I found this video on vimeo.com while just typing in 'film noir' it cant be uploaded so you can watch it on my blog. So i here is the hyperlink: I am only analysing the OTS of it even though the whole video lasts about 9 minutes.
Film Noir from Brenton Thom on Vimeo.
When i started to watch it, i noticed the props were very similar to mine - cards, cigarettes, telephone etc. The first shot is of a moving shot to the left moving along the surface of the table. This table has cards, a lot of cigarettes, and the phone - but suddenly - a hand pops up and rests on the table edge. We then find out that this hand belongs to a man who then gets up and sits on the chair while wiping his eyes. He looks bruised (i don't know if this is the lighting!) and starts lighting up one of the many cigarettes. We get the impression something has happened to cause him to be bruised and on the floor. He doesn't look like a very happy man. And by the hat, tie and shirt he is wearing, we could assume that he is a businessman and somebody you should not mess with. I also noticed that when he wakes up and just after he rubs his eyes, he puts the phone back on the stand - as if he was on the phone last night before he was hurt. He wasn't awake to then put the phone back on the stand. Still slumping in his office chair, he takes out the cigarette without actually lighting it. There are then a second of darkness - telling us that this is the end of the scene.
In this OTS, we never actually find out what is wrong with him and why he is bruised and looking distressed. If it because he has had an argument with somebody? Was it a woman or a man who hurt him? Why would somebody some to his office and hurt him? No questions were answered in this first OTS - making you want to watch the rest of the film to find out.
What is right with this OTS?
- The contrast between black and white is effective and believable.
- The logo of the fake film company starts in colour for a few seconds and then moves to black and white - there is a company logo.
- The first couple of credits are nice.
- The mise-en-scene is effective and believable.
What is wrong with this OTS?
- The logo of the fake film company starts in colour for a few seconds and then moves to black and white - the logo should be always black and white and era-correct.
- The shot along the table is too fast and you do not have time to see in detail what is laying on the table. The fast motion of the camera creates a fast and lively feeling. If the motion was slow, then maybe it would create the feeling of tiredness, mystery and a relaxed atmosphere. Film noir is meant to be quite slow.
- The shot along the table is also not smooth - it jumps a few times.
- A unexpected and too strong of a cut between a close-up of him putting a cigarette in his mouth and then moving to a far-away shot of him sitting there. To much of a difference between the shots.
How similar is it to my future OTS?
- Not all questions are answered in my OTS
- No dialogue or dramatic sound
- Black and white with era clothing
- A still shot when text is on top of it. In my OTS i am having a city scene with my credits over the top. In this OTS there was a short still shot of a telephone off its base with production text on it. There is no cast credits however in the credits (unlike mine).
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