Film Noir History

Research collected on the history of film noir:

A film noir is traditionally used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, especially the type with sexual motivations and to emphasize cynical attitudes. Film noir is believed to of started from the early 1940’s stretching to the late 1950’s. This era of film noir is associated with a low key, black and white visual style. French critic ‘Nino Frank’ was the first person to use the term film noir. This was unknown to most American film industry professionals from this classical era. Film noir covers many different plots such as the lead role, which tends to be a detective, plain clothes police man, ageing boxer, hapless grafter, a law abiding citizen lured into criminal life, or a victim of incident.
In the beginning stages of a film noir most features where American productions, from the 1960 are onwards however film noir has been made throughout the world. Despite different producers and script writers, each individual film noir still contains attributes from the originals.
Neo noir are simply modern renditions and echoes of the classic version of film noir. “The first major film to overly work this angle, was French Director ‘Jean-Luc Godard’s’ Á Bout De Soufflé, which pays it’s literal respects to Bogart and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day”. Film noir and Neo Noir are generally set post date (before the time they were filmed).
Visual styles of film noir – They tend to use low key lighting schemes which produce light and dark contrasts, giving the film a dramatic shadow patterning. Film noir has developed ‘a cliché’ of sorts, this being the shadow cast upon a scene from venetian blinds or banister rods; this came before the Neo era. Due to the intensity of darkness from the black and white contrast, sometimes the characters faces are partially or wholly obscured in darkness; this is rare in conventional Hollywood movie making. Many directors and movie critics consider black and white cinematography to be one of the essential attributes of classic noir.
Plots, characters and settings. – all film noirs have the element of crime – usually murder. Motivations for the crimes are generally greed or jealousy. There will be in all film noirs an investigator, whom is prevalent, but far from dominant. False suspicions and accusations of the crime are a common trait in the plot. The heroes in the plots of film noir, who are morally questionable, are often fall guys of some sort. Film noir is generally associated with urban settings in cities such as: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco etc. The cities where they are set are said to be by critics “like a labyrinth or maze” – including settings within bars, lounges, night clubs and gambling venues; these tend to be the scenes of action! Commonly in film noir there is a lot of filming set at night or whilst it is raining.

Target Audience Research

Film Noir Target Audience

We intend to produce a film noir opening sequence with a rating of

15. Due to the research on target audience it means we could use some violence and bad language in the clip.

BBFC Classifications

Typical Film Noir Classifications

L.A Confidential- Rated R by the MPAA which is equivelant to an 18 rating in the UK.

Sunset Boulevard- PG rated as it is set in the 1950’sDouble Indemnity- PG rated made around 1944

Memento- 15 rated made in 2000 contains frequent strong language

The Usual Suspects- rated 18 made in 1995 has an adult theme and strong scenes of sex or violence or bad language

The hays code had to be obeyed in earlier film times from 1930 to 1968. During these years film producers had to limit the amount of explicit footage seen or heard on screen. After 1968 it is clear that the ratings of film noirs dramatically increased due to the extra bad language etc that was added.

The Production Code enumerated three "General Principles" as follows:No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.Specific restrictions were spelled out as "Particular Applications" of these principles:Nakedness and suggestive dances were prohibited.The ridicule of religion was forbidden, and ministers of religion were not to be represented as comic characters or villains.

The depiction of illegal drug use was forbidden, as well as the use of liquor, "when not required by the plot or for proper characterization".Methods of crime (e.g. safe-cracking, arson, smuggling) were not to be explicitly presented.References to alleged sex perversion (such as homosexuality) and venereal disease were forbidden, as were depictions of childbirth.The language section banned various words and phrases that were considered to be offensive.Murder scenes had to be filmed in a way that would discourage imitations in real life, and brutal killings could not be shown in detail. "Revenge in modern times" was not to be justified.

The sanctity of marriage and the home had to be upheld. "Pictures shall not imply that low forms of sex relationship are the accepted or common thing". Adultery and illicit sex, although recognized as sometimes necessary to the plot, could not be explicit or justified and were not supposed to be presented as an attractive option.Portrayals of miscegenation were forbidden."Scenes of Passion" were not to be introduced when not essential to the plot. "Excessive and lustful kissing" was to be avoided, along with any other treatment that might "stimulate the lower and baser element".

The flag of the United States was to be treated respectfully, and the people and history of other nations were to be presented "fairly".The treatment of "Vulgarity", defined as "low, disgusting, unpleasant, though not necessarily evil, subjects" must be "subject to the dictates of good taste".

Capital punishment, "third-degree methods", cruelty to children, animals, prostitution and surgical operations were to be handled with similar sensitivity.

Film Noir Mind Map

Opening Sequence Analysis

Sunset Boulevard Opening Sequence
The opening credits of Sunset Blvd start in a black and white context, with incidental sound of string instruments as the title reads “Announcing the most unusual motion picture in many years…”. A tilt shot follows the camera down to a kerb where it then reads “SUNSET BLVD” in a sort of film style font. A fast tracking shot sweeps across the screen backwards and names of actors in the film are then shown. The camera seems unsteady when moving, and gives a feeling of uncertainty- as does the jumpy non diegetic soundtrack played.
After a few characters names have been displayed from the credits, the shot changes and moves to a new scene outside a building. At the top of the frame we see “Paramount Presents” which is an official film making organisation and even at the time of the film (1950’s) it was a reputable company. The camera zooms towards the screen with sort of a camera lens feel (as it moves closer the outside of the frame turns black) and we see a crouded area of people with formal hats and some with cameras.
The scene changes again and we see an elderly looking woman, who seems to be dressed formally for the times and who is talking in a casual but forceful tone on the telephone. The props around the scene are an old fashioned telephone, a standing lamp, and ornaments. Two men stand at the doorway, but are out of focus in the frame which could suggest the character talking on the phone is much more important.
As the woman is speaking, a voice over begins to talk, and the scene changes to newspapers being printed out at a fast pace. We see cross-cutting images of a younger beautiful woman on covers of newspapers (and therefore presume this is who the voice is talking about). We then see a medium shot of a man sitting on a bed, typing on a typewriter. The voiceover continues and it is clear that they are introducing each of the characters. A wide shot of a party group shows a merry theme to the clip, but the music seems to be the same jumpy pace.
The music begins to grow quieter and we see a two-shot of a man and woman (middle aged) who are discussing the love life of the woman. Shot reverse shot is used as the couple speak to each other, and then a typical old film “kiss” happens and the voice over continues throughout the next few seconds of the frame.
A television studio is seen by the audience, and the voice over explains all about the “Hollywood story” which is about to take place. It then again crosses to different characters in different situations, all expressed in a black and white frame. The soundtrack gets more meaningful as a certain lady is shown on the seen and the camera tracks her movements. She is dressed in very upper class clothes and is covered in make-up. As different images of the same woman are portrayed to us, we realise that this woman “Norma” is likely to be the stereotypical character of “femme fatale” within this movie.
The lady “Norma” is sitting on a large sofa with a man looking down on her. We see his point of view from a high angle, and she is completely exposed to the audience. He talks to the lady in an angry and frustrated way which will most likely be developed throughout the film.
Asynchronous sound is heard through telephones and speech, and the frame is constantly cutting to another character, i.e. older actress to younger female on the phone.
Towards the end of the opening sequence, we see police cars and hear the incidental sounds of their sirens coming towards us in the frame, the voice over urges the audience to “come and see the film” which could mean that at some point it was used as a trailer to entice the viewers. The titles then again come down the page, in order to inform us on the producer, director etc.

Initial Ideas within the group

Idea 1
In the beginning we start with the credits. This is cross cutting with a person holding a camera in an eye line match. This person is running through a wooded area, panting and the camera keeps looking behind to show that they are running from something. The credits keep cutting with a calm but fast paced piano/brass piece over the top of the panting. The person then runs to hide and is killed. The credits end showing the title of the film. We then cut to the next day at a crime scene, the woman is dead and the inspectors are there investigating. The inspector is smoking. And at the end of our clip he flings the cigarette towards the body and walks away.

Sunset Boulevard: A Film Noir Opening Sequence

Introduction to AS Media Coursework

The choices for the AS Media Coursework are to make an opening sequence for either a horror film or a film noir. Our group, which contains myself, Chris Hodgson, Ashleigh Robinson and Josie Liddle, have decided to do a film noir and are now debating possible themes and ideas for the film clip.