My first inspiration for part of the costume is the make up and hair style from Sin city posters featuring the femme fatales. Much emphasis is on the colour of red, especially red lipstick which stands out on the monochrome background.
The femme fatale is the dangerous seductress who causes trouble for the protagonist, and sometimes is the antagonist in a film noir, and red is often used as a representation of blood and danger but also lust and romance suitable for a femme fatale.
Femme fatale make up:
Simple soft curls
Dark eyes, winged eyeliner
red lipstick
Pale complexion
Costume: Inspiration
Marilyn Monroe was the was the glamorous fashion icon. In the 1940/50s women often wearing form fitting clothes, something Monroe fully embraced the classic little black dress, much like an elegant femme fatale . I wanted to base the femme fatale appearance around her as she had a glamorous which would have influenced many women's fashion choice.
I can see from this deconstruction that our femme fatale character doesn't have to be dressed elaborately,as the style is quite simple, but tight fitting or long and flowing to conform with the dress style of women in the 1940 and 50s.
The only film noir/ neo-noir opening that I could find that had titles in the opening. In this film all the titles were in separate frames and central rather than integrated into the same frame that the scene is occurring in.
(0:31)
(0:33)
(0:37)
(0:41)
I noticed that all the actors were mentioned first on a black glistening background. (0:45)
Then the musician 'original music written and composed' which we can't really use as we didn't compose any of the music soundtracks ourselves. However we can use this as one of our professional titles. (0:49)
'Director of photography ': is the leader of the crew on the film or television production and are responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions on the project.
We can use this as an anagram of our names as none of us were really in charge. (0:52)
'Written': refers to who wrote the script and storyboard for the film project. This means that we could use all our names or co-writer names for this section. (0:56)
'Executive producer' is the head producer of the creation of the film. (1:00)
'Director' leads the film's creation and technical crew and actors. (1:04)
I've learnt from this opening is that all the credits should happen in the first minute of the opening.
In our opening scene we have a detectives office so I have decided to look at the layout and positioning of certain items within the office. This will enable us to get some ideas when creating our own detectives office.
I began by looking at images of detectives offices inspired by/in film noir movies. Below are some of the images I found.
I found that many of the offices contain small desks with many items placed on top. Items that were commonly on top of the desks included:
A typewriter
Alcohol
Gun
Lamp
Paper
Cigarettes and cigarette trays
Parcels
Letters
Old fashioned phones
I then looked at the layout of the whole office. Some examples I found are shown below.
Both images show that the wall behind the desk has maps, photographs and pin boards placed on it. There are also some framed photos around the room. Other items include a cabinet for files, books, chairs, boxes and the detectives clothing.
I decided to create a plan of what our detectives office may look like and the position of certain items within the office.
In film noir's the detective can often be seen reading a newspaper. For inspiration I looked online at some 1950's styled newspapers. I decided on the 1950's as this was one of the eras that film noir was most popular. Our film opening is set around the 1940s/50s so this newspaper would also have to be set at a similar time to fit in with the mise- en-scene. If the newspaper was being left on the detectives desk only the front cover of the newspaper would be seen .Therefore, I have decided to create the front of the newspaper first.
Los Angeles Times
Key features:
One main headline and two smaller main headlines
Photos- black and white
Columns
Several different stories
Small text- black
Newspaper name at the top in the centre
Border lines at the top of the newspaper to separate the newspaper name from the articles
White paper
Small advertisement in a box on the left side of the newspaper name
Logo
New York Sentinel
Key features:
One main headline
Newspaper name at the top in the centre
Border lines at the top of the newspaper to separate the newspaper name from the articles
Photos- black and white
Columns
Small text- black
White paper
The News
Key features:
One main headline
One large photo connected to the main headline
The photo has a caption
Photo- black and white
Small text- black
Border lines at the top of the newspaper to separate the newspaper name from the articles
Brown paper
Small advertisements in boxes either side of the newspaper name
I wanted to explore the way that different film noirs have used typography, and use them as inspiration for our final editing task.
First of all I looked at original film noir's of 1930-59.
A classic film noir example is on Dangerous Ground:
The title itself is straight to the point about the plot. "On Dangerous Ground" is a film noir slang term which means to be in a position of danger or be involved with in a potentially harmful situation.
Sans Serif font is often used in action/ modern films as it doesn't have any relation to religion or supernatural elements.
The dark street as a background conforms to the common conventions of film noir, as ambient urban streets are a key feature of film noir in terms of location. Also, it further conforms as there are uses of shadows and harsh lighting which is also a key component in the success of the film.
1944
"Double Indemnity":
similar to on dangerous ground it also conforms to film noir conventions as it uses monochrome colours.
Sans serif is utilised to show that it's action and crime related rather than horror.
The shadows of the letters is cleverly used to set the title part from the brightly lit background.
Shadows are further used in the background, in the figure holding two walking sticks which compliment the title. This conveys a sense of mystery as we can't see the identity of the person, which film noir films usually aim to create.
The man holding the two walking sicks perfectly compliment the title because "indemnity" means security or protection against loss or other financial burdens, so "double" means twice the support which is what the figure has.
1946
"Crack up" begins more adventurous typography:
Still keeping to the all monochrome conventions, it's still all black and white however the title itself is the centre focus.
Sans serif font mimics the rock like appearance of the title, as it looks more raw and untouched.
The effect of the title is parallel to the name of the film, though it doesn't give anything else about the film away.
1953
"House of Wax"
I also chose to look at film noir last as this is more diverse than the other typographies that I have looked at.
When colour TV had been developed in 1951 the monochrome versions of film noir had a decline however the conventions and principles had remained. Although there has been an incorporation of colour, the remaining background image is saturated in colour and dark. What seems to be a block of buildings with one source of light in each room, creates shadows enhancing the mystery as much of the setting is concealed.
I had difficulty identifying the type of font for the letters of "House of Wax" and found that it was called slab-serif font. This creates the appearance of an American typewriter sort of typeface, an example of this is the font I am using now.
The melted orangey appearance on the title makes it look like wax melting off the letters, which is the main focus of the typography because it's the subject of the movie and therefore appropriate for it's film.
The purpose of this task was to do a deconstruction of an opening credits, as inspiration which lets us explore the horror genre and the importance of genre appropriation.
Lighting
shadows:
One particular feature of the opening, that I thought was effective, was the manipulation of shadows to make the opening more eerie and sinister. I liked how the shadows appeared around the out sides and edges, which gives the frame a keyhole-like effect.
This cleverly mimics the theme of the series, which is based in a hotel. But also makes the scene appear to be enclosed in, making the subjects visually claustrophobic, generating the sense of suffocation or danger.
Low key lighting:
Low key lighting conforms to the common conventions of the horror genre, as it creates mystery and the single source of light acts as a spotlight so the focus is on the blood on the carpet.
Mise-en-scene
Blood:
A frequent use of blood is used in the maid scene, and is repeated throughout the opening credits.
Dripping blood and the pool signifies murder and danger as it suggests overkill, paired with low lighting lends a fear factor to the scene.
Rooms:
Long barren corridors with no foreseeable end, and barely any lighting adds to the feel of claustrophobic surroundings and endows a sense of entrapment with no escape.
Bare walls, where plaster is flaking off makes them seem as though the building has been abandoned, leaving it exposed.
Sound
Non-diegetic soundtrack that plays throughout is a distorted piece which has a recurring stringed, staccato rhythm with occasional metallic screeching noises. This complements the static, fast editing, and quick pace of the opening sequence which develops its creepy feel.
Editing
Fast pace:
There are many cuts from one scene to another, but the one that stood out was this example of the mattress, where many cuts of are edited together to make a fast pace motif, which gives it a jittering effect.
Between all the frames, it suddenly zooms out with each shot, were we see a transformation of the innocent-looking child to the disturbing stages of creature emerging out of the hole in the mattress. The quick change, heightens the horror presented in this scene. Nothing is really in frame for very long which imitates jump scares.
Camera angles
I noticed that when a subjects was fully in frame it was viewed through the keyhole, however when there is a close up to something close-up shot is always full frame. This acts as a way to hide the identities of those in the scene, so that they may remain an enigma which fuels the eerie feel of the opening credits.
Typography
The typography for season 5 Hotel titles still looks like the original font of the logo, but this time it's made to look like a motel sign, which matches the theme of the series. Sans serif font implies that the show itself is quite a contemporary form of horror, which isn't so much focused on religion as this would have been serif font.
Conclusion
Though my group in particular are not doing horror, American Horror Story-Hotel showed me that you can still make an effective film opening of a different format. However, the success is based on the appropriate use of filming and editing so the opening adheres to the genre, so in my case, Film noir or neo-noir.
The opening credits to Se7en uses many techniques to make it effective so it adheres to the genre of psychological horror.
Lighting
The low lighting seems to be from one source and seems to be from one source, shadows are created and often move around suggesting that the setting is in a reclusive place and that someone unseen is moving around in the space, as if the subject is hiding away which makes it more sinister.
Mise-en-scene
Obsessive behaviour is displayed through showing the character frequently writing, cutting out and highlighting various biblical verses, with extreme close ups on the word "God". This effectively establishes the nature of the obsession with religion, which is common in most serial killers.
The images are often disoriented which develops the understanding of this person's character, as it represents them to have a distorted mind leading us to believe that they are a psychopath.
In addition, their macabre intentions are clearly displayed with the use of the razor cutting away their finger prints implying that they don't want to be caught for something they are about to do, which lends to the tension created.
Close ups and extreme close ups of cut outs images from what seems to be an anatomy book as well as the hands are used to conceal the identity of the character as they are not fully in frame, which intensifies the mystery before the first scene even starts.
Another effective feature of the opening credits which I found interesting was the fast paced editing creates a detachedness with the abundance of jump cuts, building on tension and mystery because we always see snippets of the character.
Sound
An appropriate use of non-diegetic sound becomes a prominent part of the opening credits, as a constant low ominous beat plays throughout to, potentially mimic a heartbeat . What seems to be a clattering and scratching of metal, and distorted screeching of a disk generates an eerie sound.This plays on repeat throughout the opening credits.
Typography
The lanky sans serif font emulates the handwriting style that the character has, which makes it the actors and those part of production become more involved, adopting the theme of obsession.
All of this follows conventions of a psychological horror as it plays on the audience's through our anticipation and fear.
Sherlock Holmes First Fight scene: Slow motion editing deconstruction
Whilst watching Sherlock Holmes (2009) I was inspired by the fight in the first scene, where it had been edited in slow motion.
I thought this was an effective use of slow motion because it lends suspense to the scene, which enhances the scene dramatically effective as it exaggerates movements and highlights certain violent actions.
Slow motion editing
During this clip from Sherlock Holmes, slow motion is used for two purposes:
It's used to highlight Sherlock's tactful skill and intelligence, as he goes through step-by-step of what he's going to do and reasons why, with his brief observation emphasising his intelligence. Whereas, if the action happened in real time all we'd see is him beating up someone.
The slow motion is accompanied with an internal monologue, so you needed the action to come in the same time as the appropriate part of the monologue so it makes sense or we wouldn't know which actions he was talking about.
Before the start of the slow motion starts, there is a close-up shot of Sherlock as his internal monologue starts so it is clear that the non-diegetic dialogue is coming from him and not another source in the scene.
The slow motion is also complemented with diegetic sounds of the arm movements and collion with the body, which intensifies the violence in the scene.
I believe that this part of the clip was the most effective as we could visually see the other man's skin on his face contort due to the impact with the hand, which lends realism to the violent actions, making it more realistic in the fight however still exaggerates the power of Sherlock's strength.
But also creates a contrast from the man to Sherlock, as we can see in his appearance that he has rotting teeth which is commonly associated with the poorer/ working class citizens, which adds to his dirty face and beard. Whereas Sherlock is wearing a smart suit and coat and is clean shaven, despite the sweat from running, and speaks in a well mannered tone.
Then there is a cut back to a close-up shot of Sherlock, establishing that the previous actions are just him thinking through his plan.
The repetition of the attack from before, but this time in real time, underscores Sherlock's intelligence as everything goes according to his plans. In addition, having this increase in speed and fast editing enhances the sense of excitement, but also conveys efficiency in how he excels in both mental and physical skill.
Initial thoughts for practical:
Advantages
It is achievable to use slow motion editing to intensify a dramatic action/ fight scene for my group's film noir film opening.
Acting doesn't have to be that good as all actions are slowed down, so half hearted acting or stage combat isn't that noticeable, compared to real speed acting/ stage combat.
Can focus on objects moving rather than people.
Disadvantages
May take up more time in the opening scene.
Need more than one actor for fight scene.
Can't do extravagant slow motions, for instance breaking bones.
