Question 5 - How did you attract/ address your audience?

Our film will attract audiences because it fulfils the Noir genre. Our film uses many conventions of a Noir film such as the use of a glamorous femme fatale and the use of enigma (for example the contents of the bag is unknown, also known as a McGuffin). The fulfilment of the Noir genre therefore creates familiarity for fans of the Noir genre, ultimately attracting a larger audience. To avoid being too boring or predictable however we challenged some conventions. For example, we constructed a very strong female character who is a head of the criminal underworld. The challenged conventions create a more unique film so audiences wont be bored. We used Chekhov's Gun, enigmas and a McGuffin to related to the genre

We used pleasant aesthetics to attract our audience. For example, we edited saturation on our film to create a cold, clean and glossy look to our film. The saturation enhances the costume worn by Serena and the glamorous colour and dress will attract an audience that is interested in aesthetics. The location is also attractive in that the house has two large pillars.

Serena's costume standing out against
the background.

An example of the colour palette we
used

The location.

Our film only had 2 characters however we used the two characters to show representational pleasures. Our female character, Serena, is a strong and intelligent female that does not need a man to help her. Serena's strength is shown through the props used: the lipstick is represents the danger Serena possesses and the knife is a symbol of strength and danger. Serena challenges the female stereotype in film and will therefore attract audiences who are looking for a different representation of women.
As well as this, men are shown as smart due to Mordecai's competency with a lock pick and his ability to locate the bag quickly.

Example of Chekhov's Gun

We also used thematic pleasures to attract an audience. For example, we created a story line including betrayal and manipulation as it is interesting to watch. As well as this we also placed the events in a world of criminality and danger to create a sense of tension and unpredictability. We also created an enigmatic character to draw the audience into the world of "Serena" and cause them to develop an interest in the characters. The enigmas used throughout cause the audience to want the answers to them. We also used Chekhov's Gun to conform to the genre and to intrigue the audience. We had to construct our character within 2 minutes in order to interest the audience quickly. We layered a wind chime sound in a minor key over the top of scenes with Serena to present her as psychologically unstable. This attracts an audience as psychological films (such as "Se7en") have gained popularity recently so by creating a psychologically unstable character the audience will be interested in the narrative. By using Chekhov's Gun we intrigued the audience and left them wanting to know what the gun will be for. At the end of the opening we leave the audience wondering what happened and why, attracting our audience.

Question 6- What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing this product?

Pre-production

Before filming we had to plan and research our genre. We did this by watching openings to thrillers on youtube. Youtube is a great new technology as it shows suggested and related videos after you watch one and therefore allows you to watch more related content. The suggested videos allowed us to research more openings that were relevant to thrillers and once we chose our sub genre (film noir) we could find more precise openings and develop a better understanding of our genre. Youtube also allowed us to watch previous openings and preliminary tasks so we could get an idea of how we can film an opening with limited resources and time. 

We also have used Blogger to help develop and construct our thriller. Blogger has allowed for communication between media students and has helped to showcase my coursework with ease as Blogger is not difficult to use. Blogger has allowed me to collaborate on posts with other students. For example, Blogger allows embedding and there prezis can be embedded. Prezis can be made public and allow for more than one person to contribute. 

Blogger is ideal for coursework as it prevents any loose pieces of paper from going missing and it is neat, making coursework look presentable and keeping coursework in one spot. By using Blogger it shows our competency with media products.

An example of an embedded post

Blogger has also allowed for essays and coursework to be more specific in detail as it allows embedding of different media forms. For example, Blogger allows for Prezis, pictures, Scribd, Souncloud and more to be embedded into a post. By embedding different forms of media I can support my points or refer to the embedded piece to create a stronger argument. By embedding a Prezi I can change the prezi and its contents without altering the actual blog post itself. If I wanted to edit a prezi I would edit it on the prezi website and any changes would be shown on the post without having to alter the actual post on Blogger. 

In order to create a successful opening we had to use sound and were therefore introduced to copyright free music. The website which we mainly used is called FreeSound and allowed us to find suitable sound effects and background pieces to use in our opening without using copyrighted music. Some diegetic sounds such as the gun shot we could not record ourselves and therefore needed to find the sound. FreeSound allowed us to do find the sound and edit it into our film. If we could not access these sounds then we would not have the sufficient sounds and the ending of our film would not make sense as the gunshot is important for our plot. We also used FreeSound to find a tension-building background sound to create excitement and without the background sound our film would lack any real excitement. 

Production

Due to the advances in technology we were able to film using a Canon HD camera provided by the school. The small cameras provided HD footage which contributed to the professionalism of our film. The size of the cameras allowed for easy movement and filming during production therefore making filming an easier process especially as we had to re-shoot 3 times. 

The cameras were very easy to use as they use a very simple "point-and-shoot" premise allowing for an easy filming process. The SD card can be put in and taken out quickly allowing for a smooth and easy filming process. In addition to this, the camera allowed us to view our shots as we filmed allowing us to determine whether the shot we just filmed was good enough. 

We also used a SD card with 6GB of space. The SD card was extremely helpful as all our footage was saved to it and it was stored on the memory stick in a format where it was ordered by date. This was instrumental in allowing us to complete the thriller within the time schedule. The SD card is also small and easy to use as all we had to do was put it in the SD card port and then film. There was no additional action required once the SD card was put in. 

Post-production

Moviola

Once all our footage was filmed we had to edit our film. We used an editing software called adobe premier. The software had everything we needed as it allowed us to trim the shots, edit the saturation, add music, overlay and more. The software was difficult to use initially however after the first few days editing we became more used to it and it was easy to use. Adobe premier is a non-linear piece of software and allowed us to edit any scene from our film in any order therefore allowing us to fix any problems easier. The software also allowed us to be more creative in our editing by allowing us to overlay sound from different shots onto other shots.  Over the course of editing we have gone from a beginner to adept. 

Also, digital editing has replaced analogue editing, making it easier to edit. Analogue editing was introduced first and was a linear way of editing a film. The raw footage would be cut and pasted into an order and then went through a machine called a Moviola. The evolution from analogue to digital editing has allowed the film industry to create more creative films.

We also used DaFont.com to find appropriate fonts to conform to our genre. This website allowed us to search through thousands of different and unique fonts to find the most suitable. We found fonts which suited our genre well and without this website our film would lack any professionalism or any signs it is a film noir genre.

The new technology is allowing for more amateur film makers to try and produce independent films. Blogspot for example allows for more individuals interested in media to collaborate easily on productions. New technology is empowering film makers as cameras are not as expensive as they used to be and there is much more editing software available globally for anyone to buy so filming and producing is available to everyone.

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your thriller?

 Our film is more intellectual and less mainstream than most thrillers as we want to break away from the conventions of a normal thriller. The sophisticated plot (the betrayal of Serena, the manipulation of Mordecai by Serena, Serena's "damsel in distress" façade etc) requires a level of intelligence.

Question 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?

                                         How could digital technology offer new distribution opportunities?
In the recent years there has been an increase in the use of online streaming services such as Netflix, LoveFilm and Mubi. These services allow for an easy access to films and similar films. For example; our film has roots in film noir and if our film were on Netflix if an individual enjoyed watching film noirs then our film would be suggested. Similarly LoveFilm does this however LoveFilm have an exclusive partnership with Studio Canal so LoveFilm can distribute Studio Canal on their website. The online distribution would allow our film to reach a larger audience.

The distributor which would most likely to distribute our film would be Studio Canal as it focuses on glamorous films which are low budget and will excel best in Europe. Our film has British elements (such as the location and costume) and therefore Studio Canal would be the best distributor for our film.

Chosen Location

We originally chose a large antique-like house in Hellesdon due to the aesthetically pleasing attributes it possesses, such as the grand size. However, after our first shoot went rather awful we decided to choose a second location closer to where we live and therefore we chose one of our houses due to the easy access.


The Mulbarton house is not as big as the Hellesdon house however the easy access allows us to re-shoot and film the best shots in a quick time to fit our time schedule. The house also has a large bedroom to allow us to film in using a tripod comfortably and get shots which are not achieved by using a handheld camera. The bedroom also has a bed which has space underneath it where we can place the bag. The bedroom fit our storyboard well and we did not need to redraft our storyboard.

Before we filmed we took a few pictures of the location to see how it would look when we did film.

Practice shot 2

Practice shot 3

Practice shot 1

Final shot (practice shot 3

Potential Locations

Hellesdon house

The only things that we require for our opening of a thriller is a house and an alley.

We have discussed many location choices, this includes:
Hellesdon house- This would be an ideal location for our thriller opening because it maintains an antique look which creates a sophisticated visual. The reason that this is useful is because we are trying to follow conventions of Film Noir as that is where most of our inspiration came from.
This house also has an alley next to it and so it covers that portion of our requirements as well.

Hellesdon bannister

We also needed a staircase as we wanted to use the bannisters to create connotations of prison and therefore criminality.

Another factor about this house is that it has many rooms and so there is variety and choices when we are filming about how we want the shots to look. We believe the more control we have, the better our film opening will come out.
However a limiting factor is that it's relatively far away from where we live and so the likelihood of everyone getting to the same location all in the same day makes it difficult to film and re-shoot should we need to. 

Mulbarton house- This house is similar to the one above in the sense that it look quite antique however this house isn't as big and so we are limited with variation. Another problem is that the rooms look similar and so we would have to move locations when shooting the shots of "Serena". We would shoot these shots in another house and the p

ositive of this is that it isn't too far from the original house and so it is achievable.
The advantages to this house is that it is close to everyone in the group and it is easy to get there and back to our own houses which makes more time for us to film all f the shot we need. Also, there is a long driveway which can be seen as an alley. The long driveway allows for our opening shots to be much more effective as the extra space allows us to indent our font much easier. 
Despite the house not necessarily fitting the film noir genre, this house may be the best choice due to the accessibility of the location and the availability to re-shoot any footage we have to.
There is also a staircase with bannisters which will contribute to the film noir genre we are trying to achieve due to the bar-like bannisters.
 Also, there is a long driveway which can be seen as an alley. The long driveway allows for our opening shots to be much more effective as the extra space allows us to indent our font much easier. 

'Serena' - Thriller Final Cut

Question 2- How does your thriller opening represent gender? (edited)

We decided to challenge thriller conventions and create a strong female rather than a generic "damsel in distress" female. We did this by taking inspiration from "Double Indemnity's" femme fatale and

Mordecai's walking shot.

Serena's walking shot.

placing her in a position of power. The female is strongest in the opening and we did this by using a low angle close up of her to place her in a superior position, therefore presenting her as strong. We also reinforced her power by mirroring the low close up shot of Mordecai walking but we used a mid shot and therefore Serena was more present in the shot therefore placing her in a position of strength over Mordecai. We also used two props to place Serena in a position of power. The first is a large knife which she uses as a mirror.The knife is a physical reflection of Serena herself as the knife is used as a mirror, showing her femininity as she uses the reflection for her make-up, and the knife is a dangerous weapon, showing her sinister and dangerous personality. The second prop we used is the small gun Serena uses to shoot Mordecai. The gun is small and is symbolic of Serena as she is underestimated due to her appearance however she is deadly (shown by her murdering Mordecai).

We also have portrayed women as deceitful by taking inspiration from "Double Indemnity" and "The Killers". This is done by the betrayal of Mordecai from Serena as Mordecai believed he had betrayed Serena however she was just playing a larger game which resulted in Mordecai's death. The deceit is reinforced by the camerawork. We did not show Serena's full face in order to reflect how Mordecai sees her- nothing but a seductive voice who gives orders. There are no shots where Serena's entire face is shown, presenting her as deceitful as she is not showing her full face and she commands her "minions" to do things for her. The face is symbolic for identity and by not showing Serena's face we are covering up her identity, reflecting the premise for criminality which is to not be caught or seen.

We also presented males as intelligent by taking inspiration from "The Third Man's" Harry Lime. The costume Mordecai wore is a smart suit to show his wealth he has amassed by committing crimes and heists. It is clear to the audience that he is a professional thief by his use of the lock pick and therefore it is evident he has stolen before. His intelligence is reinforced by the swift location of the bag inside the house upon entry, showing his sharp intellect and experience when it comes to thievery.

Final shot of our thriller in which
Serena catches Mordecai and
kills him.

Males are also presented as gullible and susceptible to females. This is done by the blocking in the final shot as Mordecai is placed between Serena's legs and Serena appears larger than Mordecai. This places Mordecai in a trapped scenario and places Serena in an empowered scenario, reflecting the power imbalance and the betrayal of Mordecai (the show can be seen below).

Our red lipstick shot

"The Killers'" red lipstick shot. This
inspired our shot of Serena above.

Serena and her red dress, walking
towards the house with a gun.

We also portrayed women as dangerous and therefore submitting to the generic femme fatale in the film noir genre. We used a red lipstick for our character, Serena, as the lips are associated with softness however the strong red colour has connotations of danger and therefore remove any softness or innocence from Serena. This therefore presents Serena as dangerous as she uses her femininity as a disguise for her dangerous side. The red lipstick we used was inspired by "The Killers'" femme fatale. The comparison between our shot and The Killers shows the similarity in colour and the attention the red commands. The red not only symbolises danger but seductiveness. Therefore the lipstick is a physical manifestation of Serena's danger, femininity and seductiveness, presenting women as powerful due to the plethora of traits exhibited by Serena. The power that women exude in our thriller is enhanced by the only male being easily manipulated and killed by Serena. Red is also adorned by Serena and therefore places her in an ever more powerful dangerous position. The red dress draws the audience's eye to it as the colour of the rest of the shot is cold and gritty whereas the red juxtaposes against it, placing Serena in a position of power as she is effectively disrupting the cold shot with the heat of the red.

Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? (edited)

Q1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The thriller we produced is predominantly film noir and we have used and challenged convention of the genre in order to create a unique thriller opening.

Location

Figure 1

We drew inspiration from "Double Indemnity" for the location so we selected a house with a set of stairs with bannisters. The shot of the female coming down the stairs only showing her feet was interesting which is why we used that as inspiration for the shot in figure 1. The bannisters look like jail bars and places our character in a claustrophobic situation therefore showing the intensity and tension of the situation. We also primarily shot inside a house for our opening in a similar way to "Double Indemnity" as the small selection of locations places the character in a claustrophobic situation to portray him as trapped. The trapped character idea is inspired by "The Third Man" narrative when Harry Lyme is cornered by the police in the sewers.

We also used a large house to show the importance and value inside of the house and therefore the gravity of the heist. The large house also reflects our main character's skill as he is breaking into a large house in order to retrieve a bag which is our McGuffin. The location allows some light to be present in shots.


The opening shots of our opening was inspired by the location of the "Essex Boys" however we were not able to incorporate a
vanishing point as we wanted the road to reflect the death of our character at the end of the opening. The location is different to our location however the premise is still the same as there is still a long road.

The house used.

We tried to conform to the film noir conventions for our location but found it difficult to find a location suitable enough for it. Ultimately, we used a large house which had pillars and a long drive as it was the best location we could film at which would suit the film noir style. The house's pillars show the wealth within the house and reflect Mordecai's level of skill as he is breaking into a wealthy house.

Costume

Figure 2

Our costume was inspired by the "Sin City" opening as the red dress has connotations of allure, passion and danger. The dress is perfectly symbolic for our femme fatale as Serena is an empowered and seductive woman who is always ahead of the game. We also took inspiration from "Gilda" for the shoes as the shoes were high and appeared strong which reflects Serena's high reputation in the criminal underworld and her strength in the underworld.

Harry Lyme, "The Third Man". Inspiration
for our character, Mordecai

Mordecai and his costume

For our male we were inspired by "The Third Man" as we wanted to portray our main character as a professional at what he does. The classy costume shows that Mordecai is sophisticated due to his knowledge of heists (shown by his use of the lock pick). The shoes are conventional for film noir as they are black and leather to show the hidden and reserved personality of Mordecai. Also, the white shirt worn underneath Mordecai's blazer is symbolic of Mordecai's moral ambiguity. Mordecai was planning on betraying Serena to stop Serena's criminal influence so the white shows the balance of good and evil within Mordecai. The matching suit reflects how much income Mordecai has- he is a well funded thief. This presents Mordecai once again as professional at what he does.

Sound

We initially had planned to find a jazz sound track however due to various copyright laws we were unable to find a soundtrack fitting of 1930 film noir opening. Due to this we had to adapt and we used simple sounds such as a deep cinematic rumble and a loop of soft drums to build tension. Despite the sound challenging film noir conventions the purpose was served adequately and tension is built.

We used a long low rumble sound throughout our piece to illicit the tension that is present throughout our entire opening. The non diegetic rumble creates an impending tone as the audience subtly learn that something will happen to Mordecai as he is the first character shown.

We also used a non-diegetic wind chime sound whenever Serena was in shot during the phone call to portray her as psychologically unstable and therefore the reasoning behind the eventual murder she commits of Mordecai. The wind chimes are in a minor key and therefore have connotations of evil. The non-diegetic sound of the wind chimes only accompanies Serena and therefore is associated with her. The wind chimes do not conform to thriller conventions as they are in a minor key, presenting Serena as morally evil and challenging the generic female characters in thrillers. We also had to use a phone beep noise when Mordecai ended the call with Serena to add to the continuity and reality of the film as our film is meant to be set in a more criminal version of the real world.
Props

We used a large knife for Serena to use as a mirror for her make-up and by doing so we challenged film noir conventions. Normally, the females do not possess a knife however we wanted to portray Serena as strong and dangerous so by giving her a knife we can show her as dangerous however we decided to use the knife as a mirror to fit in with the stereotypical look-obsessed femme fatales in film noirs such as "Sin City" and "Gilda". The knife is a symbol of danger and femininity, representing the femme fatale archetype itself.

We also used a small gun to be an embodiment of Serena's character as the gun is small and would therefore be underestimated however it can still be lethal. Serena is underestimated due to her being a female however she proves to be dangerous as she ultimately kills Mordecai. We also used Chekhov's gun in order to show the film noir genre.

The item Mordecai locates is a bag containing something unknown to the audience. The bag therefore acts as our mcguffin and leaves the audience wondering what is in the bag that is worth Mordecai betraying Serena for.The mcguffin also incorporates a sense of enigma, another film noir convention, and envelops the opening in mystery thus creating suspense in our opening in order to be entertaining.

Camerawork

Our camerawork was heavily influenced by different film noirs. For example, the shot of the knife, lipstick and phone on the table was inspired by "The Disappearance of Alice Creed", "Coffee and Cigarettes
" and "Se7en". The neat organised shot reflects Serena as she is organised and she is an important presence in the criminal underworld. The organised and neat display of props shows Serena as prepared for anything and therefore presenting her as professional at what she does.

Coffee and Cigarettes bird eye view
shot

Se7en bird eye view shot

"Serena" bird eye view shot

Serena's copied side walking shot

The original side walking shot

We also recycled the side walking shot of Mordec
ai when Serena walks towards the house. The recycled shot shows Serena is following Mordecai however more of her body is seen and therefore she takes up more of the shot, reflecting her power over Mordecai.

Storyboard

1

2

3

4

Rough Cut

The rough cut is in very early stages and we have identified the various issues we need to fix (sound, satuartion, the lack of excitement etc.).

Soundtrack of "Se7en's" opening

The sound of "Se7en's" opening changes between a homophonic and polyphonic texture with no warning. The irregular changes creates connotations of inconsistency which may reflect the psychopathic nature of the mysterious character in the opening. The texture is never definite and uses the same instruments which could reflect the character's constant physical form (instruments) and his changing mental form (texture). The changing texture creates an uneasy feeling and places the audience in a vulnerable position as the random texture changes leave the audience in a state of confusion as they do not know when the texture will change.

The radio static and theremin used are unusual sounds which are not used in society today. This may reflect the abnormality of the character shown in the opening. The abnormal instruments therefore present the character as abnormal which suggests the character is a serial killer with a mental disorder.

The use of crescendos and diminuendos suggests that the character in the opening may have a mental order such as schizophrenia. The different sound dynamics may reflect the character's multiple personalities. This may foreshadow the character's psychopathic tendencies and how the character is the main suspect of the film and one of his split personalities is the cause of the murders.

As well as various tracks in the opening, sound effects such as creaks were layered too. The creaks have connotations of uneasiness therefore reflecting the uneasiness of Detective Sommersett. The detective has began to lose himself after his years of criminology and the creaks may reflect his old age as creaks has connotations with derelict and broken houses. This therefore compares the detective with a house which portrays the detective as aged and close to his own death.

The ideas which could be incorporated into our own thriller include the various creaks. The creaks have connotations of tension which we can use to reflect the tension of the scene. 

Choosing Fonts

Film Title Fonts

(From top left to bottom middle) Font A, Font B, Font C, Font D, Font E

For the title we found 5 different fonts which each had potential to be our final font. Font A was simple and would not be lost in editing. The drawback is that the font lacks any character; there are no serifs to make it appear exciting or reflect the film. Font B, although it has serifs, it does not suit the genre due to the sharp and scratched serifs. Font C has elegant serifs and it isn't so thin that it would be lost in editing. It suits the character's sophisticated and beautiful aesthetic allowing for the audience to develop an understanding of the character quickly. Font D is similar to font C however it is bolder and has more curled serifs stemming off the letters. It is slightly overwhelming for the eye as the serifs are more apparent and bold. Lastly, Font E is elegant, intellectual and subtle. However, the font is too transparent and can be easily lost in editing making it less desirable.

Company Name

We chose this font for our company name because it is clear enough to appear in our opening when it is integrated.The font is also a simplistic font making it easy to read. This is our definite chosen font as it has slim serifs extending off the "S"'s and the elegant serifs contrast against the boldness of the rest of the "S" which is a subtly informs the audience of Serena's personality: a beautiful yet strong character.

Director Names

(From top to bottom) font F, font G, font H, font I 

Font F is formal and interesting. It is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and it fits the film noir conventions of formality. Font G has no serifs and it looks average. It doesn't fit any film noir conventions making it a poor choice for our opening. Font H is bolder than font F which makes it ideal as it would be easier to integrate into our opening. The font also has film Noir conventions due to the simplistic style. Lastly, font I is very slightly bolder than font I making it a good choice. Font I also relates to the film noir font conventions.

Treatment

Soft sunlight and a deep rumble seep across the shards of gravel. Blunt thuds creep down the gravelly road towards a house. An unknown man, void of colour, followed the thuds, adorning a jet black blazer that cascades down from his shoulders. Cut to a woman putting crimson lipstick on in the reflection of a sharp knife. The man stands in front of a large house as he holds his phone to his ear as he spoke to a female voice.
"Now do me a favour. Mordecai; fetch me that bag and don't get caught" she purred.
Mr Mordecai gave a grunt and put his phone away. Precarious and cautious, the man slithered towards the monolithic house's door, unsheathing a sword-like lock pick.With a few twists and jolts, he got in. Mordecai crawled around the house and located the bag in minutes. He managed to recover the bag and slipped out the house like a ghost, leaving no evidence behind. Mordecai however had his own ghost behind him. Emerging out of what seemed like no where a beautiful woman materialised behind Mordecai. Sudden gunshot sounds at the same time as a cut to black.

Influenced by "L.A Noir" and "Double Indemnity", the opening uses low-key lighting to establish characters as sinful, morally ambiguous and dangerous characters who don't follow the social norm.
The costumes have been heavily influenced by the colours used in "Sin City". For example, we are planning on using a similar costume the female wore in the opening as it is red which is a seductive and powerful colour. We use props to portray our femme fatale as dangerous, seductive and strong. The knife, lipstick and phone are all symbolic of the different aspects of Serena.
Our location has been influenced by "The Third Man" as the house we are planning to film at is an old house with a barred staircase in order to show German Expressionism. We use a variety of shots such as tilt shots and shot reverse shot in order to display a wide variety of shots.

Prezi Thriller Planning

(Edited) Character Planning

Main Character (1) - Mr Mordecai

Personality:

• Nationality: English, Northern accent
• Age: 28
• Aspects: Determined, headstrong, brave.
• Inspired by "Casino Royale's" presentation of Bond. Presented as morally ambiguous. 

Costume:

• Black/dull colours- Black colours have connotations of the criminal underground as the colours are used in conjunction with film noir aspects (such as long trench coats used in "The Third Man")
• Grey/ black trench coat. A long trench coat that reaches knees of Mordecai would be ideal as it would reflect Mordecai as Mordecai is reclusive. By using the coat to hide Mordecai we can use the coat to reflect Mordecai's selfish nature.
• Fedora-  inspired by "The Third Man's" costume. 

Possessions: 

• Phone - Used to contact Serena before robbing the house.
• Lock Picks- Lock picks have connotations of thievery and require skill to use. This presents Mordecai as an experience thief who has broken into numerous houses.
• Bag- This is going to be used as a McGuffin. The contents of the bag will be unknown to the audience which will create an enigma. The enigma, which is a film noir convention, will reflect Mordecai's enigmatic personality, 

Mordecai is one of the main characters of our opening. Mordecai is a masterful thief who only cares for himself. Being enlisted by Serena personally Mordecai struck up a deal to earn even more from his burglaries. Mordecai betrayed Serena's trust behind her back by planning to take the bag for himself however, unbeknownst to Mordecai, Serena knew about his plan and she catches him to turn him into jail.

Main Character (2) -  Serena 

Personality: 

• Nationality: English, strong English accent
• Age: 24
• Aspects: Seductive, strong, intelligent and beautiful. Serena is manipulative and uses others to do her bidding.
• Sees men as tools. Uses her henchmen to do her labour work. The real brains behind an operation.

Costume:

• Well-dressed- Shows her formality and how she runs the business. 
• Dress/skirt- Has connotations of femininity which will portray Serena as our femme fatale. 
• Big heels/ heel boots- High heels will place Serena in a position of power due to her increased height.

Possessions:

• Knife- Used as a mirror to put lipstick on. The knife has connotations of danger which reflects her dangerous nature. The mirror also shows the two sides of Serena: her feminine side she she shows first and her manipulative side no one sees.
• Phone
• Red lipstick- Has connotations of femininity to reinforce the 'femme fatale' and seductiveness of Serena.

Our film is named after her to show her strength. She is manipulative, seductive and toxic. She sees others as nothing but tools and instead of doing something herself she uses her various minions to them for her. She's an intelligent character and rakes in money through her underground empire. Using various thieves to bring her money whilst she offers them protection from her brutes.

Extras - Henchmen 

Personality:

• Nationality: English
• Age: 26
• Aspects: Strong, unintelligent, quiet
• Serena's "minions" that have fallen for Serena's looks. 

Costume: 

• Long black coats to fit the "Film Noir" style.
• Black trousers

Possessions:

• Guns
• Knives
• Bag

Unimportant characters. Serena's minions are used to capture for his betrayal of her trust.