Chasing Shadows (Short Noir Film)

Here is a short film which I watched a while ago when choosing a genre for our film trailer. I think that the lighting and cinematography are great, very effective and live up to other film noirs. In terms of the story I feel it is lacking and was slightly boring for the most part, in my opinion the twist is very cheesy and cliché. We definitely want to create some shots such as the ones in this short film with their amazing use of lighting. Overall I found this to be an enjoyable short film even if the story was slightly lacking the other elements made up for that.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

The Rules of Film Noir

This is another very useful video this time talking about the rules of film noir in a more general sense. They make some very good and helpful points which we will keep in mind when creating our own film noir trailer. Although we may not follow all of the conventions that they talk about being in a film noir as we are creating a film for a modern audience who may want something new and different. 

Low Budget Lighting

Here is a very helpful video about cheap low budget lighting. The man used hardware or work lights which were very cheap and seemed to be quite effective. This is something that we make look into in terms of our own production as noir is all about lighting and in order to do it justice we will also need to be able to control our own lighting.

The Basics of Lighting for Film Noir

Here is a video that I found on YouTube when doing some research about film Noir. I found it very helpful and interesting. The man in the video talks a lot about the different lighting which best helps to define and exaggerate a character and their shadow. Although he does talk a lot about more professional lighting and since we have no lighting and no real budget we will have to find a cheaper alternative.

The Usual Suspects

Another noir film which I have watched is The Usual Suspects. This is perhaps my favourite noir film that I have seen so far, including both traditional and neo noir. There was not a point throughout this film where I was not completely immersed and focused on the film. The film had a great story and one of the best endings I have seen in a film of any genre.

Ascetically this film is similar to Brick with much of the film being set in day and the whole film being in black and white. This film did feel less like a noir than Brick and much less than The Third Man. It had a very mysterious story and a detective, even if the detective was used in an unusual way. The film felt like it was lacking in conventions of noir film. This said the film is still a neo noir film and has an a amazing story with a fantastic twist and it does still feel somewhat like a neo noir film.

Traditional or neo noir?

We are thinking of creating a trailer for a traditional noir film as we like the idea of the film being in a 1950s setting and in black and white. We may take inspiration from neo noir film especially in terms of the story as this trailer is aimed at a modern audience. Many neo noir film take heavy influence from traditional noir, for example Brick took inspiration from fiom such as the Maltese Falcon which show that these two types of noir can influence one another.

Brick

I have watched some more noir films, this time I have focused on some neo noir films. The first one I have watched is Brick (2005). I found the film very interesting and enjoyable, it is clear that it takes much of its influence from more traditional noir such as the use of a detective type character, a femme fatal and a murder. The film focuses around a school and the majority of the characters are pupils which is very different and makes it stand out among other noir films.

The film is in colour which is not uncommon with neo noir, the film is also set in daytime a lot which makes sense as the film is set in a school but this does go against the noir trait of the films being very dark as the word noir does mean black. The films use of known noir characters but shown in new and interesting ways was very clever. The film does have some very good use of lighting and shadows throughout it which are very powerful even if they are not too common..

Overall I very much enjoyed this film, it managed to keep me on the edge of my seat for throughout and I feel that the mystery had a very interesting and clever ending to it which was not too obvious. I enjoyed this film slightly more than The Third Man which is just a personal preference although I think ascetically The Third Man and more interesting camera shots and use of lighting. Although we are thinking of doing a Traditional noir film we will still take inspiration from some neo noir films.

The Third Man

I recently watched The Third Man for the first time. I though it was a very good film with an interesting and mysterious story which always kept me on the edge of my seat. Although what really caught my attention was the style of the film. The interesting camera shots and angles as well as its clever use of shadows and lighting was very amazing and we will aim to use similarly interesting use of lighting and camera angles in our own piece.