Mise En Scene - Dress Up

Even though my avert/sponsorship sequence is in the style of mine en scene, it was important for me to take mine en scene into consideration still as features can still be picked out in black and white - lipstick, darker make-up around eyes etc. 

Before Scripting a Radio Advert

Before scripting my radio advert, I decided to look at pervious students work who had selected the same brief that I am currently doing. The radio advert only has to be roughly 30 seconds long, but I still have to consider audio in the background, a person talking for my radio advert and how I am going to promote my product in 30 seconds through the radio. It is harder to promote a physical product through radio advertisement as consumers cannot physically see the product itself whereas promoting a service would be easier as they do not have to visualise what the product would look like. Linking it with my particular product, as it is a perfume I am advertising, I am going to have to cleverly work out how I am going to entice and engage people to listen to my radio advert as perfume is something that needs to be seen and smelt in person to decide whether you like it or not, therefore I am going to choose wisely my choice of words and music to try and engage potential consumers.

This is an example of a previous students radio advert, promoting a service called 'Emerald Events'. From this radio advertisement, this service is specifically for planning Wedding events.  The audio in the background really compliments the fact that this is a service for planning Weddings, although there is a male that speaks at the beginning, it is particularly feminine sounding due to the soft piano music playing. Moreover, it is automatically more feminine due to the fact the service about Weddings - stereotypically a more feminine event to be more interested and involved in. A male and female speak within the duration of the 30 seconds which I thought was effective as Weddings are about partnership and supposed to be an event which involves two people. 

Looking at an example of a radio advertisement has influenced me and given me ideas of what information I should include, making sure I keep it short and sweet. As this was an advert for a service, I am going to look at a radio advert promoting a physical product to see if there are any major differences in how they are promoted. 

Lighting Techniques - Film Noir

The common thread of film noir lighting is low key lighting - a style called Chiaroscuro in the art world. Chiaroscuro emphasised shadows and harsh lighting to create  sense of depth and volume in painting. Cinematographers working in the classical film era sought to do the same thing - trying to overcome the bland flatness that bright black and white film could have if there's not much contrast. 

A Three Point Set Up

The most important light of all is key light, this is usually the brightest and most dominant light of a setup. With the key light, complementing it is the 'fill light' which is commonly placed opposite of the key light to fill in some of the shadows left. The final light of the three point set up is the back light - this light adds and outline to separate the subject of the background. In Film Noir, the prominent lighting is always going to be the key and the back light. Fill light is not as important or dominant as exaggeration of contrast is important to get that low key look.

'Hard' and 'Soft' Lights

The hardness or softness of a light is the type of shadow it creates. Hard lights leave sharp edged shadows. Soft lights leave fuzzy shadows and are created by a larger area of light. Out of the two, hard shadows define the 'film noir' look. Soft lighting is used more conservatively, often glamorising female characters. Non film-noir productions, eye light is used to add reflection to the eyes. Film Noir often isolates this light illuminating only the eyes and brow to get a dramatic look. Below is an example of how only her eyes and brows are highlighted, emphasising the expression and emotion she is showing. 

Audio of Avril's Songs

As well as Avril featuring in my perfume advert, she has also recorded three songs that could potentially feature in my advert also. She is to record another song this week called 'I Wish The Same To You' which out of all of them is my favourite so far. The three songs Avril has recorded, have been composed and written by herself. I am unsure whether I am going to get Avril to mime over the top of the pre-recorded song during the advert or whether it is going to just be playing in the background. 

Head Shots of Avril - not finished

I took some head shots of Avril Tricker as she is the only character that is going to be in my advert.  This week, I am going to take head shots of her again but in her costume and make-up. This will then enable me to talk about the mise-en-scene of my character and talk about how I would like her to look for my perfume advert. 

Locations

Before starting to film, I have to take locations into consideration. As I am doing a film noir advert, I think that locations is a very important aspect of making a successful advert in the style of film noir. The typical location of a film noir is normally set in remote/abandoned areas, empty streets and alleyways. As I am producing an advert in the style of film noir, I don't necessarily feel that I would need to locate my setting in one of these areas. I think this because my advert is only going to be roughly 30 seconds long and due to it being a perfume advert, I am looking to focus primarily on my female character and perfume bottle itself, using a lot of close up's.