increases in original audibility.
EDITING OF FOOTAGE
This aspect of the project consists of filming in a green screen set by handling camerawork, acting, and then editing the footage with the editing software After Effects.
The film is comprised of seven individual shots featuring Jack, played by myself, as the protagonist.
First, the title sequence that was developed earlier was uploaded in a triad composition encompassing both audio recordings of a car passing by and chirping tree crickets, and the title sequence composition (Comp 1).
The title sequence's run time occupies roughly 10 seconds of the total run time of the whole film.
Then all shots were uploaded and formatted chronologically. The film plays the shots in the order that the shots were filmed.
Below are the first three shots that play after the title sequence.
I used a color-coding format for differentiation between the types of material. Videos are highlighted in yellow; audio is highlighted in corresponding colors to their relevant videos; and images are highlighted in grey.
Every audio recording had its duration shortened to the duration of its respective shot to avoid audio playing for prolonged periods.
The setting for every shot is a forest at night. The only exception is the first shot of Jack crossing a main street in a town. Because of the difference in setting, the first shot associates unique audio files that only occur during its run time such as traffic and a church bell chiming.
The audio composition for the preceding shots contains crickets singing and a dog barking in the distance to indicate that Jack is not far from the town and that he is trekking through a forest on the outskirts of the town.
The background imagery includes a photograph of a main street in a North American town, a close-up of the ground littered with dead leaves, and an opening in a forest at dusk.
The green screen was stripped away and the relevant images were inserted in the background by applying the "Keylight" effect to the video material. This effect allows the removal of the green screen and the colorization of the background with the colors of the image by contrasting and replacing green, the color of the green screen, with the colors of the image; colors that do not match the color of the green screen are preserved.
This allowed the removal and substitution of the green screen with the selected image without removing subjects in the foreground.
BROCHURE
For this stage of the project, we designed a promotional leaflet announcing the release of the murder mystery thriller "The Outsider".
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