Mood board

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If Thrillers were a tube map...

This map shows the key themes and conventions of thriller films linked together like an underground tube map. The colour code shows the conventions and the films match up with the colour coded train routes. Films with more than one station, have more than one of the features mentioned at the side. Films on the same colour route share the same convention/theme. From this we can make links of which themes have which features and which features are shared with other films. For example, The Third Man features moral ambiguity, Metaphorical settings, bleak lighting, a voice over and claustrophobic spaces. 

LA Noire: How does it use features of film noir?

L.A. Noire created by Rockstar Games uses several conventions typical to film noir. For starters the use of the title being written in neon lights grasps the glamour of film noir yet suggests the corruption through the fact it is flickering like it is broken. Within the introduction scene we see the use of low key lighting with single sources of lights such as lamposts lighting up parts of the city in an eery and enigmatic fashion. Expressionist jazz is played throughout the opening which was a popular genre of that time, it adds to the atmosphere and gives a slight feeling of tension. Almost identical to the opening of LA Confidential a voice over of a man with a deep gravelly voice is played. The feature of a voice over is commonly used in film noir, its quite an eery approach to an overview, its as though the audience is hearing the story from a ghost or something similair. The opening is set at night time with several thick clouds and mist which adds to the enigmatic atmosphere of the game, this is seen frequently in film noir, where the setting and lighting gives a very cold and un trustworthy feel to the setting.

In this image we can see the use of chiaroscuro lighting familair to the film noir genre. A strong shadow has been created on the dimly lit and melancholy scene similair to that of scenes in Double Indemnity, Casino Royale and The Third Man. This increases the mystery and tension and sets the mysterious atmosphere present in many film noir movies.

 The outfits featured are also a typical feature of film noir. Suits and hats add to the detective style story lines and add to the enigma of the game. Suits give the men a business like impression and suggests they are of an upper class and have important duties.  

Guns are another significant prop commonly used in film noir. A gun represents the corruption, aggression and violence present in film noir. It builds up the tension as it is inevitable that someone will die. The lighting in this image shows the moral ambiguity that is seen often in film noir movies such as casino royale. It suggests to the audience that the hero is not everything he seems, half bad and half good, represented by the dark shadow across his face.

Many phrases appeared within the opening such as "City of undercurrents where everything is not what it seems". This iniciates the feeling of deception and underlying secrets, typical to film noir movies. "Chasing shadows" and "Who do you trust" adds to the suspence and tension felt by the audience. It draws them into the chaotic and deceptive life lead by the characters in LA Noire.

The use of a torch is very similair to The Third Man. It acts as a high intensity spot light which reveals small amount of the surroundings at a time. This heightens the tension and adrenalin felt by the audience as though a significant discovery will be revealed at any point. This further draws people in to the story, which is a highly recognisable trait of film noir.

An effective camera technique used in LA Noire is that the camera always moves. It gives a better flow and moves the story at a steady pace, keeping the audience involved and alert. There are also the typical film noir style camera shots such as the rule of thirds, over the shoulder shots and obscured shots to suggest the audience is spying.

Discovery of Harry Lime - The Third Man

 This shot introduces the audience to a low key, dark and dingy cityscape. The use of single source lighting created by the street lamp increase the enigma and bleakness of the setting. This makes it feel lonely and suggests to the audience that something significant will happen in this area. The wet look cobble stones and to the cold and melancholy feel of the scene which is familiar to the film noir genre a long with strong shadows and silhouettes. In this case the shadows are caused by the big, gothic looking, looming buildings on a drab looking street.

The Scene starts with Harry's friend wandering around the town square when this view caught his eye. The dim door way with a high intensity spot light focused on a cat at a man's feet. His initial thought is that he is being followed and so calls out to the enigmatic figure in the door way. The use of a tilt shot adds confusion and disorientation which shadows what the character would be feeling. The low intensity street light is a form of natural lighting which makes the scene seem dim and dull. 

In this still we can see a close up of the cat and the man's shoes. Again the cat is lit up with a high intensity spot light which draws the audiences attention to the feet of the man. This heightens the feeling of tension and confusion so as to what will soon be revealed. This use of lighting highlights the enigma which is often present in film noir films. 

In this shot we see the revealing of Harry (Orson Welles) who was believed to be dead. The high intensity spot light and close up on Harry smiling is supposedly caused by a woman opening her window above where he is standing revealing his face. The way his face is lit up is quite ghostly which adds to the enigma of the film, as he was supposedly dead! The light disappears and Harry disappears just as quickly when the shutters above him are closed suddenly.

This shot shows the escape of Harry. We cannot see his actual body but we can see the strong silhouette which has made a feature of the dark, dingy walls. Strong shadows are a common convention used in film noir movies  including Double Indemnity. The use of a shadow in this scene again adds to the mystery of Harry's unexpected introduction as we still have not seen him properly, this will make the audience and the other character question whether they really did see Harry or whether he was just a ghost or figment of imagination.

How does Casino Royale use conventions of film noir

How does Casino Royale use conventions of film noir?

This image taken from the opening to Casino Royale incorporates several features of film noir. firstly it uses a highly familiar (amongst film noir films) prop of a gun suggesting this character is highly dangerous and deadly. It heightens the adrenalin within the audience as it is inevitable something bad will happen. The camera angle suggests the power of James Bond and gives him a sense of superiority and danger as well as making him seem more intimidating. The lighting on his face suggests the moral ambiguity of the hero figure. Although he is the hero in the story, he still murders people in a pretty brutal fashion. The shadow of black and white across his face accentuates this. It also increases the enigma of the story which raises tension between characters and their connection with the audience. This is a good example of the use of chiaroscuro lighting in film noir.

 

This shot  incorporates the recognisable setting style used in film noir. The wide shot used to show this city scape suggests the bleak, dull and perhaps loneliness of a character. The way the shot is slightly angled up towards the office window suggests that is where the inevitable action is about to take place. The shot looks as though someone is approaching this building and the audience can see through the characters eyes that is about to enter the building. This makes the audience feel more involved with the story, as if they're actually present. 

The low angle shot used here is that of an extreme angle that is highly recognisable in film noir. This shot porteays the character as dangerous and that the audience/passers by and inferior to him. It gives the sense that people should move out of his way. It also gives the impression that he is not a good character, again, the shadow across his face suggests moral ambiguity. The single light source method used in film noir is lighting up the office which is suggesting where this character is headed. It gives the audience the head start that the room lit up behind him is where the action will take place. The general use of black and white captures film noir brilliantly as well as increasing the enigma of the story. His suit and coat incorporates the popular costume choices in film noir, it suggests this character is important and of a higher class.  In film noir this tends to imply corruption within a person. 

 

The business office setting is a major convention of film noir, it suggests higher class. It suggests the intelligence of the character which tends to double up as criminality and danger. Minimal lighting heightens the tension which is a commonly used feature in film noir. The dark shadows around the room increase suspicion and suspense. the obscured shot of the lamp makes the audience feel as though they are in the room, spying in on the action this makes them feel more involved and makes the build up to the action even more exciting. 

This shot  uses the film noir conventions of a single light source behind the feature character. This in turn lights up half of his face leaving the other half in a dark shadow. This suggests the moral ambiguity of the character, half good and half bad. The prop of a gun is a popular weapon in film noir and increases tension. The camera angle makes the audience feel as though the gun is pointed at them, this holds their attention and provides more adrenalin and fear. This makes the audience relate to the characters more as it is as though they are in the room aswell. The blurred gun is another example of an obscured shot, a popular convention of film noir. 

Shooting a conversation

Film Noir.

Film Noir;

Film Noir is a very stylized form of cinematography that incorporates several different techniques that set a bleak and enigmatic atmosphere. Characters that commonly appear in film noir include the gangsters, the detectives, the cops, and the dangerous femme fatale women dolled up in seductive and glamorous dresses.The lighting in film noir is often dark with a single source of light; this heightens the eerie atmosphere and bleakness that occurs in film noir. The camera angles use close ups and mid shots to build up the emotional tension. This is then dispersed with extreme long shots of lonely and vulnerable characters walking through urban landscapes which tend to involve bridges, lamp posts, steps and several other city related objects. Obscured shots are often used which make the audience feel as though they are spying on the characters, this increases the tension and mystery of the plot line. Several extreme angles are used which modern day films are not overly familiar with, low angle shots implying power and dominance mixed with high angle shots to suggest vulnerability and anxiety. This is mixed up with dramatic tilt shots that give the impression of confusion and disorientation. The use of space within film noir can suggest the emotional distance between characters and can also suggest suspicion, deceit and betrayal. Common themes that reappear in film noir are the idea of crime, lust and an impending feeling of doom and darkness. Suspicion and betrayal are other popular themes within film noir a long with crime, spies and deceit. Cigarettes and guns reappear as significant props within film noir a long with sophisticated costumes including, trench coats, suits, hat and glamorous dresses for the ladies. Often very strong shadows and silhouettes heighten the enigma and tension of film noir, signifying the differences between the shady characters and the hero’s/heroin’s. An example displaying several of the film noir characteristics is Double Indemnity by Dir. Billy Wilder, which was made in 1944.

Collage;

film noir

 Costume in film noir;

Iconic clothing is use to heighten the highly stylized methods adopted by film noir. The audience can instantly tell a lot by the character by the way they dress. Their life style, their intentions, their job, the costumes tell the audience how they should feel about a character. However film noir could mix it up a little and dress their shadiest character in the sharpest of suits to confuse the stereo types. Costume was an area in which film noir could not stint. Expense and class were prominent factors in the costume box.

Wide-lapelled solid suits were adopted by the men. It would appear the only way you could tell a man’s social status was by the cut of the suit, or the cleanliness of his shirt. Interesting ties were used to brighten up the dull, suburban male uniform. This usually represents the criminal persuasion of the character. It typically works like this; the flashier the suit and the silkier the shirt the most corrupt the character within these clothes.

 

Coats are a reoccurring feature full of symbolism and double meanings. A coat can be used to signify ownership of a woman, a man’s wealth, or even the prospects or intentions of a character. Costumes tell the audience what the dialogue doesn't need to. No self respecting villain would be caught dead in anything less than a smoking jacket for example.

 

Women’s costume was a lot more complex than the straight forward man suit. Due to their parts played in the war women were rein venting themselves a whole new image. Gone were the days of being at stay at home mum and answering on your man’s every beg and call. Women stepped out in the most exquisite and glamorous dresses that had the viewers in awe.

The 40’s saw the rise of the tough women sporting, big shoulders, small waists, masculine suits, hard lines and sometimes even trouser were the giveaway signs of a woman not to be messed with.

Film Noir can reel in corruption from the most unexpected areas, the nice girl in her gingham aprons, baking cookies covering up her crazy femme fatale streak by playing the perfect wife to an older man completely oblivious to her evil ways.

The sensuous gowns clung to every contour of the female body accentuating every seductive curve of the dangerous femme fatale characters, making them dangerously irresistible to even the most level headed of men.

 

Women would occasionally allow herself to be spotted in her negligee or even just a towel. This says much about the type of woman on screen. No nice girl would be seen in her underwear by a man, this is the work of the seedy woman that can probably not be trusted.

 The fur coat played a big part in the female attire featured in film noir a long with headwear. Jewellery and accessories were used as clear symbol. From ankle bracelets, to brooches, lost necklaces all reveal a lot about the characterisations of women.

Tight jumpers, tight skirts and tight blouses were sported by the new deadly teenagers. Their tight shocking clothing was juxtaposed by childish ankle socks and hair ribbons in a deliberate attempt to shock the audiences of film noir.

Setting;

 

Typically film noir sees the use of small towns, suburbia, rural areas or open roads to set their story lines in. Wide cityscapes can be used to suggest the loneliness of a character amongst their large, bleak surroundings. Film noir would also see the use of Chicago, LA, San Francisco and New York during the Prohibition period (which sure the uproar of gang warfare and corruption). Bars, lounges, night clubs and gambling dens were the usual places the protagonists would find themselves in the classic lose-lose situations. The climax of the film tended to commence in visually complicated and often industrial settings including, factories, train yards and power plants. Bridges, lampposts, stairs and alleys are also destinations that continuously crop up in film noir, heightening the claustrophobic feel of the dark dinghy and mysterious sets which compliment the enigmatic storylines perfectly.