Film Noir - Research

For my research for the Film Noir project I have watched 2 movies; a 1944 classic film noir called "Double Indemnity" and a modern film noir approach, "Sin City" (2005), as well as a couple of animations produced by graphic students for their project.

Double Indemnity (1944)

• The movie starts with a confession of the main character, an insurance rep, who, as we find out later in the movie, has been talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme.
• The first person narration keeps going throughout the movie; the main character describes events happening and his own thoughts, giving the viewers a chance to analyze him and his thinking pattern, making us get to know him better.
• To make the viewers seem like they interact with the action of the movie, there are a few scenes when we see the action from the point of view of the main character.
• Deep shadows are caused by point lighting of streetlights. It also makes the characters appear on the screen only as silhouettes.
• Mysterious mood has been created in a couple of scenes by making the light coming through blinds the only source of light. It causes most of the screen being black, with quite sharp, but not very strong light with an interesting pattern.
• Male characters are dressed in suits, long coats and hats, while women wear pretty dresses that make them look seductive.
• A key element of the movie are cigarettes smoked by most of the characters. Cigarettes were considered very fashionable in 1940s, they are also responsible for creating specific film noir mood of rooms and bars filled with cigarette smoke.
• Soundtrack used in the movie includes deep, grim orchestral tunes, emphasizing the dark and mysterious mood of the film.

Sin City (2005)

•  The movie is based on a comic book series under the same title. The action is happening in an urban environment of a dark and miserable corrupted town, Basin City. It tells story of three different people that link together at the end of the movie.
• The first person narration is also used in the film, similarly to the Double Indemnity.
• Action is happening also in the background; a couple of scenes include characters both in foreground and background, with events happening in both planes.
• A noticeable difference between Sin City and the classic film noir movie I have watched is the use of color highlights. The movie is shot in black and white, however certain things are emphasized by colorizing them, e.g. blood is always red. One of the characters, Roark Jr, played by Nick Stahl, is also colorized as his body is yellow. He is a negative character and his color makes him stand out from other characters and expresses that he is a negative person.
• The mood of the movie is dark which is distinguished by making most of the screen black, with strong, point lighting directed on characters, key places and objects.
• Another feature characteristic for film noir that has been used in Sin City is showing certain characters just as shadow silhouettes.
• Most characters are dressed like actors from traditional film noir movies, in white shirts, suits and long coats.
• Most of the characters smoke cigarettes, what, just as in Double Indemnity, creates specific film noir mood.

Film Noir animations - graphic interpretations

• Music used in the animations made by graphics students features either slow, depressive music or 40's/50's style soundtrack, often song that were originally used in classic film noir movies.
• Transitions or graphics usually is very slow and smooth, with use of tweening.
• Main color used is black, however one animation I have seen also had red highlights.
• Mood of the animations was disturbing and dark because of use of colors, music and slow transitions. This kind of mood suggests crime or murder, which is the main subject matter of film noir movies.
• One of graphic interpretation was filled with symbols (e.g. film tape) that connect to project's title, Film Noir.