Film Noir... Research

For this new project, we have looked at films that are in the style of film noir, one from 2005, Sin City and one from 1944 called Double Indemnity.

Sin City:

Style in Sin City:

Within Film Noir films like Sin City, they are most likely in black and white except for the occasional colour from either a splash of red from blood or within this film the blonde of the character Goldy's hair. 

The intense colour that appears throughout this film, brings a cartoon effect and gives a more powerful empowerment over the characters. I like the idea of cartoon style photographs which i would have to edit on photoshop to get the effect that i am looking for. 

The environment within Sin City, its a very dark neighborhood. Film noir work is usually seen in a city like Sin City. The mood the environment brings is very cold, alone and unfriendly.

Lighting in Sin City:

The lighting in Sin city is very dramatic, using shadows which block out three quarters of the picture, just leaving you with light hitting important parts in the frame. For example, there could just be shadow with just the barrel of a gun on show. The light just highlights important parts and lets you imagine what could be going on in the shadows. 

Subject Matter in Sin City:

The main focus of this film is aggression and violence wrapped around a sexual storyline. There seems to be a variety of stories within this film, but within the film noir scene, you see crime which is linked to a gang or the mafia. You see guns as soon as the film starts almost, violence is always around the next corner it seems.

Double Indemnity: 

Within this media of Film Noir, the first thing you encounter on while watching this film, is a silhouette of a man which is blacked out. The first five minutes of the film you already see the usual points - a beautiful and seductive women who has the men wrapped around her little finger. The men wear smart suits, and have a tough look to them, wearing top hats. 

Lighting in Double Indemnity: 

The lighting that is used for this film is still very dark and the main focuses like a gun or the femme fetale are very prominant. 

The subject matter is just like Sin City, there is violence of the femme fetales husband, murder and also a sneeky money scheme. 

Within most film noir there is always a character whose a beautiful seductive sexual women who uses sex to do evil. Which is a dominant feature in film noir. For these 'femme fatale' , they wear provocative outfits while the men tend to wear dark long coats and hats with usual a suit and tie underneath. Cigarettes seem to be a big part in the Film Noir scene, which is a sexual look for the femme fatale and a bold powerful look for the men. 

So from these films you can see the repeated props and storyline that sets a trend in film noir. The clothes, settings, characters all seem to be roughly the same and this helps me to get a picture of what kind of things ill be using or needing to develop my project.