FIlm Noir- Script.

Film Noir- Script. (2 Minutes)

ITN; Detectives office.

The first shot is a mid shot of a tall, smartly dressed male smoking and dn an office. The shot then changed to an extreme close up of his alcoholic drink

Voiceover- ‘Here I am again drinking, smoking doing nothing, times are low, crime is low all I have is a pain in my head… and she’s about to come through the door any minute now’

The camera then pans from bottom to top of this tall all red women which enters the room.

“Hey honey I’m here”

Voiceover- “ and don’t I know it”

Detective grunts shortly after.

The camera then goes to a over shoulder shot as she speak which then goes in to a sot reverse shot.

Detective- “ I’m trying to work! What do you want?”

Women- “I have a little package for you to pick up darling, don’t worry nothing big, it’s sure to be a big surprise!”

Voiceover-“ Why is it always me that has to do fetch her parcels”

Detective then takes a long drag from his fag and takes a big gulp from his alcoholic drink.

Women-“ Here is the address be there! I don’t want you messing up like last time”

The women passes a note onto the table and then walks out. The camera stays on a mid shot of the detective and can here footsteps.

The detective then pours another drink and drinks it before leaving his self. The camera follows him as he leaves 

Fade to black 

EXT. Scene 2.

Tamworth town centre, The detective is walking towards a dark alley which has no street lights. 

Voice over- "Whats with the creepy places i have to go hmmm, well here its goes..." 

Walks down the dark alley which the detective disapeers into the darkness. 

INT. Scene 3.

The women then enters back into the detectives office. Shes searching for a file, she looks distressed. Chucking draws out, chucking files ECT. She stops and reads a file 

Women- "Got it" while she laughs to her self. "I really have got it. 

She then takes a seat and places her phone on the table and quitelty waits for it to ring...

EXT. Scene 4.
At this point its pitch back and you can only hear the background noises from the town center (EG alarms, closing shutters ECT)  a light source is walking towards the camera (The man)
In front of the camera to see a hand which then pull our a gun and fires it.
You then here someone in pain which then the main with the gun walks off and leaves the detective.

INT. Scene 5.
 Extreme close up of a phone ringing in the office. The women anwsers
Women-"Good"

EXT. Scene 6.
Then go to a bird eye view of the detective lying dead.

Film Noir

Film Noir

Characters

 

In a traditional Film Noir there will be a male detective and maybe a physic which just follows the detective around which is normally the one which gets hurt. There is also normally two types of women. 1; The femme fatale is the dangerous one which acts like the women in distress and used her beauty and charm to consume the detective, which then the detective normally falls in love with but however always come to senses and does the right thing and locks the criminals up 2; The secretary which is always there for the detective and the audience wants the detective to fall in love with but never does.

Also there is also some characters which always are the same in this genre for example the detective, his very dominant (which would refer back to the time period)  he smokes he drinks he has all the power and the damsel in distress always goes to him to sort his problems.

The women which normally is described a sex icon, close up of lips, shots of legs ECT

 

Lighting

In most Film Noirs there is often not much light this is often because when they first started creating Film Noirs there was a low budget which meant there didn’t have the facilities to have big open sets and have big lighting, it was filmed in tight spaces which was often lit by one light. This means they have to make the most of the lighting they have; that’s why you often see shadows. It also carries on the theme of the genre because the it like the viewer is in the dark (virtually) which then ties in with the location and weather (Read further)

Sound

Sound effects; Non diegetic sound is often used to reflect the atmosphere of the location. This could be heavy breathing, sudden noises, discordant and grating music used to make the viewer feel uneasy. There is sometimes if not done by sound an introduction to the first scene either done through voice overs or text on the screen. The voice over could be talking as someone over watching or someone’s thoughts EG the detective.

Mise En Scene -Costume-

This also links in with props and the ‘traditional detective’ for example the detective is smart he wears a suit but with a trench jacket. Then there’s the women which dress very smartly and seductively to consume the men once they approach to draw them in and use there charm to get their attention.

Props-

The typically props in Film Noirs are

·         Guns

·         Red lipstick

·         Smart suits with ties

·         Trench coats

·         Hats 

·         Cigarettes

·         Smart polished shoes

·         Alcohol

Location-

Locations are normally everyday locations with low key lighting to make it more lifelike however (also to follow on anything which would be filmed in the studio with low lighting because it would look right going from light to dark. It was also normally filmed in dark claustrophobic, gloomy appearances with single light source (Again referring to the low budget and small sets)

This was set in urban towns which made it more interesting for the viewer.

Also is often damp/rain in their locations to make it more mysterious for the viewer which also sets a tone and a mood.

Language

The language in Film Noirs is very traditional (Back to the time period that Film Noirs first become famous in) for example there is a lot of pet names which men wouldn’t be able to use now. For example; ‘good girl’ ‘sweetheart’ ‘darling’ and ‘precious’

Narrative

The narrative is which creates a relationship between the plot and the story for example voice overs and flashbacks are persistent and narrative elements of film noir. Narrative brings time and memory back together. The voice over is used to update if the viewer didn’t catch what happened what’s going on.

Iconography

These are the things that the audience expect to see (What makes it a Film Noir)

For example the bad girl with a gun (Femme Fatal) there are also other aspect such as the detective typically smoking and drinking that he also wears a hat and has a car with a black shiny body. Fog, darkness, empty alleys and danger.

Use of camera

In Film Noir there are often simple but effective camera angles and this again leads to the low budget and sets they had restricted them from using many camera angles. The shots also normally refers back to who’s in charge, showing the male from a low angle and again showing how the female is using her charm to the detective EG close up of lips and panning legs ECT. Other angles using are establishing shot, wide angle, mid shots, close ups and extreme close ups.

Analysing The Maltese Falcon- Showing the codes and conventions of Film Noir.

This is the first scene of The Maltese Falcon which is giving the viewer an insight/ introduction to what they’re going to watch. This can either be done through a voice over either belonging to the detective which explains his feelings or a narrator which updates the viewer to what's happening throughout the film. Notice how it is in black and white with is very traditional for a Film Noir.

 This is an establishing shot, this is telling the viewer where they are; a detective agency (by the writing on the  window) and also looking through the window where it is set. (San Francisco)

Here you can say a lot about character for example he is the detective in a tradition clothes, very smart looking and smoking and that he is in his office.

Here is the femme fatale, note how she dresses very wealthy but when she speaks she speaks with an English accent this is showing wealth and the divide in-between the two classes. This also would seduce the detective into believing what she says. Also note how the lighting is coming from once source.

Now there is a close up of the damsel in distress, look how worried she looks, all this to make the detective believe her story.

Now this is a classic shot of a Film Noir, There is one source of lighting which is from the front, the rest in pitch black which creates suspense for the viewer, there is also a prop with is the gun commonly used but you cannot see who’s shot the gun with then intrigues the viewer.

 Here yet again there is only one source of lighting for two people making it dark and mysterious for the viewer. There is the constant reminders that there detectives by the way they dress. There is also someone looking in at the detectives into the far distance which intrigues the viewers and also it is not clear who it is because of the distance and the lighting which makes the use of the lighting more effective.

 

Here is a newspaper headline, which is cleverly showing the viewers what happened without making it long winded; explaining it word for word. This is a simple but effective way of emphasising and getting a point across.

(Skipped to ending)

Here this is the ending of the Film Noir which I talked about the bad guy having to end up with a punishment and this is showing her punishment she was the femme fatale and now it looks like she’s in a lift however if you think about the this shot very close you will see that the shot is suggesting that she is behind bars. She also looks very guilty and isolated which suggest she is going to prison.