We all love superheroes. Whether it be Spiderman or Batman, many people find themselves engaged by these types of stories. Because of this, most people fantasize about what alternate versions of these heroes would look like and how their worlds and narratives change because of this. That is what my project focuses on. My conversion takes the neo-noir superhero story of Batman and puts a western twist on the setting, props, and production. For this project I will be recreating the opening scene, where the Joker is holding Robin (Jason Todd) hostage while trying to draw out Batman to save him

I chose to turn this movie scene into a Spaghetti Western type of film because I felt like these universes and the characters that reside within them have a lot more in common than most people think. Batman, in a way, could be considered a very secluded and nomadic figure similar to how someone like Blondie acts in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. He has a strict code of justice that he follows and takes along with him throughout his adventures in Gotham City. Robin, specifically Jason Todd who eventually becomes the Red Hood, could be seen as his partner stands as an anti-hero towards Batman himself as there are many things that they are at odds about. It is for this reason that I chose to do this type of conversion for my storyboard, The characters and stories hold a lot of parallels for it to not be able to work. Another things about the genre of spaghetti westerns is the cinematographic choices that directors like Sergio Leone use to give them that gritty feeling of the American West in their films. I noticed that in scenes during different dialogue segments were not interrupted at all by cuts or any other technique that transitions into another shot. I also noticed that there is very little non-diegetic noise which means that there are very little times in which things like the soundtrack or any other noises that only the audience hears are cued to go off. Because the setting would have to take place in the American West, the scene would take place in some sort of old and run-down farmhouse or warehouse. This would add a much older feel to the scene and will make the overall feel of the scene even more raw and intense.

https://youtu.be/wkLg0uVMas4

For my Film Conversion project, I chose to adapt the Neo-Noir Se7en into a buddy cop film. I chose this because throughout the film there are several comedic moments in an otherwise dark film that could easily to be framed to be the focal point of the story. In one particular scene all of the characters burst out laughing because of the state of Detective Mills’s apartment. I wanted to see what it would be like to have a trailer to the film be focused on the lighter moments.

Noir films generally follow the story of a detective encountering the underbelly of society, while buddy cop films generally tell the story of an unlikely bromance forming. Seven is a synthesis of these two genres, featuring main characters exploring the nightmarish underbelly of society and becoming friends over the course of the film. The tone of seven is what separates it from both a noir and buddy cop movie, that of a serious and brooding psychological thriller. Adapting the tone was the greatest struggle of making the trailer, since it is so consistent throughout the entire film, as well as being so far removed from that of a buddy cop movie.

The first step in changing the movie was selecting the clips for the trailer. I chose to focus on more neutral and comedic moments, since these wouldn’t rely or extend the original tone. Then I laid out the clips in a cohesive order to tell the story of Mills and Somerset becoming partners despite their reluctance. I established the villian, their dysfunctional relationship, and how they could solve it. The trailer ends with the villain turning themselves in an event that's originally dramatic, but now comedic based on placement and timing. Finally I wrapped up the trailer with some light hearted music, something that could’ve been found in a comedy trailer. Music is an integral part of the storytelling process as well as carrying the emotional weight of a moment.

Frame 3

You wanna know my thing?

If I really have it solid for a girl,

I'll ride by her house on my bike.

I'll do it, like, a hundred times in a day.

It's really... it's intense.

Frame 4
Do you ever park?

I'm kind of a drive-by kind of guy.

Do you want a drink?

Frame 5

- Yeah!

- Yeah.

- Coke.

- Coke? OK.

Frame 7

Give me your address.

I'll put you on my round.

OK, you're gonna have to help me out here.

You know, some day that girl's gonna realise just what she missed.



  

                  

Come on, don't stop! Gimme more!
               
Frame 8
- Hi!

- Hi.

- Prince Charming wimp out?

- No. No, he's at the bar.

Frame 9
Duckie.                   

He's sulking.              

He's not gonna ride his bike past your house any more.                   

Duckie, you're being a real jerk.

How'd he get in here, anyway?

- I said he was my kid.

- How come you're here?                

I've been trying to figure that out all night.

- Hi.

- There you go.                  

Frame 10
- You met lona, didn't you?

- Not formally. Hi. Blane.                

And that's Duckie Dale over there behind the glasses.

- Hi, Duckie.

- Phillip F Dale to you, scumwad.
                  
So where have you guys been?

- A friend of mine was having a party.

Frame 11
- How adorable!            

- Yeah. It was a little intense.

- You had an intense party?

Frame 12
- No, it was a friend of mine's, I said.

- Duckie, shut up.
                  
- What's the problem?

- This is a classic piece of work here.

- Duckie, please!

- Phil.

Phil, I think you're making Andie uncomfortable. Just knock it off.



  

                  
Frame 13
I devoted my life to the girl and he comes along and thinks he knows her.

You should call David Letterman. He'd book you in a minute.
                  
Frame 14
Phil, would you like us to leave?

Yes, very perceptive.

Come on.

Look at the manners on this guy!

This was a treat!

You're a great couple of kids, really.

I can't believe I actually felt bad

for you tonight, retarded little dwarf!

See you.

Nice meeting you. See ya later.

- Sorry.

- No problem.

- No problem.

- Asshole.

Blow me, buttwad. From you, I'd take it as a compliment.
                  
Frame 15
Andie! Yo!             

You've been replaced.

I'm sorry.

Frame 16

Well, what now?

I gotta get up early. Why don't we just forget it?

What, home?

- Hey, you wanna go to my house?

- No, thanks.

- You wanna eat?

- No.

What do you wanna do? Anything.                  

Why don't you just drop me off at Trax...

- Trax?

- It's real close to home.                

- It's late. I'll just drop you home.

- I have something I have to do there.                   

Now? It's late.

You wanna go home, I'll drop you home.

- I don't want you to take me home.

- OK, let's go out. Anything you want.

- I don't wanna go out.

- And you don't wanna go home.

- What do you wanna do?

- I don't want you to take me home.

Frame 17
I'm missing something. I don't understand… Wait a minute. Don't walk away.

- Don't! I just don't want… Don't you understand?

- No, I don't.

Frame 18
Listen to me.

I don't want you to take me home.

OK. Why? What is the problem?

Because I don't want you to see where I live, OK?

- What?

Frame 20
- I'm sorry. Forget it.

Jesus Christ.

Pretty in Pink & Noir

Our conversion takes a scene from the glamorous 80’s classic, Pretty in Pink, and transforms it into a film noir style scene. We used the scene where Andie takes Blane to the club that she and her friends go to. The set of the club will be changed to include older wood furniture, brown leather couches, chandeliers. Basically, the color scheme of the set will change from blue, black, and pink to brown, yellow, and red tones to give it more of the 1940’s design appeal that reminds us of film noir. However, it should not be as Hollywood-esque or classy as other sets in film noir movies because the club represents Andie’s lower income class in contrast to Blane’s high-class nature. The color scheme of the lighting will also change from blues pinks and reds to normal white and yellow toned light. The bar will be filled with smoke to make it the classic “smokey night club” of noir. The costumes of the actors and actresses will be dressed in 1940’s dresses and suits. Andie will of course still be wearing pink and Iona will still be wearing a bold dress and a similar hairstyle. Blane will wear a full suit and fedora with his hair slicked back. Blane will play more of the main character/detective role in a film noir and have Andie as his femme fatale. To show the class difference between himself and Blane, Duckie will be wearing a casual 1940’s men’s dress shirt and high waisted pants.

As for the cinematography of the scene, the scene is to be shot in black and white as most noir films are. It will open with the band on stage in suits playing the main title from Body Heat by John Barry to replace the rock music with noir jazz for ambiance. The club consists of low-key lighting and uses deep focus on the setting which are both staples in film noir. Duckie’s dialect throughout the scene will change so that he talks slower, and so that he is less whiny and dramatic and more nervous until Andie and Blane arrive and he sounds more confident. When Blane and Andie enter the bar the light from the open door will form harsher silhouettes than in the original to utilize harsh shadows as in film noirs. When Andie arrives at the table they will all be slightly side lit from the back of the shot to use shadows and back light that are popular in film noir. We will also be cutting the section of the scene where Blane bumps into a man at the bar since it does not seem fitting in the noir style and is not necessary. The camera will also move a lot less in this scene to slow down the pacing. The camera will only move for a couple close ups on Andie’s reactions and switching from medium shots of Andie and Blane to Duckie and Iona. Since Duckie will be talking slower and with more pauses, his insults to Blane and Andie during their argument become snappy comebacks. Everyone except for Andie will also be smoking during the scene to add the classic mystery of film noir. When Andie and Blane leave the bar and go outside, it is raining and they are dark silhouettes which are interrupted by the bright headlights of passing cars which embodies the juxtaposition of light used in noir. When they talk, Andie and Blane will speak slower and won’t raise their voices so the conversation seems less frantic and more serious. The scene will also use a two shot and softer lit close-ups of Andy that focus on her eyes to make them glisten like a femme fatale. These changes in the setting and cinematography serve to fit the calm, mysterious, classy, and slow paced themes of film noir that distinguish from all other genres of film.

​ I want think about your favorite movie, a piece of art you know and love. Now I want you to step outside of you imagination comfort zone and if you can, imagine that beautiful movie being filmed in a completely different style. Whether the genre has been replaced with another type of film that is completely different, or the director has been replaced by an auteur whose style is very unique and completely recognizable, and nothing like the original director, the original film you love has been drastically changed.

What if for example, Wes Anderson, the genius behind Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel among others directed Joss Whedon's the Avengers. Since these two directors both have their own very unique styles and because their styles vary drastically from one another, I thought it would be interesting to try and compare these two directors in a film featuring writing by Mr. Whedon, and Directing by Mr. Anderson, with some minor edits by myself and my partner Shane. We had already study a work by Anderson. We watched The Grand Budapest Hotel which is a great example of Anderson's style of directing and how the camera work, turns and moves through the scene. Each scene seems very choreographed which is what we tried to capture. The actors walking into the scene at around the same time and the camera does a few one hundred and eighty degree turns. The camera work in Anderson's films are very deliberate and we tried to mimic that in our film.

Another thing that is very prominent is Wes Anderson films is symmetry. He loves when shots are very symmetrical. For example to people walking to the same spot in a scene or objects behind the actors having symmetry. As something my partner and I recognized in his film, we tried to mimic that as well. There are some parts of my film the involve at least some symmetry, unfortunately because the world isn't quite symmetrical and we didn't have enough time to build our own set there isn't too obvious. Although if you look hard enough you will find some things symmetrical about the way we shot our scene.

The final aspect that we decided to capture, among the many aspects that make something a Wes Anderson film, or that are well known from him, is the close up. It was noticeable that Wes Anderson like to use close ups quite a bit so we decided to put a few in there

Some examples of camera work you will see in this film is one hundred and eighty degree turns of the camera similar to the very blocky way that Anderson likes to turn rotate or move his camera. You will also see a ninety degree turn of the camera in a similar block fashion. There are some deliberate moments with the camera moves forward toward a character while saying a line to create a close up shot. We tried to make it seem as if there was a choreographed feel to the camera angles and movements as well as the slight movement of each character. And Finally we also went for symmetry as there were railings on each side of us and symmetry when we both walk into the shot.

Unfortunately actors such as Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman could not be present for the making of this film but we made due with what we had.

Just imagine, Joe Jonas as a teen detective, and the love of his life (Demi Lovato of course) goes missing. Yes, we know, we just might of made your childhood a tad bit better because yes, we made Camp Rock a film noir.

To begin, we will explain why we chose to create a trailer. Our goal was for our viewers to imagine the entire movie as a film noir, and the only way to do that was through a trailer. A scene would only allow our viewers to enjoy a single segment of the movie, prohibiting their imagination to go beyond that one part. What a trailer does, is touch many parts of the film to create a visual story with little to no detail. That not only intrigues viewers to watch the whole thing, but it is also a way to leave the movie up for interpretation because everyone has different viewpoints.

A film noir cannot be described with just one thing. What makes noirs so magnificent is that they are filled with the unexpected, whether that means the storyline, or just the question as to why it rains 365 days out of the year. When making the trailer we made sure to include one aspect that every noir has, and that aspect is no color, just black and white. After changing the color of the film we watched many noir trailers, and found that light music played in the background the entire time. We chose the song we chose for our trailer because of how soothing yet mysterious it was. We also made sure to use a limited amount of dialogue because emotion, reaction, and expressions are important in noirs. Sometimes a reaction can say way more than just a simple “Wow!’. Let’s not forget the love interest too. We get a glimpse of that love between the Detective and Mitchie, but we’re careful not to show too much because we still want some of it to remain a mystery. Unfortunately, we couldn’t add the magic 365 days a year rain. What we did instead, is make the film a bit darker so viewers can at least get the feeling that it was about to rain in every scene. At first, the trailer might seem too dramatic, but what film noir isn’t over dramatized?

In our opinion, our noir trailer is much better and more entertaining than the regular Camp Rock trailer. In the regular trailer, you are given several story lines that you have to follow in just the trailer. It becomes unclear as to what the main character is looking for. In this trailer, you are given one story line, Mitchie is missing, and only one person can find her, Detective Gray. Also, let’s not forgot all the different songs that are played in the original trailer. In our noir trailer there’s only one song that plays in the background the entire time. The goal of a trailer is to leave you wanting more. We add mystery and excitement in our trailer. So many questions are left unanswered and people have to watch it if they want the answers. It’s just as simple as that.

Trailer Link: https://www.wevideo.com/view/933996725

Addy Gonzalez and Hanna Dunakin