Film Noir Short Film Critique
A. Planning and Research
For this short film, we did a lot of planning and research. First we did a film noir unit in class so that we could learn the genre conventions and then incorporate them into our own films. Then we did a case study with the film Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson. After studying film noir as a whole and then in a specific movie, my crew and I had done enough research to create our own film noir film. In terms of planning, there were many steps to the process. I created the treatment for a group, but it was put on Google Docs so our group as a whole could edit the treatment. After a couple of revisions, we created a script and then a two-column script. Those are aspects of pre-production that we normally do, but this time we did something different. We created location diagrams this time. This was a large help in terms of planning because it allowed us to be extremely organized, especially for me since I ended up being the director and the main actor. It would have been very tough to do both of those roles if I didn’t have location diagrams to map out all the shots and setups. It made is very efficient.
B. Reflection & Evaluation
There were many aspects of this film that didn’t turn out as planned which made this film much better. I had originally casted 5 main actors. Only one of those committed so I ended up having to be the main character and had to call a girl last minute to the do the acting. I am a horrible actor but it was our only option because we had a kiss scene in the beginning to build character development. I had to do it because the girl actor that we got was my girlfriend.
The problem is that high school teenagers are doing so many things and it is hard for them to commit a large chunk of their weekend to a film that they are not even being graded on. But in the end, the acting wasn’t that bad. It got the job done, as we were still able to convey the message of betrayal and the femme fatale, two main genre conventions of film noir. Acting kept me away from being cinematographer. I had the original vision, but I couldn’t completely make that happen as I was acting. Also, our script had too much dialogue. I feel that we did too much telling rather than showing. For example, we had to make my character say it was his anniversary rather than being able to convey it through some clever way. We originally planned to have him go to a store to pick out a gift, but that would create problems, as corporations don’t allow people to film in their stores. We ended up doing a makeshift shelf to simulate a store as he is picking up a teddy bear. 
But once again, it got the job done. Also this dialogue was a problem because our main suit is film making, not acting. We are not drama students, we are film students, and so acting is a weakness. Stylistic dialogue is a main genre convention of film noir, but we weren’t able to do that, as it would just come out corny. But lucky for us, our film is driven by narrative, so dialogue didn’t hurt the film too much. The only use of wardrobe and makeup was the blood. 
It enhanced the fight scene to make it seem more realistic and to fit the genre of film noir better. The audio is what makes this movie cinematic. The foley create the suspense during the fight scene and establishes the girl as the femme fatale. The only issue with audio is that we don’t have much experience with it. We have an audio library but have to search through it to find the right audio. So it is hard to find the perfect audio to match what is happening in the film. It’s not like we have our own symphony. My favorite audio is one that we recorded on set. Instead of just putting a song in the background of the party seen, we recorded a song straight from the speakers, so it sounds real. But at the same time, we didn’t do that for a phone call, so it doesn’t sound real. The lighting is what makes this a film noir film and allowed us to shoot at night.
For the scenes in the house, we used the flickering of the TV and used my DVR to play that over and over again. We also had a light that had three bendable arms, so we could manipulate the light. Also, for the night scenes outside, we had a light connected to an extension cord that was very powerful and could be moved anywhere. That created the best lighting of the movie. I am satisfied with the lighting most out the entire movie. The cinematography was decent. There were some rack focuses, handheld camera movements to make it edgy, and unique angles. But I wished we could have had a dolly track to make it more filmic. We also used a little bit of blocking. The party scene is a good example of this. We had the red cup and people at the party specifically in a specific position as I walked through the house. That was really only the main use of blocking in the film. In terms of the edit, I was the main editor of the film. I did a couple of good match object transitions. We incorporated a cell phone and a door for these transitions. It worked very well as it connected the scenes of our film. Overall, I think the film was decent. I don’t think it was amazing, but it definitely fit under the genre of film noir. The theme of betrayal and the use of the femme fatale are clearly present. Though a stronger narrative would have made this film better.
C. Professional & Technical Skills
As I had previously stated the only improvements in this area would be cinematography and audio. For cinematography, using the HD camera would have been a great help, as it would look more professional. Also, a dolly track would accomplish this task and make all the shots look better. In most movies, a lot of the shots are dollies, so the use of a dolly would make my film more cinematic. In terms of audio, having more technical skills in that would make the film better. I feel that audio is a weakness, as it doesn’t quite match the action of the film.
D. Effective Use of Film Language
Film language was effectively used throughout pre-production process within the treatment, script, two-column script, and location diagrams.
E. Originality & Creativity
Cinematography and editing were original and creative. There could have been more creativity in the narrative, as I believe that the narrative is the strongest part of a film and is what makes a good film. There could have also been more creativity in the audio. Instead of using copyrighted audio, or audio from the audio library in our film class, we could have created our own audio in our new Logic sound studio. The film as a whole could only be original to some extent as we were trying to copy the film noir genre conventions.
F. Connections to Film Noir
Our film is clearly a film noir film. In terms of acting, our female character is a femme fatale. She uses one guy to get to another and uses her sexuality to manipulate men. She has power and control over the men she is around. Also, the theme of betrayal is present throughout as the girl cheats on her boyfriend. Some of the camera work is handheld and a large amount of the film is shot at nighttime. The audio creates suspense too and establishes the femme fatale. The lighting is amazing as it lights up the characters in a creepy way very similar to how the lighting was used in the original film noir films. Overall, this short film that we have created does fit under the genre of film noir and uses many of the genre conventions.
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