The BBFC

In our group for the film noir opening, we decided that our target audience would be 15. This is because we were aiming in at students of this age and above, which is the main cinema-going audience.

In November, I went to the 'Hollywood Cinema' in Ipswich to participate in a talk from the BBFC. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) are an independent, non-governmental company who certify different media texts to their suited audience. These media texts include film trailers and advertisements, DVDs, videos and their advertisements, video and computer games and other interactive pieces. The main reason for attending this talk was to gain further understanding of what content we can get away with in our film noir opening sequence. I found the talk very interesting and useful, and one thing I learned from the talk was that last year they certified 639 different films, of which 227 where certified at 15. This point shows that 15 films are very popular.

After listening to the talk, we watched a film called 'A Guide To Recognising Your Saints', which was released in 2007. This was a typical 15 film and was specifically aimed at people our age. This was easily recognised by the way the characters talked, behaved and dressed. We watched this film to see what content a typical 15 film contains, and how it's directed to appeal to such an audience. In our film noir opening, I will take many ideas from this film, even though it isn't a noir, but it's aimed at the same audience as ours.

I found the BBFC official website very useful: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
And the BBFC website that is specifically designed for media and film students: http://www.sbbfc.co.uk/

Analysing a sequence from a contemporary and classic film noir

'Brick' - Rian Johnson
Scene - First meeting with The Pin

I have chosen to analyse a scene from the neo noir 'Brick' by Rian Johnson. The scene I'll be analysing is where Brendan has his first meeting with The Pin, who until now has remained anonymous. The Pin plays a dominant role in the film, which is clearly illustrated through the use of editing, mise-en-scene, cinematography and sound.

The camera is seen to follow Brendan walking slowly along a dark corridor, past many other gang members. The gang members are represented as tough, powerful and 'not to mess with' characters by their hard gold jewellery, their muscular appearance and their serious expressions. Against them, Brendan looks inferior and weak with his geeky glasses, and cuts over his face (that show defencelessness). As Brendan is guided into a room by the violent character,Tug, an establishing shot reveals the location. The room is empty and the image is de-saturated to show a lack in natural light. The mise-en-scene is one large extravagant desk at the far end of the room, where a man in a dark coat is sitting on a chair. His identity isn't revealed until the last moment when Brendan begins to speak, and it seems a shock to the audience that the character who (by the mise-en-scene) leads the audience to believe is a strong, powerful person, yet by his young appearance he goes against the ' gang leader drug dealer' stereotype. The fact that The Pin also carries a walking stick also shows power, though can stereotypically be used to show age or injury. In the image above, the characters are seen to be standing underneath a bright skylight in the ceiling. This shows importance as it acts like a spotlight, highlighting the key characters involved in this particular scene.

As Brendan begins to question The Pin, Tug turns violent and begins to attack Brendan out of annoyance. This is where The Pin shows his maturity and leadership as he doesn't move to restrain Tug, though he keeps calm under the pressure Brendan is implying to the situation. The black-out part where Brendan gets knocked unconscious by Tug is shown through a point-of-view shot. Basically, the audience see everything and feel everything that Brendan goes through, as if we are the playing the character. The steadicam shot also invites us (the audience) into the shot and makes us feel a part of the scene. A low angle shot up from the ground to The Pin (from Brendan's point of view) shows Brendan is weak and inferior compared to the power of The Pin. It also reinforces who's boss in the situation.

In conclusion, the entire scene is full of violence and individual characters using the cinematography, editing, sound and mise-en-scene to portray their importance and power as a role within the scene. I found this scene particularly follows the noir codes and conventions because of the darkness, the use of a powerful villain wearing a dark long coat, and the use of violence and blood shown between characters. The loneliness aspect found within the room is also a common aspect in many film noirs, and is used to show isolation and fear/anxiety.



‘Detour’ - Edgar G Ulmar
Scene - Al accidentally strangles Vera

The scene I’ll be analysing takes place inside an apartment that Al and Vera are renting for a short while, whilst hiding from the police and waiting to sell Haskell’s car. The scene contains many aspects found in traditional and contemporary noirs. The relationship between Al and Vera has been dominated by Vera as she plays a feisty fem-fatale whilst Al plays an innocent, confused, guilty man that wishes no trouble for anyone, though he has a habit of causing it.

Vera is drunk as she threatens to call the police and confess about Al hiding Haskell’s body, if Al doesn’t conform to Vera’s plan of stealing inheritance money from Haskell’s father. Vera runs into the bedroom carrying the phone, and locks the door behind her. The phone cord trails under the bedroom door out into the hallway, where Al decides to pull the cord tightly away from Vera at the other end. Vera however is lying on the bed, drunkenly oblivious to the phone cord wrapped round her. With Al tugging at the phone cord, he accidentally strangles Vera, which he discovers after hearing a thud, and breaking down the bedroom door to find Vera lying dead on her bed. Murder and blackmail are key conventions of film noir, and are both present in this scene. After Al discovers Vera dead, his devastated and confused mind is illustrated through a series of blurry shots. Each blurry shot pans/tracks and focuses on key objects (mise-en-scene) in the room. This includes a Venetian blind in the window (common in many noirs), Vera’s make-up on her dressing table (a common element of fem-fatale costume) and the telephone that Vera was strangled by. These blurry shots also show how basic the effects were for a B-grade movie to afford. The high angle shots down on Vera give a sense of vulnerability and weakness, whereas the close-ups on Al’s face show his emotions to be guilty, worried and sad. A voice-over from Al reinforces his importance as a character, and introduces his thoughts to the audience. The point-of-view shots (blurry ones) make the audience feel they are in Al’s position, and feel his emotions.

In conclusion, this sequence uses mise-en-scene, cinematography and voice-over sound to point out certain things that Al is thinking about. The lighting is low, a typical with all film noirs, yet it is light enough for the audience to understand what’s going on.

Looking at film noir examples

To gain further understanding of the film noir style, I have been looking at 6 different examples. 3 are traditional noirs and 3 are neo-noirs.
'Detour' - traditional film noir

Director: Edgar. G. Ulmar

Year: First made in 1945

Studio: PRC Studios made the film a success

Storyline: The main character is called Al Roberts. He suddenly looses his temper over a song played in a cafe, and he claims that it reminds him of his girlfriend who has left for Hollywood. Roberts decides to hitch-hike to Hollywood to find her again. He manages to hitch a ride with a man called Haskell, but whilst they are driving, he dies in his sleep. Roberts assumes he will be blamed for Haskell’s death by the police, so he hides the dead body and takes on the identity of Haskell as he continues his journey to find his girlfriend. He hitches another lift with a woman called Vera, but what Roberts doesn’t know is that Vera was a friend of Haskell. Vera becomes suspicious of Roberts and she reckons that Roberts has killed Haskell purposefully. Vera thinks she could be in with a chance of gaining inheritance over Haskell’s death, so she demands the truth from Roberts. Whilst in a hotel, Roberts accidentally strangles Vera with a telephone cord. After realising what he has done, he leaves the city in a hurry, and begins to return to the same destination that the film started off at. Roberts believes he will get caught by the police someday, once they have discovered what he has done, and at that point, the Highway Police turn up at his side and arrest him.

Analysis: This is a typical film noir as it contains all the right criteria. There are flashbacks to Vera and at the beginning when Roberts is thinking of his girlfriend. The lighting throughout the film is very low, and this gives the characters a shadowy appearance. The storyline is full of mystery, romance and guilt. The film was made on a very low budget, but was still a great success with its audience.

'The Maltese Falcon' - traditional film noir

Director: John Huston

Year: 1941. It was based on the novel by Dashiell Hammet

Storyline: The main characters are Sam Spade and Miles Archer. They are both detective partners, and they’re working on a case about a giant golden statue of a Maltese falcon bird. There are lots of people who are after this particular statue as it is also supposed to contain various valuable jewels. Miss Wanderley is the female fatale in this film. The moment she walks into Spade and Archer’s office she begins to cause trouble. The next night, Spade finds Archer murdered and the police suspect Spade had something to do with it. Miss Wanderley is in a lot of danger because two men, Joel Cairo and Kasper Gutman, will do anything to claim the golden falcon statue. Spade must protect Miss Wanderley, keep the falcon statue safe, and discover the murder of his work colleague, Miles Archer.

Analysis: This film is one of the top film noirs ever created, and is recognised by all noir critics because of it typical noir characteristics. The film contains a broad mixture of lies, betrayal, murder and a dangerous quest for the special Maltese falcon statue. The film contains darkness, quick action scenes and flash-forwards. It was also nominated to win 3 Oscar awards.

'The Big Sleep' - traditional film noir

Director: Howard Hanks

Year: 1946 and then remade in 1977 by Michael Winner. The film adapted from the novel by Raymond Chandler (1939)

Storyline: Philip Marlowe is the name of the main character. He is a detective and is hired by a wealthy man called General Sternwood. He is asked to investigate a man called Geiger. Marlowe enters a shop and finds Geiger dead, along with Sternwood’s daughter called Carmen. To find out more about the murders, Marlowe meets up with a man called Eddie Mars. Mars captures Marlowe and knocks him out. A woman named Vivian rescues Marlowe from further violence, but then she gets blackmailed after she inherits money from her father’s death. Marlowe decides to meet Mars at Geiger’s house to sort everything out. Marlowe arrives before Mars, and he fires his gun. This triggers Mars’ back-up team who then accidentally kill Mars himself, after mistaking him for Marlowe.

Analysis: This film comes under the film noir category and is probably the most well known of them all. There is lots of sneaking about, blackmail, lies and murders, however, film critics have realised that the film doesn’t really consist of many of the original noir aspects. The lighting is low and the cinematography consists of many slow and smooth shots between characters, but overall, it isn’t a very noir film.

'Brick' - neo film noir

Director: Rian Johnson

Year: Released into the cinemas in 2006

Storyline: The main character in this film is a lonely teenager called Brendan. He realises his ex-girlfriend, Emily, has disappeared over night. He finds her dead body in the opening of a dark tunnel. Brendan decides to hide her body and goes in search of her killer. He uses the help of his intelligent, geeky friend, Brain, and together they meet up with a drug dealing gang. Slowly Brendan begins to piece together who killed Emily and why it all happened. Over time, he meets up with the gang leader, Pin. Once Brendan discovers who killed his ex-girlfriend, he plots revenge.

Analysis: This film uses all the traditional film noir techniques, but it has been updated and purposefully designed so that it appeals to a young audience. The film is in colour (not black and white like most classic noir films are) but the director has still managed to create a dark atmosphere by using special lighting effects and the latest technology available at that time. The story plot is cleverly written as it involves events that are more common today e.g. the violence is shown in the form of a school fight. This allows the film to attract a wide audience.

'Lost Highway' - neo film noir

Director: David Lynch

Year: Made in 1997

Storyline: The main character is saxophone player Fred Madison. He is accused of murdering his own wife, Renee, and is blackmailed and framed for the murder. Fred Madison discovers a series of tapes containing footage of him murdering Renee, even though he is innocent. Once the police get hold of the mysterious footage, Fred Madison is arrested and sent to prison. Whilst in prison, the audience see him morph into a young mechanic called Pete Dayton. Once Fred Madison is released from prison, he continues the life of the engineer he has morphed into, Pete Dayton, and eventually, his path crosses with his old self. He then has the chance to piece together what has been happening all along, and how his wife, Renee really died.

Analysis: This noir film has a very complicated plot and it wasn’t made on a B-grade movie budget, but aspects such as a female fatale, dark scenes, murderous sequences and a ‘who-done-it’ mystery, mean it can be classed as a neo-noir film.


'Sin City' - neo film noir

Director: This film had 2 directors. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez formed a partnership and both directed the film together.

Year: Released in 2005

Storyline: This film contains 4 different short stories. Number 1 is called ‘The Customer Is Always Right’. This film mainly contains demanding women who are contemplating suicide. It is based around a depressed society. Number 2 is called ‘That Yellow Bastard’ and is basically about a policeman who is attempting to protect a young girl from a criminal rapist. He ends up getting himself into more trouble than he anticipated, and he results in unravelling a mystery with a big risk. Number 3 is called ‘The Hard Goodbye’. This story contains revenge and aimless murdering in the attempt to gain lots of money in return. Of course, the plan backfires, but a lot of people suffer in the process. Number 4 is called ‘The Big Fat Kill’ and contains a man who kills a policeman and then has to deal with the trouble of keeping the body hidden from people who want to see him locked away. Each story is set in the same location, Sin City.

Analysis: The film has won a total of 14 awards and, each story in its own way contains aspects of film noir. Even though each story plot if quite short, there is a vast amount of detail gone into each one, and the overall image portrays a city full of various crimes, murders, secrets and lies. The sound effects and clever cinematography modernise the film and allow the audience to understand what is going on in each story. The use of close-up shots play a key role in this film as it is a simple way of defining a character’s emotions. It also lets the audience recognise who is who, and which characters are parts of which story.

By looking at both the traditional and neo-noir films, I have noticed that the neo ones are designed to appeal to a younger audience, and the traditional ones to appeal to an older or middle-aged audience. I have also noticed that the special effects and cinematography used in the neo-noirs is more advanced compared to the traditional ones, though they both use the same lighting techniques and character roles.

To help me with my research, I used the Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com

Hi and welcome to my media blog!

The Brief: Back in September 2008, I was asked to create a short opening sequence for a film. I would be working in a group with 3 other students. The sequence has to be 2-3 minutes long and be in the style of a neo-noir. To be sure on the codes and conventions of a neo-noir, I will have to research the noir genre thoroughly, and watch examples of traditional and contemporary noir films. The audience would be aged 15-25 (the main cinema-going audience) and certified at 15. As well as planning a suitable narrative and filming footage, I would have to apply suitable titles and music, and use editing skills to ensure the film is in the noir style. The film must be submitted to the exam board by 1st May 2009, although we will be screening our film before then to the rest of the media class in order to gain useful feedback. On this blog I will record my progress as I take each stage of preparation into creating the film opening.

Research into film noir - the history

Through initial research I found out that film noir is a French term meaning 'black film'. It was first used by the French Film critic Nino Frank in 1946. The genre was seen to be a mix between crime and thriller, and was popular throughout the 40's and 50's. Later in the 50's, small Hollywood studios including 'Monogram', 'PRC', 'Republic' and 'Tiffany' began to produce noir films, though they were considered 'B' movies as they were created on such a low budget.

When the genre became more established, the invention of the neo-noir film came about. This is the type of noir opening I will be creating as it follows many of the traditional noir codes and conventions, but it takes advantage of new modern technologies, characters and scenarios.

Film noir characteristics

Narrative: A film noir can easily be identified by its style of narrative. Lies, blackmail, drug dealing, murderous killing and a 'who-done-it' case are common aspects of a noir narrative.

Locations: Film noir directors choose dark, secluded locations to create a feeling of loneliness. Popular choices for location include darkened hotel rooms with little furniture and streaks of light seeping through a small window, or deserted alleyways and train tunnels filled with darkness. I have also noticed, through watching noir examples, that the majority of the action occurs at night, which makes the scene naturally dark.

Character roles: Like in most film genres, the same type of characters appear in each one. Below I have created a table that shows the popular noir characters, how they behave and how they dress:

Lighting: This is one of the key points in a film noir. Directors would use lighting to create long creepy shadows and dark corners to create a specific atmosphere of anticipation. A popular shadow used in film noir would be the Venetian blind. They are used to cast long strange lines across characters, and are used to confuse the audience. Traditional and neo-noirs use this type of shadowing so often in their films that it has become known as the Venetian Blind Effect.

- Examples of the Venetian Blind Effect

Sound: In noir films, sound is used to add atmosphere to certain scenes, and to introduce characters. Diegetic sound is used for footsteps and 'city noise' (cars and people walking about) and pleonastic sound is often used so startle the audience and also create the sense of loneliness. Voice overs are also used frequently in noirs to show a character's thoughts. This is most noticeable in the film 'Detour' by Edgar. G. Ulmar.

Looking at noir style images
Below I have found 4 images whilst researching that I think portray a very noiristic style. The first one (top left) is a good example of a Dutch tilt shot. The image is very dark and the worry on the man's face adds a sense of mystery. The second image (top middle) is one that appeared each time I searched for film noir images. The cloudy smoke and the silhouette shapes of the 2 characters is very noiristic, and the female-fatal featuring as typical character found in noir films. The third image (top right) contains a big mixture of noir characteristics. The Venetian blinds, the mystery man in a top-hat and the shadowy furniture all add up to create a dark, gloomy image. The blue colouring of the image is quite unusual though it still gives the image a sense of darkness. The fourth image (bottom left) shows a man about to enter an alleyway. He's wearing a typical noir costume and the darkness and shadows add mystery.