Film Noir
A short film based of film noir concept, Unit - 9 Produced Nov 202.
Directed and starring by Tom Bowie.
Produced and starring - Ellis White.
Written and starring - Tessa Knight.
Filmed on fujifilm edited on fcpx.
Film Noir essay
Film Noir is a cynical and dark period of film, originated in a time of angst that reflects the pessimistic times it was created in, after the wake of the 1940’s following the second world war. There was a period of unpredictability where the film industry changed radically forever altering the style and content of Hollywood movies with the introduction of television. All these changes influenced the stylish Hollywood crime dramas with the direction and impact of German expressionism in the twenties and the French poetic realism in the thirties blended with classic American gangster films, it gave more meaning and depth to the dark incoherent films of the previous years over the war. Film noir is a French term that translates to ‘dark film’ critics used it to express Hollywood movies that were overwhelmed with darkness and pessimism not seen before at that time.
Early examples of the film noir style include the dark, stylized detective films in the early 40’s, such as John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941), Frank Tuttle’s This Gun for Hire (1942) and Otto Preminger’s Laura (1944). These films were prohibited in controlled nations during the war, but they were accessible across Europe from 1946. French cinema critics adored them for their bitter, cynical characters and dark, gloomy manner, there was a common praise and appetition for them across publications such as Cahiers du cinema who would later go on to focus on the New Wave of French cinema. Although the term "film noir" was conceived by French critics regarding the low-keyed lighting used to enhance such dramas aesthetically, it would not become commonly recognized in global critical groups until the publication of Raymond Borde and Étienne Chaumeton's Panorama du film noir American (1955). While film noir had its peak in the troubled postwar era of the 1940s and 1950s, its playfully dark melancholy aesthetic and dull, cynical edge have inspired countless more current directors to place their own, often rebellious modern marks on the genre, Autor Mark Conard defined the upping coming development of film noir as neo-noir, which originates from the Greek prefix for the word new. "Any film made after the classic noir period that has noir themes and sensibility." -Mark Conard. In the simplest terms neo noir is set in contemporary modern times but shows characteristics of a film noir in a multitude of ways from plot to dark style. Neo-noir directors contrast back to 'classic noir' in the use of Dutch angles, experimental play of light and shadows, unbalanced framing and the key focus of a dark plot blurring the lines between good and bad and right and wrong, and thematic motifs such as sexuality. For example, in ‘double indemnity’ Phyllis Dietrichson is a female who uses her body as a tool, objectifying it without embarrassment then using herself to get where she wants to go, a modern example of this character would be Amy from the film ‘Gone Girl’, Amy uses her position in society as a woman to gain sympathy and power but is later revealed to not be the blameless victim that she is thought to be.
This character is called a femme fatale, The phrase is French for "fatal woman", a femme fatale uses feminine deceptions such as elegance, grace, or sexual attractiveness to achieve her ultimate objective. Her perspective towards sexuality is typically casual, fascinating, or flippant. She sometimes resorts to trickery or pressure rather than charm. Femmes fatales are often malevolent or ethically questionable and are usually connected with a feeling of mystery and dread. Film noir gives us tales of men being taken advantage of by powerful and sometimes sinister women, After the war when the men came back from serving, they found that there had been a shift in power to women who had gone from housewives to working women over the war with leverage and power. Wikipedia describes the character as “A femme fatale… is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps”. As previously said, the femme fatale's purpose and role are frequently to entice and influence the protagonist into assisting her in attaining her objective. This ambition usually goes against social norms, such as working or avoiding marriage.
The plots were frequently irregular, non-linear, and twisty. Narratives were often complex and confusing, with ominous music in the background, flashbacks (or a sequence of recollections), along with witty, clever, and sarcastic dialogue, matched with a thoughtful and introspective first-person voice-over narrating the film. The protagonist's blindness was a typical storytelling technique, and so was the tragedy of an unsuspecting Everyday man who surrendered to seduction or was entrapped. Discoveries about the protagonist are created to justify or clarify the protagonist's own cynical perspective on things. The heroes (or anti-heroes) are seen as down and out characters who are lost but still focused on one particular goal, they can come across as troubled and determined detectives, these heroes were typically ethically questionable men from the mysterious underworld of ruthless corruption and crime. They were jaded, damaged, compulsive, menacing, threatening, ominous, self-deprecating, disillusioned, confident, and uncertain social outcasts whose characters were battling to remain alive and ultimately losing, or remaining victorious in completing their so called 'mission'. Following the risky yet desirable intentions of such characters would generally take an exceedingly optimistic approach. It would have been to track down a devious, emotionless femme fatale who'd manipulate the desperate, demoralized hero towards killing a person or another horrific love crime. Whenever the protagonist is a detective, they would then become engrossed and entangled in an extremely complicated and perplexing investigation which would ultimately lead to cynical, oppressive pieces of evidence of crime and corruption, compelling romance, and tragedy. The femme fatale, who had already disregarded societal standards with her conscience and ominous acts, eventually bringing them both to a downfall.
Orson Welles, John Huston, Billy Wilder, Edgar Ulmer, Douglas Sirk, Robert Sedmak, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Henry Hathaway, and Howard Hawks were among the most famous cinema noir filmmakers who all depict a very similar set of codes and conventions that make a film noir. Expressive lighting, deep-focus or depth-of-field cinematography, discomforting graphic ploys, unsettling editing or a conflation of aspects, eerie shadows, slanted camera shots such as the Dutch tilt with hovering cigarette smoke, as well as poorly balanced and gloomy compositions are all cinematic defining characteristics of film noir. Moderate single source illumination, venetian blinded windows giving the effect of bars portraying entrapment in the visuals and within the room like a prison cell, as well as gloomy, oppressive, melancholy appearances have all been frequent environments. Surroundings emphasize deep shades, dirty pavements, back alleys, strobe neon lights, with pleasant illumination, but were frequently urban city night settings.
Film noir productions are usually filmed in dark shades of grey, black, and whites, reflecting the cruel, dark, and sadistic aspects of human existence, and there symbolically portrayed in the dark and cruel aspects of human nature alongside pessimism and tragic romance. Film noir was defined by an oppressive environment involving dread, cynicism, uncertainty and the sense that something may go badly, its gritty realism, In film noir. The characters are usually pushed to replay mistakes of the past by their background or by human weaknesses. The Anti-Hero, Anti-Villain, Villain Protagonist is a common trope of film noir, with both the uncertainty generally based on issues with credibility, contributing to something like a fearful environment wherein Weak Communications ends up killing on a regular basis. The climax may not always close the entire story with plot twists being so common, with the narrative's ethically problematic theme serving as the central mystery. Those reasons all add towards the widely held belief that Film Noir movies are some of the finest creative works of all time, also that they played an important part in the development of filmmaking as a form of art.
Double indemnity is a film noir directed by Billy Wilder in July 1944. This movie features an insurance salesperson, who is plotting to murder his client a classic film noir narrative. Double Indemnity, like many films' noir crime fiction from the 1930s and 1940s, portrays people being corrupted and malicious. People are egotistical and materialistic individuals who are driven by their primal instincts. Walter Huff, as the insurance salesperson, is motivated by a desire for money, sex, and power in this incident. The term "double indemnity" refers to a provision in some life insurance plans which increases the payment within event of an unanticipated death. When this was originally released, the film was acclaimed among many journalists and it was shortlisted for seven Academy Awards, but none of them were won. Phyllis suggests that they murder her spouse in order to get the profits of an incident insurance plan, while Walter implements a strategy to collect twice the money thanks to the double indemnity provision. The police regard Mr. Dietrichson's murder as an accident once he is discovered on a train track. This is the type of narrative I would like to follow with twists to keep the viewer engaged and a clear, easy to watch story line but complexity within the characters.
Overall, I believe that I have created a successful project that correctly represents my creation of a Film noir piece, I have matched the style of the piece to the film noir style including a classic film noir soundtrack from Double Indemnity along with the dark grainy monogramed color grade with the ad of a 4x4 crop on the image and softened edges to push through the feeling of the old 1940s cameras brining the viewer into the piece allowing me to push the feeling of the old dark times it was created in. Other things I experimented with when creating this project to make the film as realist as possible including choosing a specific location that appears old on camera focusing on the Mise-en-scène with the camera work overall I achieved this with choosing my location as the backstreets and harbor in Tenby this created an old feeling to the piece but there were a few things that I missed while on location, which let the period down slightly including the modern bin before the fight scene and other small things on set such as my shoes and signs which look slightly out of place for the time it is set in. Furthermore, the cast outfits were a priority choosing outfits which would reflect the characters style with Tommy’s waist jacket and tight shirt contrasting with Ellis’s long trench coat and baggy trousers but where the clothing stands out is the femme fatale perfectly matching the codes and conventions of this character, dark, sexy, and retro clothes with vibrant makeup that stands out. Controlling the narrative with this project was possibly the biggest challenge for me but after some time I do believe that is part of what film noir is all about, at first the team created a solid screen play with a variety of shots to be captured to allow us all to finish with different outcomes and stories but on set I found myself focusing too closely on the script holding my creative drive back limiting the reach of the project and the creative spirit working with a team so where the ideas and creative thought really pushed was editing a part of the project that I had full control over and where I could make my own decisions about how I wanted the piece to feel, If I'm honest I found working on this project as a group a real Challenge letting go of certain control aspects of the project if I were to re do this project, I would try to work closer with the team the earlier stages of the project while brainstorming how we all wanted this project to turn out because after evaluating the project. I have found that the ideas towards the codes and conversation of film noir that we thought about as a group have drastically improved the overall success of the project and working as a team we were able to create a strong film noir concept in pre-production and execute it well on set while also following the film noir style in post, this project has been one of my favorites this year and has really allowed me to experiment with a new genre that expanded my skills in all areas of creating a film and correcting replicating a genre.
