Film Noir

Film noir began in the 1930's and remained as a strong cinematic medium until the early 1960's. Film noir literally means "black film" in French and features themes which are more negative than positive, with an overall dark and shadowy outlook--being filmed in black and white. This film genre takes in detective and crime noir as well as many gangster films of the 1930's. Noir also moves into more modern films combining with other genres. These would include western noir--"High Noon", romance noir--"Laura", crime noir--"The Big Heat" and even modern detective noir--"L.A. Confidential" and "Chinatown".

The first recognized noir movie was "Stranger on the Third Floor" from 1940, although films made use of many noir facets well before. "Stranger on the Third Floor" featured what was at the time a new cinematic technique that made use of dark or dim lighting effects, dreary settings, filtered lights and generally dark themes and characterizations. Noir scenes are made from interesting camera angles and with dramatic close-ups and shadowed lighting. Frequently the stories use of smoke-filled rooms, views of light filtered through venetian blinds, seedy downtown areas with neon lights, dark wet streets to heighten the noir effect. Brightly-lit scenes are not used in noir films since the desired effect is that of dreary hopelessness.

The content of noir films keeps pace with the settings. Most noir stories feature main characters who find themselves embroiled in hopeless situations, fighting against a force that threatens to overtake them, the force being their inability to resist temptation. Most often this main character is male, although there are some noir movies in which the main character is female. Sometimes they’re known as the femme fatale. The femme fatale is most often depicted as a beautiful woman, cruel and dishonest, who is willing to do anything necessary to reach her ends.

3 Extracts Mise En Scene

Van Helsing

Kung Fu Hustle

The Amityville Horror

Props: In Van Helsing the main props are weapons such as a sword. This connotes that the film is to do with violence. Also this helps provide an idea of what kind of genre the film is. In Kung Fu Hustle thereare two props that stand out which are an axe and a pig hanging out from the top. This unlike Van Helsing shows not only a weapon as a prop. Therefore this film could be suggested as a hybrid genre. As the inclusion of the pig shows that there is a humour sie to th film. The Amityville Horror also contains a weopon but is difficult to identify what the weapon is. Also as it is one person by himself it infers that ths person enjoys inflicting pain on people and is evil. However Van Helsing suggests that they're doing it for a good purpose.

Costumes: The first poster the characters are wearing mainly black. There is not much colour which can represent that the period of time in this film is alot of darkness. In Kung Fu Hustle the three men at the top are dressed smart which suggests they may be gangsters. Therfore it could give the impression they are villains. In the third poster the guy is wearing ordinary clothes. This could suggest anone is capable of killing.

Lighting: There is alot of low key lighting inthe first poster. However there was high key lighting in the middle and it was back lighting to show the significance of the characters. In Kung Fu Hustle there was no lighting. In the third poster there was low key lighting on the sides but in the middle there is high key lighting so the audience will focus more on the middle where the character is.

Setting: Van Helsing's poster has a building with alot of cloudiness and the moon in the middle. This creates a gloomy effect as there isn't much light. This gives the impression that there is alot of adeventures throughout the film. In Kung Fu Hustle the background is yellow. This wouldn't be expected in an action film. Therfore this conntes that there is alot of humour involved in the film. The Amityville Horror poster has an image of an house and the character is shown in a hideout. This allows the audience to make assumptions that the character has found it's next victim in the house.

Actors: In the first poster the two central characters have a serious expression and are looking straight ahead. This gives the impression that are involved in something significant in the film. There are another two character who in the shadow. They don't look human this suggests that these are the challenges facing the two main characters. In Kung Fu Hustle the expressions of the characters vary. Such as the man on the floor looks like he has fell down and has a dazed look. However the three men at the top have a more serous expression. This shows the contrast of personalities and characters consisting in the film. In the last poster the character has his back to the camera. Therfore this suggests that they don't want there identity to be known. This allows the audience to be aware that the character is evil.

Film Language Task 1

Donnie Brasco is an academy award nominated 1997 film, by Mike Newell, starring Al Pacino, Michael Madsen and Johnny Depp. It is based in New York during the 1970s. Also it was distributed by Sony Corporation.

The characters in the poster are wearing jackets. Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) is wearing a leather jacket which in the period of time of the film was for younger people. Also Lefty Ruggiero's (Al Pacino) jacket is more sophisticated which may show he is the older of the two.

There is low key lighting which shows darkness. This further connotes danger as most crime such as murder occurs during night. Also there is a spotlight on the two characters which represents a significance of them to the film as the light is focused only on them.

The lighting leads on to the actors. This is because as there is not much light people focus more at the characters expressions. Especially the man at the front as he is right in the centre. Their expressions provide a sense of seriousness and hate. This assists the audience to identify that there is conflict in this film.

There is not much make up used in this poster. Nevertheless there is a lot of detail on the character's faces. Also the lighting used on Ruggiero's face doesn't allow the audience to see his eyes. This may be done so they are unable to guess his true feelings and exactly what he is looking at.

The only real props that can be noticed with the exception of clothing is the end of a brick wall that the two characters are standing next to. This may suggest they have just come out of an alley or a dead end. This also comes under setting. By placing the characters here this allows the audience to make assumptions about what they have just done. Also as the lighting is dark it may assume there was violence and crime going on as most people may predict this in a dark alley.

The typography for the title is simple and spaced out. It is red to connote blood, danger and death. Therefore this allows the audience to identify the genre as by taking everything into account. Such as knowing that Al Pacino consists as a main character this gives the impression it is a gangster genre. In addition by stating it is based on a true story the audience will think that everything that occurs in this movie can happen in the real world. Therefore it makes it more meaningful to the audience and more fear. This also creates more interest from people who know about the true story.

Case Study 2

Revolver Entertainment is a film distribution company based in the UK. It is one of the the UK's most leading 'All Rights' distribution companies. It was founded in 1997 and the headquarters are in London.

10 Lambton Place
London
W11 2SH

It has has 15 theatrical releases and 50 home entertainment titles. Revolver USA was launched in 2007. Also they released their first ever live action Digital 3D movie earlier this year. Furthermore the first entire eco- friendly film release. They released films that were Oscar and BAFTA nominated that they co-produced.

Also they have released films such as Kidulthood, Tell No One, Taxi To The Dark Side and My Brother Is An Only Child.

Insitution Case Study

Charles Pathé was the main person behind the introduction of the company in 1896. The idea is to build an image built around 'independence, innovation and quality'. It also attempts to cover a whole variety of media and entertainment interests. Pathé is the world's LONGEST established film company. Pathé is one of the leading distributors and producers of films in France and the UK.

Pathé has produced media texts such as: Dirty Sanchez, Black Christmas, Rat Race, The Duchess, and The Fox And The Child. Also Blindness and What just Happened are coming soon. There have been print media texts such as Pathé Gazette and The Pathé Pictorial. They're also involved in cable and satellite networks such as Télé Monte Carlo, Voyage and Comédie!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path%C3%A9
http://www.pathe.co.uk/
http://www.britishpathe.com/

Peer Assesment of Trailer Analysis

1.Jehrique- http://jehrique-mcqueen.blogspot.com/

Actors used were important, and well executed as they featured a real life drug addict. I believe what separated this from so many other trailers was that the group had gone an extra mile by getting a real life drug addict, which could have been dangerous.

The actors were significant in this trailer as they added a new dimension by featuring a real life drug addict. This is what stood out the most from other trailers as it showed they put in more effort and there's was more unique because of it. This was risky to speak to a real life drug addict.

WWW: Developed point well.
Mentioned key concepts such as the importance of actors.
Showed what made it stand out from other trailers.

EBI: Linked it to other institutions.

2.Jaspal- http://da-jassi.blogspot.com/

Firstly the sound of the trailer attracts the audience in even more closer than they already are, there is a use of Diagetic and non- Diagetic sound. The use of both of these sounds in the trailer is very successful, as by the audience listening to the diegetic sound it helps them to understand more clearly what is going on in the trailer. Also the dialogue language used in the trailer is referred to as slang, for example: “you think you’re bad yeah… Show me what you got”

Initially the sound of the trailer gains even more interest from the audience by using diagetic and non- diagetic sound. The diagetic sound allows the audience listening to know what the trailer is getting across at. Therefore it provides them with an understanding of the overall intentions of the trailer. Furthermore the dialogue language used could be referred to as colloquial language for instance: "you think you're bad yeah... Show me what you got". This gives an idea of what the people are like.

WWW: Refers to the audience.
Mentions diagetic and non- diagetic sound.
Gives evidence when backing up a point.

EBI: Where non diagetic sound is used.

3. Natasha- http://natashafayes-web2point0.blogspot.com/

The Mise En Scene Also Plays A Substantial Part In This Short Film. This Is Because It Enables The Audience To See The Type Of Setting The Film Is Set In And What Is Going On Around The Places Curtis Is In, Rather Than Focusing On What He Is Going Through, This Also Shows People That Are Going Through What Curtis Is Going Through, Whether Or Not They Are In The Exact Same Position As Him.

The mise en scene is important in this short film. It allows the audience to focus on Curtis as the setting has no real distractions and also enables it to look more realistic. By making it more realistic the audience will engage with the situation in the short film by considering other people may suffer the same fate in reality.

WWW: Shows the impact the mise en scene may have on the audience.
Links it to other concepts such as the character.
Develops the point about audience focusing on the setting.

EBI: Describe the actual settin in detail.

Trailer Analysis: Saving Faith

'Saving Faith' is a movie trailer that has typical conventions and connotations that would be associated with a hard hitting and gritty genre. It is about a happy couple enjoying life to its fullest until a mafia leader turns their world upside down. This trailer attracts an audience that is interested in action.

There were many different types of camerawork involved in this trailer which showed it was well directed. As the car's door opened you couldn't identify who came out as the camera shot was at a low angled tilt. This was well thought out as they wanted to conceal the identity of the killer. The impact on the audience was that they didn't know who was responsible for all the wrong doings till later on in the trailer. Therefore it provides questions for the viewers in their head that they want answered during the trailer. This keeps them interested for the duration of 'Saving Faith'. Also when the character is sitting down holding a gun this is not the first thing that is shown on that particular part. It slowly pans to the right which then shows the image. This creates a suspense during the panning to the right. As a result when the audience see the gun this creates a shock and allows them to think they have to keep watching.

The sound involved in the trailer was mainly non-diegetic because of the soundtrack. The soundtrack coincides with the trailer quite good as matches the mood and situation going on in 'Saving Faith'. Such as at the start of the trailer when all is peaceful the soundtrack doesn't oppose to it. When the trailer becomes more open and shows the main conventions of the film such as violence the soundtrack alters to that particular genre. In terms of diegetic sound there wasn't a great deal of it in the trailer. However in most trailers they don't usually have this type of audio in it. When the violence appeared in the trailer the sound when someone was hit against the wall made it feel more realistic. Also this diegetic sound is felt by the viewers and creates an impact as they are aware that someone is inflicting pain.

Most of the characters in the trailer were dressed in hoodies. This gives the impression that they are meant to behave in a anti social way. Also one character was dressed smart and therefore could show he is meant to be the leader of the gang. The costumes clearly convey that the film is to do with crime and consists a huge amount of violence. The lighting is to do with what is being shown on the trailer. For instance when the couple are smiling at the beginning of the trailer it is broad daylight to show that nothing is wrong. Conversely, the lighting becomes darker as the point in the trailer has reached at a part where there is a lot of hatred and anger. At the end of the trailer it is night time which for the viewer potentially means a bad ending.

Also in that scene the boy is sitting alone next to a fire place. He has a concerned expression, this shows that by the end of the trailer an event has happened which has made him release a depressive mood. There is a point in the trailer where someone has been hit against the fence and there is a close up of his facial expression. It clearly shows he is in pain and connects with the audience to feel sympathy for the character. In the trailer of 'Saving Faith' they don't have to many prop with the exception of the gun which is shown on numerous occasions. Nevertheless this one prop provides us with an idea of what the film is about as it connotes death, hate and chaos. Which is what 'Saving Faith' is all about. The title 'Saving Faith' connotes that the film is to do with trying to defend and save good. Conversely the trailer suggests that this way doesn't come out on top.

A Rapper's Ambition

'A Rapper's Ambition' is a film trailer that follows the journey of an upcoming rap artist. The narrative centres around a struggling rapper with big ambitions.

Lighting: You can tell from the trailer the majority of the time the lighting isn't too significant. However from the start you see the character walking through an alley in daylight by himself. This gives the impression that he is frustrated. Also that he is not where he wants to be. The lighting gets darker to show there is a sense of seriousness about what is being addressed.

Institutional values: The story that 'A Rapper's Ambition' conveys is that perseverance will get you to where you want to be. Also if you're not determined enough and aren't willing to try you could ruin your life and chances of being a success.

Camera shots: Most of the camera shots are close ups to show the their expressions. Also it allows the reader to be aware of how they're feeling at the time. Furthermore some of the camera shots are looking down at the rapper to show that he is feeling inferior and like a failure.

Sound: The soundtrack played in the trailer is a beat that links well with the rapper as it gives the impression he is having a difficult time in his life. Also it is at a pace which allows the audience to feel interested in the trailer.

Timing: The trailer is fairly short at around 2 minutes. This is to give a short but huge impact to the audience. As it doesn't give a great deal of the story away but maintains people to want to watch the movie.

Language: The language used in the trailer consists of colloquial words. This is done to make it feel realistic about people who share similar aspirations to them. As they are likely to live in similar areas and communicate in the same way.

Analysis of media texts

Movie: Departed

This film takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, where notorious Irish Mob boss Francis "Frank" Costello (Jack Nicholson) plants his protégé Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) as an informant within the Massachusetts State Police. Simultaneously, the police assign undercover cop Billy Costigan, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) to infiltrate Costello's crew. When both sides of the law realize the situation, each man attempts to discover the other's true identity before being found out.

Individual Case Study

The genre of this trailer is likely to have similarities with my production. The age group it is mainly aimed at is 15-24 this is because they may relate to the situations in the film the most. A lot of the features of the film consist of criminal offenses such as drugs and violence. It conveys the message that 'crime doesn't pay'.

They maintained the audience from the previous film Kidulthood by having some characters from there. Therefore people who had a liking to Kidulthood were going to watch this film. However they also had new characters to gain more interest.

The beginning of the trailer starts off quite peacefully at first. Suddenly the camera shots are very quick which matches the tempo of the soundtrack. This is important for the trailer as it provides an impact to the viewer by showing them what the film is about. Also by doing this it hints excitement and the unexpected. The audience that the film is aimed at is attracted to the trailer as it has characteristics that they would take interest in e.g fast shots and a quick tempo soundtrack.