PLANNING : initial mindmap

A key inspiration we found was the notorious gang led by Al Capone during the 1930s and his signature dress to impress way of going about things. We saw him as a good example to base the villain of our story on as he once ruled San Francisco which was the style of approach we wanted to take with our antagonist. As we built on the idea of gangs and Al Capone, we began to draw out the world in which we wanted the plot to inhabit. We then thought of well-known cities that have been filled with gangs, such as New York and Chicago. Although, we still believed that it would be a good idea to directly set the plot in this already existing cities. This would allow us to use existing history around them and create our own history to help with the world-building in our story. After that, we began to look at possible characters and started merging the ideas for Film Noir and Al Capone's empire.

We decided to use many stereotypes to convey the Film Noir aesthetic. This is going to mainly be achieved by making the video monochrome (black and white) as this was conventional at the time as the colour video hadn't been invented. The mind map showing our thought process for this is below.

PLANNING : treatment

I learned from Frank Ash, the creative consultant at the BBC academy about what Digital Storytelling: how to connect with an audience through a relevant story to create suspense and anticipation. Frank devised this into a series of questions, in which you have to answer in your piece. These questions were: The Top line, and the Big question. 
Frank later went on to explain that when making a production you must work out what you as an audience member would want from a story. He also talks about how you must put your self into the shoes of an audience member in order to discuss what universal themes or ideas you want to convey, that connect all humans together. 
If this can be achieved, it would mean that the audience would be able to relate to your main message and can really understand the production later on. They might even be able to put themselves into your story. This all comes under the umbrella idea of social trends.
He finishes off by saying, if you can answer all these questions, you will be more confident when coming to making decisions about your own productions. 

When thinking of ideas for our production, we found that murder mystery had been in the news recently as the film 'Knives out' had started its advertising campaign and started gaining momentum. This gave us the inspiration to use the enigma genre, and we brainstormed our USP, and decided to reignite the love for Film Noir and use that approach. 

We then came up with our Top Line and Big Question:

Top Line: On a cold night, a man is walking home from work when he is brutally murdered in an alley way. Detective Swanson, a close friend of the victim, is put on the case and he suspects the mafia, and it is up to him to find the truth, whatever it takes.

Big Question: Will the detective solve the murder

PLANNING : casting

My production team's casting for each necessary role in our film.

PLANNING : prop list

After extensive planning, as a group, we began to draw together what props we would need in order to bring our idea to life.


Fedora
This hat is prevalent during the era in which our story takes place. A time in which class is shown in the way in which you dressed. We felt that a fedora would be the ideal headwear for the setting the plot takes place in; 1930s London.






Bow Ties
During the 1930s bow ties were common attire for the upper-class members of society and a way of showing sophistication. They were a must for the fashion conscious man about town. 






False cigar
During the era in which our story takes place, tobacco was a large part of society. There was a divide between the rich, who smoked a cigar, and the lower classes, who smokes cigarettes. Cigars were seen as a sign of wealth and status. 











Typewriter
The staple of a stereotypical secretary and appropriate of the time.














False gun
In the fraught times of the big city, people only felt safe with a
pistol in their pocket.

PLANNING : call sheet