Retribution- film noir

School made film noir deconstruction

I have chosen to deconstruct a student made film noir opening called 'Retribution', which I thought was particularly good and of a good standard.   

 

 

Camera Angles

 The starting camera angle is a pan from a neutral level on the floor, across the broken photo frames and glass. This focuses into the lamp and shards of glass which establishes that a violent scene or crime scene has just happened.     

 

 We then pan movement is used as transition into the main scene where the crime had been committed. The camera is low down and is still panning from the floor, it allows us to see the woman in the corner as a person of dominance as she is literally in a high position and acts as a looming presence over the dead body when in frame,even though we can not see her face.

The fact that we can see the dead person from the floor enhances the violence of the murder as we can see him on a more personal level.        

One part that I particularly like was the close-ups shots that they used, which contrasts her  sexual allure and vulnerability.

Her calm demure whilst she's smoking, and red lips are often common conventions of the classic femme fatale, instantly we perceive her as a strong and confident character.

Yet, once the opening progresses we see the hint of the bruised eye conveys the theme of revenge as it's likely that it wasn't self inflicted, giving us insight into why she may be so relaxed whilst there's a bloody body in the room.     

 

I noticed that throughout the scene the women is never filmed from a high angle, above her head, continuing to convey her as a figure potency. Even with the SWAT team surrounding her she seems to be illuminated by the dress in the light from the low-angle-long-shot portraying her defiance right to the end.

The clever use of over-the-shoulder-shot of the shadowed members of the SWAT team not only develops the genre, as shadows are used frequently in film noir, but also creates mystery and dismisses the need for realistic costumes as you only need the outline of the figures to look good.         

Sound

• Thunder and lightening sound effects conform to the conventions of film noir, and this plays throughout, the pathetic fallacy of the rain outside reflects the ominous setting of the room and death and despair that surrounds the situation.   
• A music soundtrack by Nancy Sinatra 1966 parallels what has happened previously in the scene, and give's depth to the type of murder that had occurred (A shooting). However this subverts the common conventions of a film noir as it isn't a downbeat jazz piece which is often used, implying that this is a more modern day take on film noir (making it neo-noir)  

Mise-en-scene

 

Mise-en-scene enables us underscores the abusive relationship, which lead to the murder of the husband in the opening scene. Photographs of the "happy couple" surrounded by shards of smashed glass suggests a broken relationship and a struggle. The effective use of leaving the photographs coloured contrasts the happy, joyful-looking couple from the darkness that surrounds the pictures. By doing this, it successfully generates a sense of deceit since the pictures are portraying a normal couple, however monochrome room highlights the sinister events that are happening in real life.      



 An ash tray conforms to the conventions of film noir as it's a prop that is often used. Also, the wedding ring on her left hand further confirms the relationship between the woman and the man, especially because the ring is shown directly opposite his picture, which is also in colour to make it more prominent in the frame.   

Editing 

 

 

The distortion of the image when thunder and lighting strikes, thus emphasises danger that is foreshadowed, because it creates a feeling of foreboding due to the visual spectacle of blurriness symbolises confusion or a shaken effect, representing how the protagonist may have felt.    

 

 

Fast-paced match on action is used of the woman turning around, when the SWAT team bursts through the door, creating a sense of immediacy which is effective in developing the climax of the scene.