TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH- Conclusion

Who is your target audience?

After analysing my questionnaire answers I have realised that my Film Noir movie will defiantly be targeted at males varying from teenagers to middle age. I have learned that females have very little interest in Film Noir as only one of the three females I asked had actually watched a Film Noir movie. While all the males I asked apart from two had watched a film noir movie and where able to draw out key aspects on what makes this type of production unique. There was no connection however with gender as there where British, Italian and Asian people that had watched a film noir movie and there were British and Palestinian people who had not.

What will they require from your film noir?

Out of the ten people I asked to fill in my questionnaire, only six had seen film noir movies and where able to describe what they believed the important aspects are to a good film noir. They all put down females as a pivotal part of a film noir movies; they have all recognised that a good film noir has some sort of story based on the femmefetals sex appeal or her determination to decisive and cause havoc. Three of the six people put down black and white, as one of the iconic aspects of a film noir movie. They have all recognised that for a film noir to have the desired effect on the audience it needs to be filmed in black and white. Four of the six have put down either gangster or mafia boss as a important aspect of a film noir, this is as they all represent the role of a typical film noir villain; heartless, ruthless and very cruel. Another aspect that has been mentioned a few times is sex, the viewers obviously recognise that good film noir movies either have a lot of relevance on sex or the sex appeal of the female character. Other aspects that have been mentioned is cars, money, death and weapons.

Make your conclusions about the target audience for film-noir in general

In general film noir movies are targeted at males who's ages varies from teenage years to middle age. They are aimed at people who love thrilling, edge off the seat style films that are not squeamish and that do not get intimidated by gruesome story lines.

TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH- Questionnaire

Questionnaire About Your Opinion on Film Noir Movies

The Widows Deat

The name for the film is The Widows Deat

Our Film

Charcter Bio's

Ray Stoner
35
Detective
Wife and one daughter
Independent
Smokes
Used to be abit of a lad when he was younger
Spent time in jail
Determind not to go back having created a good life for himself

Venessa Poliavin
25
Seductive
Filrtaious
Likes the colour red (represents her personaility)
Has a gambling habbit shared by her late husband
Widowed
Husbands dept with casino passed to her
Troubled
Atrractive

Vincent Retegecho
30
Assain
Hired by the casino to go after the women
Smooth
Gentle
Calm and composed
Smartly dressed
Very dangrous (no compation)

Plot

The story is set in an urban city; where late at night we have a women who is despretly trying to escape the boss of the big city casino. Her and her late husband have raked up astronamical depts which she is unable to pay off, so after plenty of warning, she decides to flee the big city. As she is running away, despreate not to be seen by anyone with any connection to the casino, she bumps into our detective. She pleades her case to him and asks for his help, despite initally wanting to help her, he does not want to get into trouble again so he decides not to get involved. He says, "Not my problem lady," However does he return later on? The opening concludes with the lady running down a back street alley, only to realise its a deadend and before she can react, she bumps into the smooth talking assain. She instantly reconises the danger, as he pulls out a gun a bullet is fired. Only for the assain to hit the floor. What happened? The lady screams at a shadow, "No! What have you done!"
The identity of this person is not revealed in the opening. So who is he? Why did he help? Why was she so angered by the death of the assain? What is actually going on?

Similar Products- Film Noir Posters

All film Noir posters have certain characteristics and conventions that make them as unique as they currently are, they all have certain colours that dominate it and they all have to be designed in a certain way. For example if you have a look at the posters above they all are dominated by one stand out colour. This colour is usually red, this is because red represents danger and excitement; just like the characters and the stories in film noir movies. They are all artistically drawn by hand and all have a great amount of detail in facial expressions. This is most probably due to the production year of these films, done way before the ages of high powered movie technology. They are all hand drawn to get the image that the producer wants and the correct editing software, to produce the specific moment and effect that he is looking for.

The characters that are featured in these posters are another interesting topic for discussion, there is always a dominant male featured in it; most probably the detective or journalist and a very attractive, yet highly seductive lady. This is done to represent the genre that is film noir, a genre famous for their heroic detective and influential women. The way that the women is portrayed though however varies from film to film, is some off the films the women is starts out as villain with her primarily objective being to distort the hero from his main objective. In some films should would be a very attractive lady that has a genuinely romantic relationship with the detective and there are someone where the women starts out as a villain, but eventually converts into goodie after some sort of relationship with the hero. This is why the women is portrayed differently through each poster; with the first telling us that the women is highly unlikely to be a villain due to her bright yellow dress and unthreatening posture, however the same can-not be said for the lady in the 2^nd or 3^rd poster. The Lady in both of those looks very menacing, very seductive and very powerful; this is because of the bright red dress, bright red lipstick and confident pose. While the lady on the 4^th and 5^th poster seems to give the audience an air of uncertainty about their characters. Even though they are both wearing red lipstick and both have very reserved frowns there identity is somewhat hidden due to the reluctance to put the rest of them on the poster. These pictures both give out mixed signals to who the lady actually is.

My Group

My Group Members for this Film Noir Product aree Jamie Stone and Aaron Parmenter

Similar Products- Film Noir Movies

Sin City-

Sin City is a very popular, very modern adaptation of Film Noir movie. Directed by Frank Miller and realised in 2005, it is a movie that has the connotations to being your typical film noir plot. Firstly the film is set in black and white, even though it has been created in the modern era, the directors have decided to retain a adaptation that makes film noir movies so unique. Unlike your average film, Sin City has four different stories going on at once, that also interchange between each other. In the opening scene the anti hero in this case is a very charming, yet very brutal assassin; who is named by the film as the salesman, he is soft yet deadly is the best way to describe such a person. Minimal lighting is used in this very urban, very busy city; the only real flash of colour is her dress, which remains red throughout the whole notion of the scene. This highlights the women’s very seductive, very flirtatious nature which is a unique film noir quality. Her eyes are also briefly shined in colour when he starts describing them. The shots throughout this scene are varied between extreme high or low shots, with the very opening shot being an extremely high shot and the very last also being a extreme high shot. In film noir movies the shots are always on the extreme of each other. And lastly the kill itself is very clean, no blood is shown and he ends it by saying “I’ll cash her check in the morning,” a very smooth, yet very brutal ending.

The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon is a very famous film noir movie that was made in 1941, from its opening scene it has all the settings that portrays a natural film noir film. Set in Black and White, it is a dark and tedious opening with minimal lighting and a lot of low angle shots, to represent the tenacity of the meeting. Both men who are involved in the scene could be seen as the anti-heroes in this film. Firstly the man that walked in with the walking stick was giving the other person a proposal on some sort of doggy deal where there are no questions asked, he always informed him of the £5000 reward if the process where to be completed. This represents that they are both untrustworthy; firstly the gentleman with the stick for proposing the deal and the other man for considering it. But when the scene develops a nasty twist when the man proposing the deal withdraws a gun, threatening the other one, before he gets pouched in the face. This proves that they are both anti-heroes with a evil streak about them, who are prepared to go to large lengths in order to benefit themselves. There is not too much emphasis on the women in the opening scene, however there still is one. An extravagantly dressed attractive woman that is also the secretary of the gentleman considers the proposed deal.

Double Indemnity

This is a film noir film with a slightly different outlook about it. It is set in an urban city and it does use a lot of high and low angle shots like your normal film noir movie, however way that the story is portrayed is slightly different. The scene starts off with a significant usage of low angle shots, then progressing to an extreme high angle shot as the man enters the building. This man is later revealed as anti-hero, this is discovered when he makes an anonymous looking call to someone with a confession. This confession is based on a killing, this killing took place for them money and a women, the two factors that make a film noir film what it is, the two main features of any film noir movie. Little would anyone have thought on the start of the scene, that this ordinary looking insurance salesman could be involved in such a crime of passion and greed.  

Strangers on a train

A stranger on a train, produced in 1951, has a slightly more low key opening sequence than other film noir movies. Throughout the whole scene the two characters in which the camera was following never revealed their faces and the audience never got to see them from the front on, until they met each other on the train. This style of filming may not be as over whelming as other film noir openings; with no seductive girl, or no anti-hero, however though it is just as powering. By representing the two characters like this, it leaves an air of mystery about them, and it gives us a good sense of direction on there characters. The one with the bright shoes is going to be rather more extravagant and rather more overpowering than the one with the black clumpy shoes. The fact that they make their way towards each other shows that they are strangers, but when they bump into each other on the train that represents a connection, the start of an alliance.

Pick Up on South Street

This starts off as a standard film noir movie, plenty of questions and not many answers. The opening sequence is based in an urban setting, along an inner city train which is currently very busy. There are two characters in which the camera is focused on; it shows throughout a whole range of camera angles, starting off with a low camera angle, then developing onto a mid shot, before ending with a high angle shot, as they approach the end of the journey. There is a tall young man and a bald old man; they both seem taken aback by an attractive young lady who is also on the train.  The older man rather more so than the younger man, as he spots the robbery that occurs when the anti-her approaches the lady and takes her purse without her realising. He was the first to rush on ad attempt to catch the thief, who escaped as the doors shut. This is a typical film noir beginning, where a anti-hero is discover, a attractive lady seduces the attention of three males and where money is the focal point for the villain.

All genuine film noir movies have the same ingredients to make it as successful as possible. They are all filmed in black and white, even if they were produced and filmed in the present day and they are set in a busy urban city. The personalities of each of the characters are revealed as well; the anti hero is revealed, these are usually detectives or businessmen they are usually well respected, well introduced people who have a nasty agenda or a score to settle. They also include a seductive, flirtatious female who is either in trouble, causing the trouble or is the one with the deadly fate. And at the end, the final kill or the “Big kill,” as was described in sin city is usually clean, well planned and immaculately executed. Although the ingredients for film noir movies never change, they remain unique to the audience as excitement of the film comes through the whole process of building up the story, off planning the execution and making sure that all the loose ends are tied up. It is one of the only type of film genres where a predictable ending does not matter to the audience.

Similar Products

Definition of a Film Noir: Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Its style or genre of cinematographic film is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace.

Film Noir conventions:
Black and white
Anti hero- usually plays a detective
Minimal lighting
Urban setting
Seductive/flirtatious/attractive female
Interesting angles (extreme high and low angles)
"Clean" murders (no blood)