Women in film noir

scarlet street (1933)

Females in Film Noir sparked a new way of representing women in modern film. Before film noir women were shown as damsels in distress and a bit hopeless at defending themselves. So they often relied on the main man in the film to come and save her. So film noir started to show women as independent strong minded. It was the film noir genre that first started using Fem-Fatal’s. This became used in normal mainstream films from then on.

film noir classic double indemnity has classic examples of women in the fim.

The conventional characteristics of women in film noir are that they often have something to hide which is a crucial to the whole movie’s plot. Like for example in the movie “The Third man” the woman in the movie knows about what crimes Harry Lime committed but would not tell the main character about this. But later on in the movie the main character finds out about the truth of his friend and realises that he is a monster because he was selling faulty medicine to hospitals which ended up killing the small children. With Fem-Fatal’s they often have something crucial to hide from the main male character which is fighting for the triumph of good rather than evil. Another characteristic of a Fem-Fatal is the elaborate costumes that they were. In the movie scarlet street (1933) the woman in it has extremely elaborate costume which included lots of feathers and netting. She is also sexy with her long dress that is cut almost above her thighs. Another characterises of women in film noir is that nearly all of them smoke. This is because in the heyday of film noir it was seen as sexy and classy. Often the cigarette is lit by a mans equally classy Zippo. Since the heyday of film noir smoking has been found to be unhealthy and has been de-glamorised.

smoking in film noir.

The openings to “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Layer Cake”

The openings of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake have some fundamental differences but they also have many similarities. The difference that is the most apparent is the budget. Layer Cake had a massive budget stretching into millions of pounds. The most obvious sign of this is the main star of the movie, the name of the character is not known throughout the whole movie but he is played by Daniel Craig, who later went on to be the next James Bond. He would have cost a lot of money to be in the movie. Whereas Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels has relatively unknown actors some of whom it is their first movies. Many of who went on to bigger things. And at the time Guy Ritchie was an unknown film director he had only directed one movie beforehand. But for the director for Layer Cake Matthew Vaughn it was his first movie ever. But the Matthew Vaughn was a producer for many of Guy Ritchie films, such as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. I am not sure how he got such a big budget for his first movie but he might have made good contacts while he was a producer. Another reason you can tell the difference in budget is that the opening of the two movies is that Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels does not have any expensive locations or any shots that would need anything more than some rails. The opening is on an east London street that would be easy to get and inexpensive. Whereas the opening of Layer Cake has lots of expensive CGI in the drug shop, and crane shots which would cost lots of money to use in the street outside the flat. But the shot that emphasizes this point is the shot of the powerful Audi speeding up a long drive in the countryside towards a big golf clubhouse. It has been filmed by a helicopter which would be very expensive to use.

But they both have similarities too. For example they both have a voice over from the main character. In Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the voice over comes later than Layer Cake which is on from the first shot of the movie. This convention is used in many British gangster movies and is effective because it sets the scene for the rest of the movie.

The opening credits are used to create an effect in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels it breaks up the picture to create an effect to make the viewer wonder what’s happening because you can hear what’s happening but not see it. This creates an expectation for the viewer. It also gets people switched on and they are more likely read who funded the movies which is a good thing for those companies. Layer Cake uses the covenantal use of the credits which is putting the words over the shot so you can still see the picture but it shows you the credits as well.

Overall both movies have some big similarities like the use of a voice over. But they also have some big fundamental differences like the budget. This is very apparent in both films. Even though Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is much lower budget than Layer Cake I much prefer the movie Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels because it’s more quirky and interesting than Layer Cake.

L.A Noir

Like Film Noir L.A Noir uses lighting as its main distinctive feature. Film Noir uses light to engage the audience in the emotions of the movie, Film Noir is filmed in black and white so the lighting is emphasized, but mainly because high quality colour had not been developed in the post war period that film noir was promenade in. L.A Noir however is filmed in colour but it has a hint of chrome in it.

the use of crome lighing.

L.A Noir like film Noir uses many binary opposites such as good and evil, male and female, corruption and justice, life and death, and power and powerless. Another convention is that L.A Noir uses a voice over at the start to establish the movie in L.A Confidential Danny De Vito does an establishing voiceover right at the start. It tell the audience about L.A and the hidden crime and corruption that is masked by the outer sunny exterior. Normally if you want high contrasted shadows then L.A would not come into mind first. L.A is hot and very sunny but the film makers still manage to incorporate the most important feature, shadows.

the shot on the right is of the use of shadows in the film noir classic "The Third Man". and the shot on the left is a shot of the movie "The Black Dahlia". they both use shadows in important but very diffrent ways. L.A Noir is set in L.A which is a very sunny place but they still seem to be able to use shadows well.

L.A Noir incorporates some important unique parts of L.A. Such as the jazz scene in L.A. it uses a lot of jazz in the background, even over the voiceover at the start of L.A Confidential. This is emphasizes the underlying corruption of L.A and makes the audience think about the crime and corruption. One of the most important parts of Film Noir is the use of a mysteries female character (femfatel). L.A Noir also has the use of this. The costumes worn by the woman are elaborate and seductive, also the use of smoking is made to look sexy and exciting.

the elabarated dresed woman (femfetel), she is also smoking which is a iportant part of the seductiveness of L.A Noir and Film Noir.

The point of Film Noir was to point out the darkness and deception to the public after the World Wars. L.A Noir does the same thing by showing the public that L.A isn’t all fame and fortune, there’s lots of crime and corruption even in the police force (The Black Dahlia). This is the main objective in the genre that is L.A Noir.

corruption in the police force

My advert

Advert Evaluation

My cosmetic is called Façade. It’s a perfume aimed at women aged between 18-29, I chose this target market because they are the group with the most money spare. This is because most 18-29 are single with no children, and this age category is mostly employed, this means that they are a group of people who have lots of money to spend because they are employed and they have no children to spend their money on. Also this is the age category with the most amount of single people, or people looking for a partner, perfume is often worn to impress the other sex which means more people will buy this product. The advert is of a woman in a desert wearing a rabbit’s mask. I chose to use a mask because it links into the name of the product, Façade, which means a deceptive outward appearance. The colour most used in the advert is the use of gold, the woman’s hair is slightly gold, the desert is gold, and the actual colour of the perfume is also gold, the other gold element is the mask. I think the photo looks like she is running away from something, this links in to the idea of masks and secrets.
The name Façade stuck out to me as soon as I found it, it was mysteries and exciting, and it had lots of photos that could be used for the advert. I found the photograph on Google images, I searched “masquerade ball” because I knew I could fine high quality photos of people wearing masks. But when I found this picture I scraped the masquerade ball idea and chose this photo to be the centre of my advert. I chose this photo because it fitted in perfectly in to the name and slogan. It was mysteries because of the mask and the hair covering her face and the desolate surrounding.
I don’t think this advert is very controversial, it does not degrade women, but then again it does not show any values or beliefs. I think this could be a good thing because it adds to the sense of mystery.
My genre for this advert is fantasy. I chose this style because if the advert was a still of a film then I reckon the film would be a fantasy film. The rabbits mask is the main reason for this decision. In the picture it looks like she could be running away from someone or something. Her hair signifies that she could be running away, or it could just be a strong wind in the desert. Either way it gives an added mystery effect.
I think the mystery of this would add to the sales of this new product because people will be intrigued by the product and will buy it to see what it’s all about, by buying the product which is what we want the consumer to do. The sense of mystery is carried on all the way through the advert, (the mask, the hair, the desolate desert, the name of the product)
I chose this bottle because it was simple but yet attractive. And the actual perfume liquid is gold which fits into the other gold surroundings. The font was an easy choice because I wanted something elegant and old fashioned. I also think that the gold adds to the class of the product, and it makes it seem expensive and better value for money.
Over all I am happy with my finished product. It was all that I wanted it to be and the picture that I found was the best part. The use of gold also is a important factor in the overall felling of the advert.

Analyse how the opening of Sin city/ The Third Man uses film noir conventions and how it sets up audience expectations?

Sin City and The third man are two very different films, even though they are both either Film Noir or Neo-Noir which use very similar conventions, the opening of The Third Man is a brief overview of the city of Vienna whereas the opening scene of Sin City wets your appetite for the rest of the movie. one of the opening shots of the third man.

The opening to The Third Man is completely black and white whereas Sin City is high contrast black and white, but the twist is that it has subtle colour in it, for example the lady’s dress is red, and her eyes turn green when she inhales the cigarette. The other main difference is that the opening of The Third Man is that its isn’t very exciting visually it just uses news reel footage of Vienna, the news reel does not use any film noir conventions such as the use of shadows in the shot, another thing about the opening scene of the third man is that there is a happy, Greek interment which is a stark contrast to what the narrator is talking about, he is talking the splitting up of Vienna and the corruption of the city, this seems surreal with the music being played in the background. In the opening of Sin City like The Third Man there is a narration, this time it’s spoken by the male character in the scene, it isn’t an overview of something, and he is just talking about the woman. It’s almost poetic the way he says things like “The wind rises electric”. You don’t see the twist coming. It almost surreal because of the line “Ill tell her… I love her” then he shoots her. green eyes in sin city.

Overall the opening to Sin City is technically brilliant and enthralling to watch, sadly the rest of the film does not have the same brilliance to it and the movie as a whole isn’t bad, but that opening scene makes you think its going to be great, sadly because of the rest of the film it disappoints. The Third Man in contrast to Sin City doesn’t really build up any expectations, all it does is sets the scene for the movie. It doesn’t really wet your appetite it just informs you on the story so far. Over all both movies have some similarities but the opening scenes are very different.

All About Me

My name is Ben Wormald; I am 16 I go to CNS sixth form in Norwich.
I’ve been going to CNS for four years now, before that I went to Bignold School for first school and the first year of middle school. Then in year 5 I lived in New Zealand for a year which I loved, we lived in Auckland on the north island but in the holidays we travelled the whole length of the two islands. After I came back from New Zealand I went to Avenues school. For my later years at CNS high school I took art, history and business studies. In my GCSE’s I got 6B’s 3C’s and 2D’s. I got B’s in English lit, History, CBV, Art, Graphics and Science, I got C’s in English, Science (ad) and Maths, and my D’s were in ICT and Business studies. The other subjects I am doing for AS level are Politics & Government, History and Photography.
My main hobbies are meeting up with mates and doing fun things. I also do a bit of mountain biking which takes up far too much of my life. I also enjoy Photography which works well with my other hobby, mountain biking. I have also just started to play for a football team after not touching a football for 4 years! I also enjoy skiing in the winter. But my main hobby is music. I love anything about it. I go to gigs, festivals and just listening to music on my Ipod.
Being a music lover I also read lots of music magazines. My main one that I read is NME but I also read Q. Other magazines that I read include MBUK which is a mountain biking magazine. I also read Ride BMX which is an arty BMX magazine. My parents also subscribe to The Week that I read if it’s lying around the house. In the winter months I also read a skiing magazine.
The radio stations I listen to are basically just radio 1. But not daytime stuff apart from scoot mills because he’s hilarious. I find that the daytime music on radio 1 is pretty rubbish, that’s why I love listening to Zane Lowe. I also listen to Future Radio on a Monday night when my friend Isabel Neil (who is doing media in the year above) is on. I think Chris Moyles is an idiot.
As I said in my hobby’s I love music, I listen to mainly secular music, Such as Indie or other similar genres. I’ve been to Latitude festival two years running and I went to underage festival this summer for the first time which was fun. I mainly explore new music on the internet but I buy CD’s from record shops such as Soundclash in Norwich, but like most teenagers these days I do occasionally download music illegally, but only when I have no money. My favourite gig I have ever been to was Bloc Party at London Olympia, or Gallows at the Queen Charlotte pub in Norwich. I could not pick a favourite album/band because I like too much, id just keep changing my mind!
I don’t play to many video games but I have a PS2 lurking around somewhere. And when I do play it I play on downhill domination which is a downhill mountain bike game basically like SSX but with bikes. It’s so addictive. When I go round a mate’s house I normally play “Call of Duty Modern Warfare” it’s far better than the new COD. But I can’t be bothered to save up for a PS3/XBOX.
In my opinion new technology can be a help and a hindrance. Recent inventions such as the MP3 player have helped music be portable and convenient, but I also think that after the introduction of MP3 player’s people have stopped listening to albums as a whole, this was the way the artist intended it to be listened to rather than just individual songs. The same problem is with movies, the best way to experience a movie is at a cinema but the introduction of mobile phones that play movies takes away most of the experience of watching a movie. The only technology that I love is the simple mobile phone, ones that do the task of phoning and receiving texts (and maybe play the odd game of snake 2).
I also love television. My favourite channels are anything on the BBC, channel 4 and film 4. I like watching documentaries, some factual programs, some BBC dramas and of course the usual comedy on the BBC. I hate adverts, there just really annoying and get in the way of the enjoyment of the program. My top 5 television programs are (in no particular order) Top Gear, Mock the Week, Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes, old Skins and Futurerama.
I love film, I like any genre of film really. My top 5 films (in no particular order) are Pulp Fiction, Control, Trainspotting, The Beach and Slumdog Millionaire. As you can see I think Danny Boyle is genius. I also think that Control which is about Ian Curtis (lead singer of The Joy Division) is beautifully filmed, even if it does show that he wasn’t a very nice man it leaves you speechless at the end. The rest of my top ten is (in no particular order) Fight Club, Saving Private Ryan, Napoleon Dynamite, Borat and Green Mile. Like I said earlier on the best place to see a movie is at the cinema, personally I like going to see a movie on my own unless it’s a comedy when it’s much better to see it with as big as possible group of friends.
The reason I chose media studies is because everyone is surrounded by media constantly so you might as well embrace it and learn about it, also I love film and music so I guess I may want a job in one of industries.