Film Noirs influence

Film Noir films usually use lighting, costume and setting to establish themes and
create connotations relating to what is going om, the lack of colour makes the
films very intriguing and complex to analyse as the other features are
emphasised. These films have a common theme, with an insecure good guy and
a murder of a femme fatale or a dear friend followed by a route to vengeance.

The Scene of the Crime

In The Scene of the Crime lighting is
cleverly used to dramatize the scene,
chiaroscuro shots of which are how hey lit
with smooth shadows emphasise the idea
that the characters are sly and mysterious,
In this shot, we see a car of which is
blended onto a loosely lit space followed
by a man exiting this car. This reinforces
the idea that these men are mysterious and maybe backstabbing as they are
easily hidden as well as this, the reaction from the other group of men could
connote that there is an ongoing feud, making the scene more intense and
anticipating.
This scene establishes the setting of the film
well, even though there are no establishing
shots, it represents the corrupt normality of
the late 40s and shows how conflict was a
common thing and no-one feared it. The
casual reaction of the workers reinforces
this idea. Furthermore, we see how the
whole shot is cast into darkness which could
have been an intentional way to show how no-one was innocent and everyone
had things to hide. As well as this, the costume design in the film is very clever in
terms of colour. The mafia man wears mainly black with a hint of grey, whereas
the builders wear mainly grey with a hint of black. This could connote how during
this time when the film was made/based, there wasnt much purity and everyone
had skeletons to keep hidden, this metaphoric representation of personality
makes the scene subtly dynamic and engaging to the audience.

The Letter
The opening scene of The Letter establishes a home of which is made out to be
a sanctuary of which is peaceful, this is suggested by the slow the impression
that this house is safe. A since of claustrophobia is suggested through the hut of
which many people work, the state of this hut could imply that they are
workers/slaves of which was common in the 40s, creating a narrative enigma of
which will capture the audiences attention. The dripping fluid is the only bright
thing in the scene, this could connote the entire mood of the film as the lightly
coloured liquid could connote happiness and/or purity. This is then reinforced by
the latter scene where there is a gunshot. Furthermore, the small bucket of which

the fluid is held in could create

connotations that happiness is rare and
isnt something that roams freely. Also
reinforced by a latter scene with slaves
chained up with no freedom.
A gunshot is heard and a Femme Fatale
walks out of the manor, her dark dress
could contrast the initial image of tranquillity as she comes across as present
and strong. After shooting the man of
whom the audience will want to know,
she drops the gun and we see her facial
expression, she is cast into darkness
which could connote that she is the
antagonising character in this film
foreshadowing the rest of it. However, it
can be argued that she is scared and
that she regrets what she has done as
her face is rather confused and distressed. Leaving the audience to consider this.
The final shot of the opening scene is a Stormy shy which is well used pathetic
fallacy of which makes this scene even more daunting.
CONCLUSION: The way that this genre confuses the audience, yet constructs a
detailed story and understanding of the characters and emotional landscapes is
very clever, which I could try to introduce to my thriller when I produce it. As well
as this, I like the way that the story is told mostly though the mise-en-scene and
that there is no actual need for colour. Film noir is incredibly influential and has
many aspects of which I could use in my own thriller opening. I wouldnt want to
directly copy the style of storytelling or actual conventions straight from the
films. Therefore, I would probably just take the originality from the films as
these films use incredibly abstract ways to alter emotions and change moods
through pathetic fallacy or metaphoric description. And this is something that I
could use to make my opening dynamic and intriguing without hinting towards
specific films or genres.