My media product is heavily influenced by the huge 1940s film genre film noir. I have tried to include all the codes and conventions that are usually used in film noir. My film noir is very much a 1940s noir story line but set in the modern day.
My film is very much influenced by the hit film noir picture "Maltese Falcon" I tried to give this hard cop effect. With"hard nut" interrogations and this 1940s american slang.
To add to the modern effect, the film has its own plot twist. The cop is a bad cop but we don't find this out in the opening sequence. There are little glimpses of him not being a good guy in his speech, body language and the actions he does.
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| This is a typical film noir style interrogation. Something that heavily influenced my interrogation in my opening scene |
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Another film which influenced my interrogation in the opening sequence was Batman The Dark Night this scene was directed by Christopher Nolan. The scene is full of suspense and there is lots of non verbals which adds effect to the scene.
Film Noir is a very specific genre and I tried to stick to the codes and conventions but add a modern twist to it. Film Noir is often a type of film with a very dark mood, shadowy images, seedy locations, and crime thriller shots with unhappy endings. I have tried to conduct these in my film noir things like closing the blinds so there is this shadow effect in the room. Which also adds to the dark mood and the whole negative attitude to the film, Film Noirs are never happy stories. Another common theme in film noir which I have shown is corruption. Characters in the films are often not what they seem and are very corrupt, we see this mostly in femme fatal s. You only see a small scene of my femme fatal, but in that short scene I have tried to convey this shady effect and tried to give off little signals that she could possibly be corrupt and she isn't every thing that she seems.
Film Noir are often filled with different emotional feelings such as disillusionment, melancholy, guilt and desperation. I think melancholy is a big emotion that plays out through my opening scene. In film noirs there are a certain set of characters that often appear. The characters ho we see in the opening scene who often feature in film noirs are... Anti Hero- This is my character Johnny he is a helpless man in the interrogation room he is very confused and doesnt understand what is happening. He seems very laid back about life and just wants to get out of the interview room and get back to his life. Hard Boiled Detective- Robbie the detective defiantly falls under this category. He is stubborn as a mule, his speech is very much in one tone which has a slight ignorance about it. He is wearing the trench coat and trilby which is what you would expect a hard boiled detective to be wearing. His character does end up being the villain and we see shades of a villains characteristics throughout the scene. Villain- The villain in this scene s not what it seems. You wouldn't know he was the villain but I thought that it would be worth a mention as we see aspects of the villain in are " hard boiled cop ". I have made aspects of the typical villain sort of pop up at certain points during the scene. For example his violent temper Femme Fatal- This character in my opening sequence is only seen for a very short period of time. But I thought it would be suitable to introduce here in the opening scene as she would play a big part in the film and, I wanted her to be in the audiences mind from the start. She seems a bit strange when we first meet here when she comes in she gives the, suspect (Johnny) a funny look and eyes him up from top to bottom. She also comes across as very sweet, I have made her come across almost to sweet so she becomes a bit of a suspicion to the audience. I have tried to bring in the characteristics of her for example the fact that she is so flirtatious, her body language the way she carry's her self among over things. Lighting is a huge part of film noir, lighting helps shape the mood of film noir. Film Noirs contain lots of shadows and scenes where darkness is used. This gives to the negative shady effect of the film I have used different ways of lighting in my opening scene. Really simple little things like tilting the blinds so they are only letting in certain amounts of the outside light. This of course creates shadows only reveals certain parts of the room. Another way I have used lighting to input in my opening scene is by putting large objects around the room blocking out the light and creating this large shadows which hover over the characters. I have used lighting in a metaphorical sense, the shadows hanging over the characters is the dark shadows of there past. For example I have tried to create a huge shadow over the detective to show he has a dark past which is to be revealed. Also just turning the lights off in the room adds so much effect to the scene it makes every thing seem more serious and gives off this dark, dull effect which is essentially what a interrogation room is its dark and dull. Another code/convention which is always used in film noir is sound. Music and effects are constantly playing throughout the films. The first time you will hear music during a film noir is the opening sequence, the opening sequence is often establishing shots of the surrounding area, in the film noir its mostly the city. There is normally a slow jazz/ blues piece playing in the background, the emotion or temperament of the music will depend on the story line but in the opening credits the music is normally calm and slow not joyful, nor sad just calm. Sounds are used to create mood and add effect to the films. Another time sounds are used in film noir is between scenes, there is normally something like an establishing shot of the next scene or the surrounding area. There will normally be music to fill this gap the tone and mood of the music will often depend on the previous scene. For example if the previous scene was a murder scene the music will be loud a full of suspense. Or if the previous scene was a love scene the music would be a swinging romantic jazz tune which is slow and romantic. Sound effects are used like wind when for example a detective is walking down a long dark street the sound of wind would add effect that he is alone and the place is dead/ empty. I have used music throughout the film to add effect and it sort of keeps the film going, rather than having lots of silent gaps in the music. It also adds to the mood, for example if there is a hardcore fight scene I would make the music a big sound with a fast tempo. I have used iconography repeatedly throughout the scene. Objects which I use during the scenes which are iconic objects of film noir are. Gun, drink (alcoholic), cigarettes and the usual clothing with a trench coat and trilby with smart suit. These objects play a huge part in the film noir genre. The detectives are constantly puffing away on a fag, also accompanies with a drink of bourbon or whisky. Other things like clothes are very important, you often see the detective in a big trench coat with a trilby hat covering his head. The hat adds to the sort of shadiness of the character, normally it covers his face. The big trench coat, normally with the collar popped up adds shows the detective is confined and keeps him self to him self. |
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