Thursday 2 February 2012

Film Noir and Neo Noir Research

Notes on other people's presentations:

Body Heat (1981) (Neo Noir)
  • Directed by Lawrence
  • Set in Florida in a Heat Wave
  • Woman convinces a small-town lawyer to murder her rich husband.
  • Eerie, wind chimes: spiritual, elegant, peaceful, mysterious, mystic. Could have been diegetic or non-diegetic, this adds confusion and intrigues the audience to want to find out more.
  • Represents the Femme Fatal: elegant, beautiful and captivating.
  • Lurs the man in then non-diegetic BANG sound - BODY HEAT - title comes up.
  • Woman: always wearing white; false identity: Holy Dove.
    Red shirt, open white formal skirt
  • Ned Racine: Anti Hero: Male lead.
Se7en (1995) (Neo Noir)
  • Directed by David Fincher
  • Follows two detectives who are trying to track down a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.
Millers' Crossing (1990) (Neo Noir)
  • Two gangs
  • One gang member murdered, blame the other gang - turns out to be the main woman
  • Film Noir characteristics: Iconic hat, cigarrette and drink, deep shots, single source lighting
Chinatown (1974)
  • Set in Los Angeles in 1973
  • Inspired by California Water Wars

Notes on Film Noir and Neo Noir watched in class:

Detour (1945) (Film Noir)
  • Femme Fatal: Vera; dark haired, wild eyes - threatens and blackmails
  • Anti Hero: Al Roberts; becomes the villian
  • Dark Themes: hoplessness of his situation
  • Archetypal characters: Nightclub singer and a hitchhiker
  • Dutch angles/devices of orientation: Yes and blurring, fog at the beginning
  • Mirrors: dead woman
  • Cigarrette smoking: Vera smokes and drinks
  • Voice over, night-time action, and high kep, sharp shadow lighting
Brick (2005) (Neo Noir)
  • Mise-en-scene
    Cigarrette with an arrow on it
    Deep shots, lots of background
    Old phone on a desk
    Library, shot between the books - abscures audiences vision
    Single souce lighting
  • Camera
    Awkward camera angles
    E.G. just the feet or hands
    Zooming
    Panning
  • Sound
    Accustic bells
    Procusion: Adds tension
    Silent
    Voice over - shouting as he walks
  • Characters:
    Brendon: Brown hair, glasses - the main guy
    Emily: Blonde - the girl he loves who ends up dead
    The Brain: Brendon's only friend
    Laura: wearing a red dress - the rich femme fatal
    Tug: intimidating
    The Pin: the big crime boss
L.A. Confidential (1997) (Neo Noir)
  • Camera movement, angle, shots:
    Depth of shot: Jack walking towards Ed
    Over the shoulder
    Point of view
    Pan down onto a pile of dead bodies from blood covered wall
  • Sound:
    Rough voices
    Hardly and music in the background
    Voice overs
    Background music thats non-diegetic
    "What ever you desire"
  • Mise-en-scene:
    Suits and ties
    Props: phones, lamps, guns, badges
  • Characters:
    Jack Vincennes: Policeman, drugs, works with the journalist, gets paid on the side. Smooth and a ladies man.
    Ed Exley: Policeman with glasses, bullied but he doesnt care, just wants a promotion. He's a snitch but he's really intelligent
    Bud White: Policeman, protective over woman but can't control his anger, doesn't play by the rules and hides things from the authorities.
The Big Sleep (1946) (Film Noir)
  • Mise-en-scene:
    Library bookshelf
    Raining
    Old fashioned cars
    Dark
    Alcohol, glasses on a tray
    Drugged woman
    Pornography
    Marlowe - top button undone
    Silky dressing gown
    Sunglasses - pull down/look over them
    Detective acting
  • Camera:
    Point of View shot of letter
    Close up of encoded book
    Deep shot of bedroom
    Lamp shade - lighting
  • Editing:
    Zoom in
    Jump cut
    Shot reverse shot of dead body and detective
  • Sound:
    Diegetic foot steps
    Major key, drums, piano, deep: adds tension
    Base, violin - non-diegetic
    Rain - diegetic
    Sudden silence
    Female scream
    Thunder, lighting, lights up, venecian blinds
    Buzzing of Marlowe's bell
  • Characters:
    Phillip Marlowe -suit
    Butler
    General Sternwood - rich, old, in a wheelchair
    Miss Carmen Sternwood - tiny shorts
    Mrs Vivian Sternwood - covered up
    Joe Brody
    Rusty Reegan - never seen. Dead
    Mr Geiger - gets shot
    Eddy Mars - runs the casino
    Mrs Mars
  • Narrative:
    Marlowe takes a black mail case from General Sternwood but it turns out to be more than that.
    Murder and missing person (Rusty)
    Also includes a pornshop (Geiger) and an encoded book of addresses

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