The media product I have been developing is a film opening relating to the genre of film noir. The conventions of film noir are quite specific and identifiable. Before I talk about how we worked with them and against them in our product it is important to understand what they are:
- A distinct visual style; it tends to use low key lighting in order to create
light and dark contrasts which gives the film quite an artistic look. Light is further used to enhance the visual style with the creation of shadows upon walls and characters, this was an occurring theme used in the film ‘Chinatown’ (1974 Roman Polanski). We shot the sequence at night to give it a dark and low key lighting feel, really focusing the lights on the action to make the backgrounds seem insignificant.- The camera angles and editing style; a use of low angled and Dutch angled shots allow for a constant meaning to be connoted through the language of film. A low angled shot can show the power and dominance of a character, while a Dutch shot can distort the frame and add to a feeling of mystery. The genre utilises editing and narrative methods such as flashbacks, time ellipsis and a jumbled up timeline, for example, an ending which the audience doesn’t understand can occur at the beginning of the film and become clear by the time it finishes as seen in 'The Usual Suspects' (1994 Bryan Singer). Towards the end of our film opening we used a low canted angle in order to cause disorientation to the viewer, we also tried to create the effect of a time ellipsis when the detective was working to make it seem like time was passing by. This was achieved using slow cuts and cross dissolves.
- Characters and settings; the typical types of characters in film noir are detectives/protagonists and criminals/villains which can give the genre’s a unique tone which is often centered on a world which is incoherent, bleak and corrupt. A prime example of this is 'Sin City' (2005 Frank Miller) which features around an unjust and doomed society full of people who care not for its rules and do what they want. Our characters use the conventions of film noir as the detective/killer combination is a recurring theme in film noir as seen in 'Blade Runner' (1982 Ridley Scott).
- Recurring moods; ambiance, suspense, tension, mystery and atmosphere. These were the moods that we tried to achieve in our opening and we achieved them through low key lighting, slow cuts and eerie music which in itself, adds a whole new dimension to the film.
The media product we created focuses on the genre quite rigidly; however, there are some exceptions. We wanted to take the genre of film noir and develop and challenge it. For example, instead of the traditional black and white colour balance we opted for a more colorful option especially on the inside scenes. However, once outside we added a blue tint
to the lighting to create a nice effect. This technique can be seen in the film 'Sin City' where only some colours are present such as red and yellow. Moreover, to challenge the genre we decided to not have any dialogue throughout, and this allowed us to create the traditional conventions of suspense, tension and mystery to greater effect. These feelings were then intensified dramatically with our choice of music, obtained from ‘www.freeplaymusic.com’.The filming style consisted of close-ups and long shots to give the film some variety and a sense of continuity which is important in providing the viewer with realism. We also stuck to the conventions of film noir by having high angle shots as well as canted angles, as shown when the killer is walking through the alley way in our film. This anchors themes of myst
ery and tension through the language of film. Another way in which we kept to the conventions of the genre was by using slow cuts so the audience could take in the mysterious surroundings which built tension as you are expecting something to happen. This is a technique which was used in 'Blade Runner', as they had spectacular visual backgrounds of the future which needed time to take in and admire.The opening also uses Levi-Strauss’s narrative theory of binary opposites. It has a sense of good vs. bad which is a popular connotation of film noir. Our detective character is wearing a white shirt which represents the side of good whereas the killer is wearing much darker clothes which represents a side of evil.
