FILM OPENINGS ANALYSIS

'Blade Runner is one of the best examples of a neo-noir film and the style and tone of the movie is demonstrated right from the opening scene. Before the first shot we see the words 'Los Angeles 2022' on a black background showing it is set in the future but giving a hint that it is a dark place, this is reinforced by slow and melancholy music which adds to the downbeat tone. The establishing shot that begins the film is a wide shot of downtown Los Angeles set in the future. This is shot at night but lights from the buildings and regular explosions help give it a typically noir visual style. The negative feeling the audience gets from this shot immeadiately sets the scene for a dark thriller and indicates a setting full of violence and darkness, a very pessimistic look on the future. It is also clear the various special effects that this is a film made on a high budget. The next shot we see is an unusual extreme close-up of an eye with the city in its reflection. After seeing the initial shot of the city we are introduced to the head quarters of the corporation at the centre of the story although at the time the audience does not know this. The significance of the building is however shown with a low angle shot zooming in aswell as its very intimidating appearance. Inside the building the light is also minimal and we are inroduced to a person for the first time, he is shown up in silouhette and smoking a cigarette. All we hear at this point is background noise which includes an alarm going off which adds to the threatening and insecure atomsphere that the film is trying to transmit onto the audience

'Memento' is another well known neo-noir film based around a character suffering from amnesia. Much of the opening scene is focused on a close-up of a hand holding a polaroid and shaking it as the titles appear over the picture. The first shot the audience sees is a disturbing picture on this polaroid of what is clearly a blood spattered room indicating something violent and disturbing a person has obviously very recently captured. The fact the audience at this point don't know the story behind the polariod picture or who is holding and shaking the picture immeadiately creates a disturbing enigma which encourages them to watch on. Slow and ominous but sad music plays over much of this scene to add effect and the titles appear over the shot in an old fashioned roman font. Soon the polariod picture fades away which adds yet more enigma as it is the opposite of what someone would expect although this does make reference to the rest of the film in that it presents memory loss. The next shot is a close up of the characters face covered in sweat and blood, this immeadiately introduces the audience to a character in distress and continues the negative tone and the enigma of why he is in this situation. What happens next is visually confusing for the audience as what happened before is played in reverse. We get a shot of the room he is in and and a man that has recently been shot but time is played backwards and we see this man getting up and a bullet going back into a gun. It becomes clear that the entire scene was played in the same way giving it a very unusual and quite disturbing feel. As well as establishing the tone of the film and the genre (dark thriller) it sets up the film by introducing the audience to the theme of amnesia that the film is centred around.

'The Lion King' is a well known disney animated film with an incredibly detailed opening scene. The first picture the audience sees is a sun rising over a savanna which immeadiately sets the location with a wide shot and helps add a sense of optimism. This, much like the rest of the scene is accompanied by african music which fits in with the location of the film. We are introduced to the animals as they all walk in a pack in the same direction showing something important is about to happen. The entire scene is designed to build anticipation and emotion in the audience for the rest of the film. With the rest of the animals we are drawn to and the introduced to the main characters one by one. The main lion, Mufasa is introduced to us with a low angle shot immeadiately giving him a superior look and giving an idea of his status as king. As his new born cub, Simba is introduced the music quietens which presents him as a very important character in the film. The importance of him and his father as characters in this film is reinforced as he is presented to the rest of the animals from the top of a rock. A low angle shot is used and as he is lifted up the volume of the music rises once more. This opening scene proviedes a very optimistic opening to the film by only introducing the 'good guys' and invites the audience to immeadiately bond with these characters and take their side. The upbeat tone to this opening scene combined with the fact it is animated and involves animals immeadiately presents it as fantasy.

Opening to 'Memento' - my personal favourite

NEO NOIR ANALYSIS 'BRICK'

         
The film 'Brick' was produced in 2005 and was written and directed by Rian Johnson. This is a film that embodies alot of the visual traits of classic film noir and has a very dark plot. This film also appears to have been made on quite a small budget unlike some of the more well known Neo noirs such as 'Blade Runner' or 'Sin City', this could be a throwback to the B-movies that classic noir stemmed from. What is especially distinctive about this movie is its very original and quite experimental cinematography and editing techniques which can be quite visually confusing for the audience and make them jump. The film and its characters are based around an American high school and the plot is centered around a student named Brendan Frye.

His ex-girlfriend emily has been murdered and he sees it as his duty to solve the murder. During this mission he encounters an underworld to his community with high school crime, gangs, drug dealing etc. The storyline is complicated, twisting and non-linear starting at the middle with the first part of the story being a flashback similar to many classic noirs and the second part following a more conventional storyline (starting in the middle and finishing at the end). As the storyline evolves it becomes clear that Emily had familiarised herself with a highly dangerous group of people and this is what led to her death. The mystery of her murder provides the basis for a typical noir storyline and the various gang members and drug dealers reinforce many of the perceptions of noir characters but they fit far more into modern society than the gangsters, detectives etc in classic film noirs.

           

The opening scene is shot in a storm drain by a tunnel and embodies many noir characteristics. The very first shot we see is an extreme close-up of Brendan's eyes immeadiately giving it an uncomfortable look and feel. We quickly get an idea of what the plot might be when we see a dead girl's body lying next to him. This scene is accompanied by fairly low key lighting and slow, sinister but quite modern sounding music is played. As in many classic noirs this is a scene we revisit on several occasions.

The following scene is set two days previous to the first and involves Brendan in a distressed phonecall with his ex girlfriend emily who is crying and obviously in distress. Here she is talking about how she did not know that 'the brick' was bad and how 'the Pin's on it' making reference to the plot and what happens later in the film . There is the familiar heavy breathing as the characters talk making the audience feel the character's discomfort. In following scenes he gets into a fight with her current boyfriend and then meets up with her. She tells him about 'trouble with the brick' and then leaves him. Lots of close up shots are used here to capture the emotion and obvious distress on the characters faces.
        
One of the film's most striking shots is used in a dream Brendan is having a dream where he is standing in the same storm drain where Em's body was dumped. The camera is facing the tunnel and something very quickly rises out of the water and engulfs the camera, this is accompanied by a foreboding sound that gets progressively louder. This was one of many unusual cinematography techniques used to shock the viewer or make them jump.

Soon after we return to the tunnel with Brendan next to his ex's body. Here we see some familiar noir lighting techniques as he hears footsteps running towards him and runs down the tunnel. At this point it is shot from inside the tunnel and we see some high contrast in the light as we look toward the end of the tunnel. The sound of footsteps but characters being invisible in the darkness help give the sense of insecurity and claustrophobia to the audience. Sinister and foreboding background music is played everytime we revisit the tunnel.

One of the key sequences in the film is when we are introduced to violent gang member Tug. He is first seen punching Brendan and we see this from the perspective of Brendan himself giving the audience the idea they are being punched. A low angle shot from the perspective of Brendan lying on the ground to emphasise the superior stature of tug. Shortly afterwards we revisit the same character and once again he is punched repeatedly. As he is the picture is sometimes blurred or appears to vibrate which can be quite disorientating for the viewer (I found it made me a bit dizzy) and adds to the sense that they are part of the fight. Afterwards he is taken in the boot of a car to a building to see the gang's ringleader and drug dealer 'the Pin'. He is introduced to us in a poorly lit room from a long shot that is initially blurred as it is from the perspective of Brendan without his glasses on. Moments later he is thrown to the ground and we see an example of a dutch tilt as the camera is shown to be crashing onto its side along with Brendan. This combined with the low key lighting used in this indoor scene probably embodies noir cinematography and lighting more than any other sequence and it is presumably designed to give a disorientating and uncomfortable feel to the audience throughout.

Some of the mise en scene used is typical to the noir genre with characters very regularly smoking cigarettes. There is also a scene where a character is shot dead by the tunnel where a gun appears, incidentally much of this scene was also shot from inside the tunnel giving the same high contrast lighting as mentioned earlier. The clothes the characters wear are typical of the age group and type of people these characters are represented as e.g the main character wearing a jacket and t-shirt most of the time and the tug wearing a white vest showing his muscle. The locations tend to just be simple suburban or school environments.

Overall I think this film fits in very well with modern society and the storyline is contempory and designed to appeal to a young audience. The film recieved positive reviews and was praised for the originality of some of its visual techniques as well as what the director had managed to produce on a limited budget.

       

CLASSIC FILM NOIR REPORT - DOUBLE INDEMNITY

The 1944 film noir ‘Double Indemnity’ is widely considered one of the best classic noirs and reinforces many of the genre’s stereotypical characteristics.

The feeling of threat and insecurity which this film is known for is felt immediately from the opening credits sequence which contains bold lettering and shows a man dressed in a top hat walking slowly closer and therefore getting bigger. He is shown up only in silhouette immediately demonstrating the visual characteristics of these films. This is accompanied with dramatic foreboding music to create a sense of suspense in the audience.

As mentioned in an earlier post this film follows a non linear storyline in which the same scene is shown at the beginning and the end. The first character we are shown is the insurance salesman Walter Neff who has recently been shot although at this point the audience does not know why. At this point he is in his office beginning to record his confession over a Dictaphone and thus begin the story. During this scene there is no music or background noise and the only noise that can be heard apart from the talking is his heavy breathing. This is most likely due to his injury but nevertheless still creates a sense of insecurity. Throughout the film it often cuts away from the story to re-visit Neff in his office and each one of these scenes is almost identical with a dark room and very little background noise. The manner in which Neff tells his story is very reflective and seemingly full of regret; lines such as “I didn’t get the money, I didn’t get the woman” show this. This style of narration is used throughout.

We are introduced to the femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson fairly early on as Neff makes his call to her house to renew insurance. She is immediately represented as slutty and flirtatious as she is first seen wearing clothes which would be considered revealing at the time and she talks to Neff in a flirty manner. Neff is attracted to her straight away and this starts to show the evil and manipulative nature that femme fatales were known for.

One of the most important scenes is the one where Phyllis tells Walter she wants her husband dead and asks to take out a life insurance policy which comes with a clause that will guarantee a huge pay-off if it succeeds. This takes place at Neff’s apartment which at the time is very poorly lit. Many of the recognisable visual stylistics are used here such as minimal use of light and high contrast between light and dark in the shots. Rain outside can also be seen and heard which creates pathetic fallacy and adds to the downbeat tone. As Phyllis tells Neff of her hatred of her husbands she breaks down and cries with Neff seeing it as genuine emotion when in fact it is all an act to make him believe her story. This is another example of the manipulation and mind games the women in these films used to take a hold on the man.

Close ups are regularly used throughout the film especially in the most important or dramatic scenes. Phyllis and Walter are both shown in close up when the insurance policy is signed with only them and the audience knowing what was about to happen. The most notable close ups however are of Phyllis during the part of the film where the murder is carried out. As they are about to set off her husband says to her ‘I’ll be back Monday at the latest’ at which point the camera focuses on Phyllis facial expression which looks rather smug in a threatening way. As Neff kills him in the car the camera is one again focuses on Phyllis’ face while the audience can only hear the killing taking place in the background and her expression appears to show very little emotion and remorse which captures her cold and heartless nature.

Cigarette smoke and use of lighting through venetian blinds appear in regularly in various scenes. One such scene takes place in the inquest room where the investigator, Mr Keyes immediately becomes suspicious that the death was not accidental and suspects Phyllis murdered her husband. Cigarette smoke was very prominent in the room where the scene was shot. The most striking use of venetian blinds was in the scene where Lola tells Walter the truth about Phyllis. With this being one of the film’s most pivotal scenes the room where the conversation takes place is very poorly lit and this makes the light and shadows created by the venetian blinds very visible and helps add to the slightly un natural look and feel that film noir is famous for.

Neff realises the mess he has got himself into after the conversation with Lola and this leads on to the scene where he is shot. After Phyllis shoots him once she finds herself unable to fire a second shot and the gun is taken from her. In the moments before Phyllis is shot an over-shoulder shot is used as Phyllis tries to beg him not to shoot. This is possibly the only time we ever see any genuine emotion from Phyllis although it may still be fake. If it is genuine it may show the love she feels for him although seconds later she is shot twice in quick succession and killed. After this we return to Neff recording his confession for the final time before Mr Keyes walks in on him and finds out. Neff collapses as he tries in vain to escape giving the film a very downbeat ending.

2 EXAMPLES OF NEO NOIR

The 1982 film ‘Blade Runner’ directed by Ridley Scott is considered to be one of the best examples of neo noir. The film is a big budget dark Hollywood sci-fi set in the future (2019) and is based around human clones known as replicants designed by the ‘Tyrell corporation’ to serve in off-world colonies that illegally escape to earth and have to be tracked down by retired ‘blade-runner’ Rick Deckard to be ‘retired’. Deckard is the film’s main protagonist and is at the centre of the story.

        

Like all noir style films the plot is dark and complicated with Deckard being despatched on a mission to track down 4 replicants who made it to earth after hijacking a spaceship after he is shown a video of one of the replicants shooting another blade runner after it is exposed thus highlighting the use of guns which were popular in classic noir. As the film progresses it is clear that the attempts to make human replicants have backfired and they are far more intelligent than was originally thought and one of them who is Tyrell’s assistant is an experimental model who thinks she is a human because of an implanted memory. Tyrell is eventually killed by one of the replicants who in turn dies along with the other three while the film ends with Deckard and Racheal leaving to an uncertain future.

        

Like classic film noirs the visual style and sound are designed to give the film a sinister and uncomfortable feel. The film is set in Los Angeles and much of it including the opening scene is shot at night in a futuristic urban environment with bright lights against a dark backdrop. Venitian blinds and cigarette smoke are used in some of the indoor scenes as are close ups of the characters in conversation. The music used has an incredibly sinister and foreboding tone to it especially the opening credits sequence.

         

Like some of the classic film noirs this is a film which may be designed to capture fears about the future. Blade Runner may have been written with possible fears amongst society of mankind becoming too intelligent for its own good.

 

Sin City was produced in 2005 and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It is a crime thriller set in a fictional city following four separate storylines that twist together to form the main plot giving it a complex and quite unusual storyline.

       

The fictional city the film is set in is full of criminals, crooked cops and corrupt law enforcement giving it an unpleasant and frightening feel. The main protagonists include a salesman and a police officer who each appear in different stories with the final one being narrated in 1^st person by the salesman. Guns and prostitutes are common features along with the criminals and cops.

         

This film is well known for its distinctive and unusual visual style with the majority of it being shot in black and white with typically high contrasting. However certain objects within a shot sometimes appear in colour (such as a red light on a button to activate a bomb) which may allow for greater emphasis on the most important objects within a scene or shot. The titles appear in bold lettering with the words ‘Sin City’ showing up in red in a font that makes it look as if it were written in blood immediately giving the audience an idea of what to expect. The way the characters talk is very threatening but often in a quiet way which can give a greater sense of insecurity to the audience than if somebody was shouting.

         

Overall this is a film that uses many of the classic noir techniques especially visually but gives them a modern twist to still give the film a cutting edge look and feel.

       

WHAT IS NEO NOIR?

Neo noir or contemporary noir is a style of film that has existed from the 1970s onwards. It carries forward many of the codes and conventions of classic film noir but tends to use modern sets and storylines that are more in keeping with modern society.

The wider genres of these films tend to be crime or thriller which is similar to classic noir. These films are not all shot in black and white although the use of low key lighting and high contrast that classic noir was famous for can still be seen. The use of downbeat music and non-linear storylines are also still evident. Like in classic film noir the characters, plot and stylistics used are designed to give the film an insecure and depressing feel and endings are rarely happy. Examples of famous neo noirs include Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner, Sin City and Memento.