Jess,
many film noir set in the golden age of Hollywood were in black and white due to the technology available and early costs of colour film. Later film noirs such as the Roman Polanski masterpiece 'Chinatown' were set in colour.
You identify codes and conventions and could expand on this.
Your analyses of opening sequences are very promising and show a good understanding of the texts and how to de-construct a media text.
Add the 'Blue Velvet' sequence also.
Monday, 13 October 2014
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Film Noir
Film Noir = black film (french)
film noir set in the golden age of Hollywood were in black and white due to the technology available and early costs of colour film. Later film noirs such as the Roman Polanski masterpiece 'Chinatown' were set in colour. They were intentionally put in B&W because of the emphasis of the shadows. the colours also suggest the lack of happiness in the film. Film Noir was mainly filmed between early 1940's and late 50's.
Film noir included many codes and conventions including the following~
Characters
The main character is usually a detective and usually have a weakness which is normally the femme fatal as she usually comes to the detective for help and intentionally makes him fall in love with her so she can frame someone else for her crime. Their other downfall is alcohol usually whiskey as this is a typical male drink and very strong and was drunk a lot casually in the period they were set in. Vladimir propp identified 7 characters usually included within film noir. These are the villain, a doner, a helper, a princess, a false hero, a dispatcher and a hero. there re to types of women that are shown in a film noir ones the princess who is innocent caring, trustworthiness and loving whereas the femme fatal is deceiving, often guilty of a crime and are dangerous. The femme fatal's beauty often shadows their real self. they are often made out to be more hierarchy than the males this is shown by using a high angle shot or for example in double indemnity (1944) she is on the top of the stairs wrapped in a towel and he is at the bottom, this moment of sexual desire seals his fate. A shot reverse shot then shows the man below her looking at her showing his attraction towards the femme fatal.
Lighting
shadows are used a lot including shadows of barrister rods or blinds which can be cast upon a character. sometimes a characters face is totally obscured by darkness. The lighting creates the mood of the scene and can be symbolic. the use a key light which is the most dominant light, the fill light fill in the shadows left by the key light then the back light adds an outline which separates the background. hard light leave shaper edge shadows so this is more likely to be used in a film noir movie and defines the look. if a soft light is used its often to glamourises a scene where the femme fatal is present as soft light leave a fuzzy shadow. cucoloris are cut outs of wood or plastic and they go between the fixture and actor and are used to cast a patterned shadow and can create different patterns depending how they are cut. flags are used to only highlight the eyes and brows to show expressions and blocks out all light.
Cinematography/use of camera
This is often distorted and uncomfortable to look at to put the viewer on edge and the camera is often using high or low angles. They often use dutch tilts or irregular framing of shots. reflections and faces are often obscured through objects.
Low angle shots make the subject of the shot appear more powerful this is often used to hint to viewers that the femme fatal is deceiving as stereotypical you would suspect the male to have control and be on the higher level. It's is also used to allow the audience to interpret the change in power throughout the film.
Mirror reflections are often used to show relationships between character or even can reflect the two sides of the femme fatal one she knows and the other the detective knows.
Iconography
'Maltese falcon'
The 'Maltese falcon' is set in San Francisco, America. we can tell this from the golden gate bridge which is a well know attraction associated to San Francisco. We see the establishing shot straight away and then also a subjective point of view shot which shows the detective is in his office. the detective is calling the femme fatal 'sweetheart', 'precious' and 'darling'. this tells us the period the film was made in and the setting of the film with the language which is used. the woman is very pretty which is typical of a femme fatal to glam her self up and seduce the male. the femme fatal is wearing a fox scarf which represents wealth and dressed up beautifully we can tell she isn't innocent straight away by her acting so sweetly its obvious she's hiding something. There is a shot reverse shot between the femme fatal and the detective showing close ups on their faces. she speaks in an english accent which makes her more believable as english accent are quite assertive and honest as she's attempting to get sympathy. Archer and Spade the detectives are blinded by her beauty whilst she explains a story which has been twisted. There is also a softer focus used on the femme fatale to show her as a more perfect character. There is A lot of different camera shots used including an over shoulder shot, a mid shot, high angle and low angle shots and a shot reverse shot which are all typical of film noir. There is very low key lighting again and often just a lamp or a single light source lighting the whole scene. This creates a mysterious feel and shadows are developed everywhere.
film noir set in the golden age of Hollywood were in black and white due to the technology available and early costs of colour film. Later film noirs such as the Roman Polanski masterpiece 'Chinatown' were set in colour. They were intentionally put in B&W because of the emphasis of the shadows. the colours also suggest the lack of happiness in the film. Film Noir was mainly filmed between early 1940's and late 50's.
Film noir included many codes and conventions including the following~
Characters
The main character is usually a detective and usually have a weakness which is normally the femme fatal as she usually comes to the detective for help and intentionally makes him fall in love with her so she can frame someone else for her crime. Their other downfall is alcohol usually whiskey as this is a typical male drink and very strong and was drunk a lot casually in the period they were set in. Vladimir propp identified 7 characters usually included within film noir. These are the villain, a doner, a helper, a princess, a false hero, a dispatcher and a hero. there re to types of women that are shown in a film noir ones the princess who is innocent caring, trustworthiness and loving whereas the femme fatal is deceiving, often guilty of a crime and are dangerous. The femme fatal's beauty often shadows their real self. they are often made out to be more hierarchy than the males this is shown by using a high angle shot or for example in double indemnity (1944) she is on the top of the stairs wrapped in a towel and he is at the bottom, this moment of sexual desire seals his fate. A shot reverse shot then shows the man below her looking at her showing his attraction towards the femme fatal.
Lighting
shadows are used a lot including shadows of barrister rods or blinds which can be cast upon a character. sometimes a characters face is totally obscured by darkness. The lighting creates the mood of the scene and can be symbolic. the use a key light which is the most dominant light, the fill light fill in the shadows left by the key light then the back light adds an outline which separates the background. hard light leave shaper edge shadows so this is more likely to be used in a film noir movie and defines the look. if a soft light is used its often to glamourises a scene where the femme fatal is present as soft light leave a fuzzy shadow. cucoloris are cut outs of wood or plastic and they go between the fixture and actor and are used to cast a patterned shadow and can create different patterns depending how they are cut. flags are used to only highlight the eyes and brows to show expressions and blocks out all light.
Cinematography/use of camera
This is often distorted and uncomfortable to look at to put the viewer on edge and the camera is often using high or low angles. They often use dutch tilts or irregular framing of shots. reflections and faces are often obscured through objects.
Low angle shots make the subject of the shot appear more powerful this is often used to hint to viewers that the femme fatal is deceiving as stereotypical you would suspect the male to have control and be on the higher level. It's is also used to allow the audience to interpret the change in power throughout the film.
Mirror reflections are often used to show relationships between character or even can reflect the two sides of the femme fatal one she knows and the other the detective knows.
Iconography
- rain (pathetic fallacy)
- alcohol (whiskey)
- guns
- mainly set in bars/offices
- gambling
- cigarettes, cigars
- trench coats
- fedoras (hats)
'Maltese falcon'
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