Deconstruction of Location

There are several common locations that film noir films are set in these include:

•         Alleyways
•         Abandoned buildings
•         Bars
•        Casino
•    Roads
•    Offices
•        Homes

                             

It is often set in dark, dim areas to reflect the mood of pessimism. Many of the locations are easy to find but good use of mise-en-scene needs to be used to be able to reflect the era most film noirs were set in. 

Many film noir's were set in LA the following are some locations that featured in film noir films.

"Double Indemnity"- Dietrichson House

This is a mediterranean styled house which was part of Glendale in the film. This house can be found in Beachwood Canyon. However, only the exterior was used but the interior was re-created on a soundstage at Paramount Pictures and was nearly an exact replica of the interior of this house.

"China Town"- The Prince Restaurant and Bar

This restaurant was known as The Brown Derby in the film "China Town" and was used for it's glamourous interior. The bar is also a perfect location for film noir's to be filmed. The character Evelyn Mulwray matched her lipstick colour to the crimson interior.

"Gangster Squad"- Union Station

 

This is one of the more famous filming locations and is a classic 1939 railroad station and hasn't changed much over the years making it a great film noir and neo noir filming location and with it's exterior and interior decor perfect. This train station has a bar and restaurant. “It affords a variety of looks in one single venue: from the gleaming white Spanish exterior to the grand sweeping hallways to its art deco restaurant and intimate outdoor garden patios. When you walk into Union Station, you can’t help but feel as if you have stepped into a film noir scene from the 1940s, as much of it has that timeless Any Town, USA, feel.”- Harry Medved (http://www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20140503/union-station-in-los-angeles-is-a-film-noir-star)

Films such as “Criss Cross” (1949), “Too Late for Tears” (1949), “The Company She Keeps” (1951), “Cry Danger” (’51) and  “The Narrow Margin” (1952) have all been filmed there as well as neo noir films such as “The Hustler” (1961), “Marlowe” (1969), “Chandler” (1971), “The Driver” (1978), “True Confessions” (1981), “To Live and Die in L.A.” (1985), “Bugsy” (1991), “The Italian Job” (2003) and “Gangster Squad” (2013) have all been filmed there.

Detective offices

Most offices are recreated in studios and with the correct mise-en-scene can look as if though you have been transported back to the 1940's.

Streets and alleyways

As we are only creating an opening scene we do not need fancy locations. Therefore, any street or alleyway can be used as many of the film noir locations are common everyday urban settings to make the events seem more realistic to the viewer.

Evaluation
In our opening scene we only need simple everyday locations such as an alleyway or a street. A room can be made into an office with the correct mise-en-scene. Therefore, locations are not hard to find.

Practical Task - Location Scouting Two

Location Scouting Part Two

In my previous location scouting post I looked at alleyways near my house which could be useful. After discussing the plot more as a group we realised we would need to use some kind of room, and decided that a garage would be suitable. So, I began by taking pictures of a garage that I would have access to at my grandmother's house. However, the garage had a brick wall behind it which may seem inappropriate for the office of a detective. It might, however, be useful for a short scene with another character we have planned. 

It would be hard to get shots without the garage door being visible, which may make this ideal for the shot of the kidnapper recording his message as an industrial, warehouse kind of setting may be suitable for this.

As I was taking these pictures, I realised that my grandmother's actual house may be suitable to film in as much of her décor is quite old fashioned and she had a good sized study which would be ideal to use as a detective's office. The study also has slitted blinds which would be interesting to try and create lighting effects with. 

As you can see, modern technology such as a laptop and printer would need to be removed prior to filming, but she has given me permission to clear the office for filming so this should be achievable. We would have to be careful not to include things like the mains socket and the modern looking radiator in any of our shots to make it more authentic of the era. 

Here are some examples of other old fashioned looking places that could be filmed. Close ups of certain objects could be used as a series of establishing shots at the beginning of the opening to set the scene of the house and suggest the time period to the audience. 

I also filmed some shots of the house and compiled them into a video in order give a clearer picture of each of the rooms. However, the camera work is quite shaky as I didn't have access to a tripod at the time. 

Overall, I think the location is ideal as much of the furniture is time period appropriate and there aren't many major modern looking features of the rooms which would be hard to get rid of. However, as I live quite far away from the rest of the group, it means we'd have to have very few filming sessions as it would be difficult to keep meeting up many times if we were to use this location. I think if filmed and edited correctly with the right props included then this setting would look very effective.

Practical Task - Location

Location Scouting

I began by searching for images of typical film noir scenery. Many of the films are set in large cities such as London and New York, including scenes by busy roads, high rise offices and backstreet alleyways. Living in rural Kent, it would be inconvenient to have to travel to London every time we needed to film and also very expensive, so I decided to use locations closer to home. I was inspired by these pictures of alleyways:

Though not being quite as city-like as these, I knew I had several alleyways near my house so I decided to photograph these and edit them to make them more old looking. Below is an example of one of my pictures before adding effects.

To make the images look old and dated I followed the same tutorial I used in my previous Photoshop experiment, and I used some tips from this site to make the images darker and less bright as I took them during the middle of the day. I used a curves adjustment layer to give it a very subtle blue tint and to darken the shadows. Here a screenshot of all the layers I used. 

  

I created groups for the layers which made it easier to distinguish between what effect each layer was contributing to, and I also made a group to cover all effects so I could simply drag the whole folder to my other pictures to apply the same effect. I also used this texture which I have used previously when investigating props. 

Here are the images I have taken of alleyways.

 

I think if we were to include some kind of chase scene in our film, these would be very effective to use, for example we could use a handheld camera to run down them to build tension. They would also be effective places for two characters to meet inconspicuously without anyone finding out.

I also took a couple of pictures of the garages behind my house as it's a big, open space which could be useful for a fight scene, and the doors of the garages are slightly old and worn which gives it an industrial feel.

Overall, I think the locations I found could come in handy for parts of our production. However, I think we would need to look farther afield to find more locations that look more inner city-like as there weren't really any places accessible to me at home that looked truly film-noir. I also need to look more at filters as many of the film noir pictures are much darker and have a greater contrast between highlights and shadows; on this occasion I am not particularly pleased with the colouring of my pictures.