Deconstruction - Amateur Film Noir

Deconstruction of Amateur Film Noir

To see what was possible for our own production, I decided to deconstruct another amateur piece.

I'm a big fan of the music used in this film. It's a downbeat jazz song with saxophones and pianos, very popular music to use in classic film noir and exactly the kind of audio I'd like to use in our own production as it sets the atmosphere very well. No other sound effect is used but I think this is effective for the opening of a film as it gives little away. 

A woman's feet, presumably the femme fatale of the film, are seen walking down the street. She is wearing heels and a skirt which are commonly used to represent sexuality and seduction, which are generic character traits of the femme fatale role. This gives us an idea as to what to look for when finding costumes for our film. An unusual editing technique is also used where the feet are seen walking blended in with the mans face to imply that he is thinking about her.

The man is also seen drinking alcohol which is a big feature in the film noir genre as it represents stress. Many of the detectives in the films have troubled pasts and are hardened characters who use alcohol to cope with the stress of being a detective. 

A fedora style hat is worn, another implication for our own costume. For male costumes hats like these are a key feature and seen in many classic films.

An extremely common motif of violence is the use of guns which is seen below. I really like the way the gun in seen in the shadow before it's seen in the mans hand as high contrast shadows are big in film noir. Also, the shadow is shown on shuttered blinds which are commonly used for lighting effects.