Our film
followed many conventions of classic film noir films and the reason for this is
that we wanted to stick as closely to the original genre as possible to give
our film an authentic noir feel rather than make it a more neo noir film.
The most classic
convention we made use of was black and white. We wanted our entire film to be
in black and white rather than have a colour film or a film that uses a
combination of the two. The reason we did this was that the classic film noir
films of the 40’s and 50’s, the ones we styled our film after, are all shot in
black and white and thus we followed this convention in order to get the
correct feel to our film. Our use of black and white also added to the
atmosphere of the film as it made the film much darker and harsher.
Another classic convention of film noir films which we used was Venetian blinds. These blinds were used in almost every film noir we watched as part of our research and for that reason we felt they had to be included, even if only briefly, if we wanted our film to have an authentic feel. Again this convention added a sense of atmosphere to the film as the blinds were used to create shadows on Sylvia’s face as she is looking out of the window before having an affair with Rex. This adds to the atmosphere as it gives the impression that the relationship between the two characters is shrouded in mystery which is exactly what we wanted to convey to the audience.
Another classic convention of film noir films which we used was Venetian blinds. These blinds were used in almost every film noir we watched as part of our research and for that reason we felt they had to be included, even if only briefly, if we wanted our film to have an authentic feel. Again this convention added a sense of atmosphere to the film as the blinds were used to create shadows on Sylvia’s face as she is looking out of the window before having an affair with Rex. This adds to the atmosphere as it gives the impression that the relationship between the two characters is shrouded in mystery which is exactly what we wanted to convey to the audience.
The setting of our film noir was also very
conventional. Film noir was an American film movement so it seemed only right
for us to set our film in a America in order to fit in with the convention of
the classic films from the 1940’s and 50’s. However we challenged this
convention somewhat by having one of our main characters, Sylvia, be English.
This goes against classic film noir conventions as the characters in classic
films would have all been American due to both the setting and the fact that
the studios would have chosen American actors. This worked well though as it
gave the character an exotic edge that would have enticed the character of Rex
which was her aim in the film.
Another way we challenged the conventions of
the genre was that we ended our film with no clear or resolved ending. In
classic film noir films the stories are all wrapped up and everything is
resolved with each character’s outcome clear. We decided to go against this and
have a cliff hanger ending in which you don’t know whether Reece shoots Sylvia.
The reason we did this was that we wanted to allow the audience to be able to
interact with the film more by allowing them to form their own opinion on how
it ended. This makes them think about the film and the characters more than if
it was made clear to them by having a clear resolution.
Smoking plays a major role in classic film noir films with many of the characters smoking cigarettes or cigars and we felt this was a convention we needed to include in our film as we wanted our film to be a true classic noir film. It also allowed us to show the difference in status between Rex and Freeman as Reece is shown smoking cigars while Rex, on the other hand, only smokes cigarettes. This was so the audience could clearly see who the more important character was.
Our characters were also conventional of film noir as we had an investigative lead character, Sheldon Rex, and a femme fatale character, Sylvia. However we challenged the standard character conventions by making Rex a journalist as most film noir characters of his kind were police detectives or private investigators.
We also featured many key themes of the film noir genre such as murder, corruption and salacious affairs. The camera angles we used were also conventional of film noir. We used canted angles, which are featured prominently in the genre, not only in classic film noir films but also neo noir films, as well as both high and low angle shots in order to display various shifts in power between characters.
Smoking plays a major role in classic film noir films with many of the characters smoking cigarettes or cigars and we felt this was a convention we needed to include in our film as we wanted our film to be a true classic noir film. It also allowed us to show the difference in status between Rex and Freeman as Reece is shown smoking cigars while Rex, on the other hand, only smokes cigarettes. This was so the audience could clearly see who the more important character was.
Our characters were also conventional of film noir as we had an investigative lead character, Sheldon Rex, and a femme fatale character, Sylvia. However we challenged the standard character conventions by making Rex a journalist as most film noir characters of his kind were police detectives or private investigators.
We also featured many key themes of the film noir genre such as murder, corruption and salacious affairs. The camera angles we used were also conventional of film noir. We used canted angles, which are featured prominently in the genre, not only in classic film noir films but also neo noir films, as well as both high and low angle shots in order to display various shifts in power between characters.
Overall
our film stuck close to the conventions of the genre while at the same time
challenging them in some way as we wanted to make a film that, whilst staying
true to the classic film noir films of the 40’s and 50’s, stands out as being
different.
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