FILM NOIR INFLUENCES

FILM NOIR is a cinematic term used to describe Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that highlight cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. The classical film noir period is regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Its associations are with low key lighting and black and white visual style that stems from German expressionist cinematography. Many of the stories and much of the attitude of the classic noir has roots in the school of crime fiction that emerged in the US during the Great Depression.

Film noir is one of the main inspirations for our coursework. Pictured is a screen grab from the Big Combo, a 1955 American film noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis. 

This scene depicting the silhouetted figures of Diamond and Susan in the fog is considered to be one of the most iconic images of film noir. We have taken direct inspiration here for our final scene shot in the Clapham alleyway. Here, by only seeing the silhouettes there is a complete sense of ambiguity. For our coursework we want to achieve a complete sense of mystery surrounding the man walking down the alleyway towards the girl. We will do this through dressing him in a way that covers him sufficiently, e.g. a hat covering most of his face, as well as utilising the already low lighting that will be present in the alleyway.

FILM TITLE IDEAS

This  is a title I have created using the application Motion. Here, I have chosen the word 'Strobe' and made it flash across the screen in a glowing font. Although I made this clip very fast - I think it is relatively easy to see the word in the short time, and because of its bright, neon colouring it has the effect of the word burning in your mind.


This is a second version I have made:


Here, I chose to make the letters come up one by one on the scree, using the same neon font.

GRAPHICS IDEAS

As our film is a psychological thriller, we drew inspiration from the title of Se7en, by David Fincher, for our graphics. This title is dynamic due to its simplicity yet distorted effect. The title is a sans serif font, but then is distorted to blur the edges and it is mirrored behind it. It's as if the title is mirrored behind to relate to the meaning of the film, se7en- seven times.

We then wanted to try this type of creepy font on our own graphics. As we've be considering the title of our film to be "Blackout", we tried this on dafont.com to see how it would look. However, after trying these, we were less sure on the overall effect of them. They felt more like your typical horror/thriller title and we wanted to convey an almost scary simplicity in the title. 

When exploring graphics, art of the title was very useful when looking for inspiration for our film. It collates the opening scenes of many popular films and TV series and shows them as stills. This allowed us to see a visual medium to try to work out what we would like to convey though the font. artofthetitle.com also writes about the background of the film, and has the productions studios reasons to the style and choice of their opening title sequence. 

From the first time i watched American horror story, i was immediately impressed by the iconic opening sequence. This sequence is replayed at the beginning of every episode and so need to be memorable and convey the horror shown in the series. Even though we do not need to make opening credits, i found the site very useful in terms of inspiration for graphics for our title and the way we might portray our opening.

From looking at multiple film graphics, we realised that we wanted to use a font that looked modern and edgy, yet if shown in the right context, (at the end of our thriller opening scene), would look terrifying. These were some of the titles we liked the most:

Basic Title

Mesmerize

Neou

Neou

Me and Emma have decided our favourite font for the title of 'Strobe' is Mesmerize, simply because Basic Title was too narrow and we hated the 'R' of Neou. However, the title 'Blackout' was suited best to Neou because we loved the thin quality of the lines and the simplicity. We think these choices will make a very clean title, especially if we are going to use effect and have it flash across the screen, flickering almost eerily like a strobe would.

MUSIC/SOUNDTRACK IDEAS

The results me and Emma obtained from our questionnaires showed that the two main favourites for 'What type of music would you want in a psychological thriller' were ambient music that builds up and shows suspense, and contrapuntal music - which contrasts to the scene.

A example of contrapuntal music having a great effect on a scene is in the classic Reservoir Dogs ear scene. 

This music really helps to make the incredibly gory scene even more sinister because the music is so unexpected - how can he be listening to such a cheerful song whilst cutting someone's ear off? This disturbing choice of music also heightens the scariness of the antagonist because the viewer cannot understand why he is listening to this - makes him seem even more inhumane.

Another example of this being used to an incredibly gory, almost comedic effect is in American Psycho.

Although we think this would be an incredible way to show the insanity of the killer, we have no real scenes of gore in our opening, and therefore feel like using this type of contrapuntal music may not be relevant. Also, getting a 'classic' happy/jovial song to counter a gory scene will be impossible because of copyright laws - we will have to record our own music.


We will use Logic Pro to produce our score, needing two different types of music for our contrasting scenes. For our calm beach scene at the beginning we perhaps need no music at all other than the diegetic/perhaps expanded sound of the waves rippling on the Thames shingle. If we do decide to have music, it will be very faint and nondescript, perhaps an ambient hum or quiet chords.
Our opening mainly focuses on the club scene, and for this we will need a loud bass track to express the chaos of the space - a typical house song would be relatively easy to produce.


CLUBBING SCENE/NIGHTLIFE MUSIC AND STYLE IDEAS



This scene from the 2011 version of Fright Night portrays a similar chaotic club feel that we want to produce through the use of dancing bodies, people bustling past the camera and hands flailing around.  Fast paced editing has been employed to enhance this - as well as a shaky camera to give off the amount of movement.



This is the opening to the film 'Welcome to the Punch', which we felt linked most to what we were going to try and produce within our 'London' scenes when the group of friends are walking out of the club. The use of vibrant colour (especially blue) is something we definitely want to explore and like in this clip, we want to make use of the urban space around us - by highlighting the tower blocks illuminating light from their windows and the reflection/metallic quality of the modern buildings.

STYLE AND TONE IDEAS

Because our film is mainly set on the streets of London at night, we felt noir would be the best style of film to try and emulate. An inspiration for us is the film 'The third man', which employs lots of chiaroscuro (high contrast, lots of shadows) throughout the film. Although the film has no colour, many stills refer directly to how we imagined our opening to look, especially the picture below.

This still is almost identical to how we wanted our final shot to look, a backlit, silhouetted male/female walking into an alleyway. Even the reflection of the pavement from recent rainfall is something we wanted to take advantage of because of the incredible effect it gave. This particular film is set in Allied-occupied Vienna, which means the set shown in the picture above is quite decrepit but still urban - shown through the buildings and roads.
We want to modernise the noir genre for our opening, replacing the old fashioned dress of 1930s-50s with urban street-wear shown in our 'costume ideas' post. Immediately this style will be modernised through the use of colour, we want to use vivid, saturated hues to show the vibrancy of life in London at night.

A film that has already modernised the noir style is Drive, by Nicolas Winding Refn in 2011.

Although this is a theatrical poster and not a film still, I thought it emulated well what we are trying to achieve in our opening. The use of bright lights from street lamps and car headlight in an otherwise black city is a different way of attempting chiaroscuro - using the contrasts in light and dark to convey modernity as well as an eerie feel.

The colour palette used in Drive is also useful for us because most Noir films are in black and white. In the film vibrant hues are used - especially blues, which is what we are trying to convey.

The title sequence of Drive almost exactly shows the urban theme we want to convey, with the crane shots of the city and empty shots of the roads from P.O.V as Ryan Gosling drives his car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDCt1V8T3To
(embedding has been disabled)

Although this as an opening sequence shows Ryan Gosling as isolated in his car in the dead of night in an empty city, and we want to show the chaotic nature of a night out in London - we feel like the colours and style of this film is something we really want to try to produce.

SETTING IDEAS - EXITING THE CLUB

For this particular sequence, I knew I would have to co-ordinate 7 people (Emma and Blake + the five actors) and because most of them lived in and around Wandsworth I made a practical decision to shoot the walking home sequence there.

For the 'outside of the club' scene where Joanna Murray's character 'throws up' we needed a place which could:
A) Pass for the outside of a club
B) Was easily accessible
C) Was in the same area as everyone and meant we could easily co-ordinate the cast

There were two ways in which we could have gone with the outside of the venue, which would cast the girls who exited in different lights. We could either find a high end building from which they would walk out of or a more grimy, run of the mill building that would portray them as not 'glitzy' and 'glamorous' but more intoxicated, young and foolish.

After much deliberation, I realised that it would probably be easiest to use my father's office as the entrance to the nightclub because it was; adjacent to Clapham Common tube station meaning people could easily get there, had that 'grimy' 'dirty' feel to it with the brick walls and industrial windows.
Here are some pictures I have procured from Google Maps streetview (obviously these were taken in the day time, it looks more ominous at night)

In the second picture you can see the large double doors I am thinking will be a good place for the girls to exit from, not only because they look quite substantial and realistic, but because the single front door has my father's company name written on it!

Obviously we will move the cars and trashcans too, but I think, shot in the dead of night, with the lights turned on inside and a pounding house beat playing in the background, the scene could prove to be quite realistic.

SETTING IDEAS - beach scene

Our opening scene is set on the shingle of the Thames. Here are 3 locations we have found in London which would be perfect for the shooting. The calmness of the setting is something we have to portray through this opening scene - because we want it to contrast to the 'night before' club scene. There must be a feeling of isolation for the girl, given by an empty shingle beach, however we wanted to stay local in order to comply to the urban theme of our film.

These are three best locations we have found along the Thames: Blackfriars Bridge, the embankment beach and a small area of beach outside the Oxo tower. Another attribute these 3 areas have is the overhead covering of a industrial bridge - which immediately locates the scene in an urban space which is something that we want to make clear in our opening.

Here are the three areas on a map, showing their proximity to eachother. This will make it easier for us when doing a recce.

COSTUME IDEAS

These are 'mood boards' showing what we feel the characters in our opening scene would be wearing.

Our key character is the main protagonist (woman in her late teens/early twenties) - as our opening revolves mostly around the kidnapping, the party in the club and if we choose narrative overview B - the morning after.
We want to dress most of the people in our makeshift club in similar attire, stereotypically dressed to explain to the reader the situation and perhaps make it relateable to younger audiences.

This mood board was relatively easy to create, because we experience this kind of dress first hand at parties we attend. Collating our ideas of what the average late teen would wear on a night out - this is what we came up with. A key concept is glitter, a trend that has been popular since summer, this can be portrayed in both makeup (top left) or in clothing (the bottom left skirt). Crop tops are an obvious choice for showing a girl of this age - whether they are low cut, plain or incorporating mesh which is a popular choice among people of this age. We have incorporated this type of clothing with many of the 'classic' accessories like Nike drawstring bags, Nike air max, large hoop earrings and fake nails. Many girls our age have belly button piercings, which is not compulsory but may suggest a more urban vibe to our opening. Again, if our main character smokes we will create a more gritty image by accessorizing her with less classy - see below - cigarettes.





If we choose to have a 'business woman' i.e. narrative overview A - this is what we picture her wearing.

We wanted her to seem sophisticated and classy, styling her in a classic blazer and midi length skirt, coupled with an expensive tote bag (if we can get our hands on one!) Depending on the weather perhaps a burberry-esque mac, and if the weather is bright some statement cat eye sunglasses.
We want to give her the appearance of wealth, with impeccably manicured nails, a state of the art phone and if we decide she is a smoker - the most expensive cigarettes possible that exude wealth: i.e Malboros or black/coloured sobranies.



Shown in the late teen/party moodboard at the top of this post is a simple necklace with an initial pendant on it, if possible to obtain one of these - we would like both older and younger versions of our main character to be wearing this. This choice would in turn make it easier for the audience to realise they were the same person.

This what we would like the majority of our 'clubbing' males to be wearing, clothes that suggest an urban, London theme. We have chosen major brands for the clothing e.g. Carhartt, Palace, the North Face and common shoes choices like New Balance and Nike air force which we feel represent our age group the best. In terms of accessories, we have picked bucket hats and chains - which not everyone has to wear but we feel would give a more edgy urban vibe to the film.

NARRATIVE OVERVIEW - for the day after

Here is our second option for our film opening, the present day scenes are shown in white, and the past is shown in blue.

o  A soundbridge of rippling water coupled with a black screen fades into the opening – a young woman in her early 20s/late teens, looks out across the Thames water, relaxing.

o  She is visibly beaten up/makeup run down her face, mangled hair.

o  There are shots of the water, slowly intercut with views of her surrounding – Hungerford bridge/tower bridge.

o  Maybe she has a cigarette – an cheap type, perhaps pall mall, and looks around – breathing deeply.

o  Flashback to the night before - maybe '2AM' is shown in the bottom right hand corner. 

o  This is a New Years event at a club

o  The place is packed full of people dancing, the camera passes through the bodies intermingling on a tracking shot.

o  Heavy dance music is being played, people are sweating- a sense of claustrophobia that contrasts to the calm scene by the thames.

o  The camera turns at some point during the chaos and reveals the woman from before on a night out. The viewer knows this is the same person because of a necklace with a pendant of either their name, or their first initial.

o  His face is unclear, but a tall (slightly awkward feeling) man is obviously trying to dance with her. He kisses her neck and touches her body as she slightly recoils.

o  The scene of the two is often interrupted by people pushing past, again accentuating the feeling of chaos.

o  Shouting is heard from another part of the room, the camera turns and reveals her friend explaining that they are leaving.

o  The main character leaves the ominous male standing by himself as she leaves to catch up with her friends.

o  She bustles with her friends out of the club with a cigarette to her lips.

o  Closeups of the friends as the move along the pavement away from the building, laughter and joviality is portrayed through the amicable nature of the scene, perhaps they have their arms on each others shoulders.

o  Sense of blurriness as cars pass, creating lines of colour – experiment with shutter speed to get this effect?

o  Main character’s phone rings

o  Goes off into a sidestreet trying to hear whatever the person is saying better.

o  Wide shot from back of alleyway of  girl entering to hear the person on the other end of the phone

o  Final shot of a dark figure entering the alleyway, the viewer is unable to see who he or she is.

[Screen cuts to black with the film name flashing across it.]

NARRATIVE OVERVIEW - for business woman

Here is one of our options for our film opening, the present day scenes are shown in white, and the past is shown in blue.

o  A soundbridge of rippling water coupled with a black screen fades into the opening – a woman in her 30s sits on the shingle, looking out across the Thames water, relaxing.

o  She is perhaps eating her lunch, a salad.

o  There are shots of the water, slowly intercut with views of her surrounding – Hungerford bridge/tower bridge.

o  Maybe she has a cigarette – an expensive type, perhaps malboro, and looks around – breathing deeply.

o  Flashback to 10 years ago.

o  This is a New Years event at a club

o  The place is packed full of people dancing, the camera passes through the bodies intermingling on a tracking shot.

o  Heavy dance music is being played, people are sweating- a sense of claustrophobia that contrasts to the calm scene by the thames.

o  The camera turns at some point during the chaos and reveals the businesswoman from before as a woman in her early 20s on a night out. The viewer knows this is the same person because of a necklace with a pendant of either their name, or their first initial.

o  His face is unclear, but a tall (slightly awkward feeling) man is obviously trying to dance with her. He kisses her neck and touches her body as she slightly recoils.

o  The scene of the two is often interrupted by people pushing past, again accentuating the feeling of chaos.

o  Shouting is heard from another part of the room, the camera turns and reveals her friend explaining that they are leaving.

o  The main character leaves the ominous male standing by himself as she leaves to catch up with her friends.

o  The slam of the door as the group leaves brings the present day business woman back to reality.

o  She gets up from the shingle and walks along a bridge (whether it’s Hungerford, Tower bridge or the millennium is irrelevant)

o  Perhaps lifts a cigarette to her lips, which is intercut quickly with a scene of past-main character, adjoining the two.

o  Younger past woman bustles with her friends out of the club with a cigarette to her lips.

o  Closeups of the friends as the move along the pavement away from the building.

o  Sense of blurriness as cars pass, creating lines of colour – experiment with shutter speed to get this effect?

o  Main character’s phone rings

o  Goes off into a sidestreet trying to hear whatever the person is saying better.

o  As past clubber-girl walks into the alley, it flips back into present tense, the business woman is walking along the same street and happens to walk past exact same alleyway

o  Pull focus wide shot from back of alleyway shows her tentatively looking inside, as if the place pains her.

o  Same wide shot from back of alleyway of younger girl entering to hear the person on the other end of the phone

o  Final shot of a dark figure entering the alleyway, unable to see who he or she is.

[Screen cuts to black with the film name flashing across it.]