OTS Title: 'Chainbound'

When we first established our basic ideas for the constituents of our OTS, we decided not to label it immediately. If we had chosen a final title for our piece before actually creating it, we may have ended up working backwards and shaping our ideas around the title, and what it implied. I think this would have resulted in a piece with one central theme or focus and little else. In order to avoid this, we left the naming of the film until after it was created. We very much wanted our title to be generated naturally; the OTS would inspire a title, not the other way round.


Our OTS introduces the Femme-Fatale as the film's main antagonist, the Goon as her 'right-hand-man', and the Victim as an unimportant individal who has unfortunately got into trouble with the Femme Fatale's crime syndicate, and is suffering the consequences. Theoretically, the actual film would then go on to introduce the main protagonist, perhaps a private investigator, and would follow his progress as he infiltrates the syndicate in order to uncover the truth of the given situation, perhaps a murder, but ends up in too deep, and struggles to cope with the problems that arise.

On my desk at home, I had a piece of paper which I would use to jot down any title ideas that came into my head. I had already looked at a list of film-noir titles, and so knew what sort of name would fit. As the name of a film-noir/psychological thriller hybrid, the title would need to be both ambiguous and daunting; possibly alluding to an important plot element, but not something that would spoil the film. Here is a list of some words I jotted down:

Cipher, Trial, Alibi, Break, Deed, Tact, Chase,
Mutiny, Run, Code, Riot, Storm, Recoil, Clarity.

I paired some of the words together to create two possible titles: Riot Cipher and Clarity Tact. I liked the pairing of words, because it left a certain mystery as to how they were linked. Riot Cipher, for exmaple, juxtaposes something chaotic and something that requires order and precision, and this could work to make people wonder about the film and become curious enough to watch it. Despite this, I didn't think either of these titles would work for the OTS, because they didn't seem to fit with the themes of the OTS at all, and would seem detached from our piece, possibly resulting in audience confusion.


James produced this 3D title animation for the end of our OTS, but it was replaced by normal, 2D text on the general consensus that it was too lucid, and shattered the subtlety that our OTS had established up until that point.

A week or so ago, when we realised our production was coming to a head, we decided to have a group brain-storming session for our film title. This involved sitting around a computer, suggesting words that related to our OTS, and then typing them into Thesaurus.com in the hope of discovering an appropriate synonym. After a while, I suggested the word, 'Chain' as a metaphor for the crime-syndicate; the main protagonist would be uncovering links between different sections of the syndicate, trying to find weaknesses along the way that he could use to his advantage. It was Tom who then developed this idea, suggesting 'Chainbound' as a single world. This made even more sense as a metaphor for the situation the protagonist would find himself in; whilst trying to uncover the weak links in the crime-syndicate, he would become bound by certain problems, and would struggle to escape. Also, the name doesn't appear to have been used previously, which will give our OTS an even further sense of originality.

The Changing Nature of Noir

Recently, I watched a box-set of 'THREE MUST-SEE MOVIES' from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. This included Fight Club, The Usual Suspects and Memento. All three films could be described as thrillers; they all combine mystery, pacing, and a twisting plot in order to evoke tension.

Browsing through various DVD extras, I was surprised to find that both The Usual Suspects and Memento were regarded as works of film-noir. On further investigation, I found that all three of the movies in the set were labelled under the genre of 'Neo Noir' on The Internet Movie Database. As a prefix, 'Neo' means 'new,' and is usually used in the case of something being revived or reinvented. With this understanding, it is easier to see why these films fit under the neo-noir genre; they contain certain elements present in original film-noir, but do not attempt to replicate classic film-noir. After making sense of neo-noir, I was further intrigued by the current popularity of neo-noir as opposed to classic-noir or immitations of classic-noir. In order to establish exactly what neo-noir has to offer to modern cinema, I first needed to clarify what it directly borrows from original noir.

The most commonly borrowed aspects of film-noir are the dark, malevolent atmosphere and the flawed, morally ambiguous chracters. Crime-based narratives provide a firm platform upon which these elements of film-noir can flourish, which explains why so many neo-noir films revolve around stories of heists, murder and gang warfare. So if neo-noir borrows on both narrative and thematic fronts, then the only true source of originality is in style and context.















Even this poster for the theatrical release of Blade Runner emulates the style of those that were used for classic film-noir.

Neo-noir has a certain amount of charm that other genres lack, because the films it describes portray film-noir in a new and unique light. The most obvious, and perhaps the most famous example of this is that of Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner. The narrative follows almost all of the traditional film-noir conventions, but is set in Los Angeles in the year 2019. The film is particularly clever in the way that it integrates the rudimentary film-noir plot elements into the futuristic setting. Where the classic film-noir take on the plot may have been: a cop must hunt down and kill a group of highly-dangerous escaped convicts, the neo-noir take is: a 'Blade Runner' must hunt down and retire (kill) a group of Replicants (androids). Whether the directors of neo-noir films are conscious of it or not, they are carrying film noir influences into new and unique areas.



Suprisingly, the most prominent of all these 'new areas' seems to be that of intellectual thought. As directors synthesise film-noir and other cultural influences, they soon find themselves with an expansive melting-pot of ideas that need to be explored. More often than not, this results in more compelling and philososphical films that contain a specific moral, or are designed to make the audience think in a certain way. The above clip from the ending of Blade Runner illustrates this trend perfectly, as the main antagonist discusses the nature of his own life as a Replicant.

Another good example is that of Memento (below), which directly challenges the viewer to make sense from the unconventionally arranged narrative. The film's protagonist suffers from a mental conditions which prevents him from making new memories. As a result, he can only remember things for a short amount of time, and relies on notes, pictures and tattoos to guide him. The film begins with the protagonist shooting someone, and then the rest of the film is made up of clips chartering the protagonist's progress up until this point, all in reverse order. This method works incredibly well, because each new scene brings a sense of both satisfaction and mystery; you discover what led to the beginning of the previous scene, but are left wondering what led to the current one. Some people state that Momento is a non-linear film, however, as Director Christopher Nolan points out, the film is most definitely linear, because if the narrative did not follow a set path, the entire structure of the film would fall apart.




Even more interestingly, there is no real reason to restrict neo-noir to the confines of the medium of film. With the ever-expanding world of media distribution, it is no surprise that noir influences find their way into video games and music videos. The video for Franz Ferdinand's 'Walk Away' (below) is a prime example from 0:50 onwards, utilizing the film-noir style and stock-characters to tell a clichéd tale in a short space of time. The video is definitely a work of post-modernism, as it clearly exaggerates the conventions of noir (particularly the shadows on the wall at 1:44) but also goes against general conventions, revealing the filming studio at the end for dramatic effect.




Another manifestation of the neo-noir trend is Rockstar Games' Max Payne series of video games, which, so far, has taken a gritty look at present-day crime. Interestingly, Rockstar are also currently working with Team Bondi on a game called L.A. Noire. The website claims that the game will be "an interactive detective story set in the classic noir period of the late 1940's". If the game lives up to these claims, and to the quality of the announcement trailer (below), it will be sure to stand out from the crowd; I am sure that gaming audiences will welcome a game that combines free-roaming, mission-based action with an immersive and distinct time period.




It seems, then, that film-noir was never really left behind at the end of the 50s. Noir is no longer just a genre or style; it has become a meme in the true sense of the word. It has embedded itself in the roots of popular culture, and its influences can be found spread across all areas of entertaining media. With regular deveopments in media technology, such as 3D viewing, the reaches of noir can only be extended.

Perhaps film-noir will re-establish itself as a cinematic trend in the coming years, or perhaps it will remain as an underlying and pervading influence, but either way, noir looks set to stay.

Research Presentation

Earlier today we reviewed our respective research notes and presented our ideas to the class. The purpose of the presentation was to demonstrate our knowledge of film-noir theory by stating what we already know, and explaining how we plan to apply it.

I was the first to speak, introducing our basic ideas, describing the core aspects of film noir, and explaining how these will be applied in our production.

Character: Building a Film Noir Cast

Noir is an interesting style of film, because the term 'Film Noir' was coined retrospectively, when critics noticed a stylistic trend of American crime and detective films in the 1940s and 50s. The trend was set as directors began to use German Expressionist cinematography to portray adaptions of pulp novels and crime sagas in American Literature. The films epitomised the opposite of the 'American Dream', and expressed pessimistic memes of depression, suspicion, moral ambiguity, disillusionment, moral corruption, guilt, desperation and anxiety. Therefore, in order to build an appropriate Noir persona, all of these ideas and emotions must be reflected in a character that is equally as dark.

In our basic OTS plan, the three characters are a Femme Fatale, the Femme Fatale's 'Goon', and a Victim. Whilst being Film Noir in style, our OTS will fit the Psychological Thriller genre. Most films, regardless of genre, introduce either the antagonist or protagonist in the OTS, and so we decided to involve a stereotype of Noir: the Femme Fatale, as our antagonist. We did not want to involve a protagonist for two reasons:

A) An OTS, particularly for a thriller, is supposed to tease the audience, and revealing the protagonist at this stage would give away a lot of information.

B) Moral ambiguity is a large factor in Film Noir, and concealing the Femme Fatale's true moral worth would instil an immediate sense of mystery as to which of the characters are good, and which are bad, or rather, which to side with, and which to not.



In film Noirs, the basic plot regularly revolves around a struggle for power, which may switch between characters and context's throughout the film. This is evident in this clip of The Blue Dahlia (above), from 4:00 to 6:45, where the power quickly switches from the hotel manager and the two 'Goons' to the Policeman. The switching of power makes the scene incredibly tense, particularly at the policeman's entry, because the audience is waiting for a conflicting power struggle to ensue.

The character above, with scruffy dress and a slightly apathetic expresion, makes a perfect Goon.

If the scripted dailogue is to work well for our OTS, I feel that it must include themes of a similar struggle for power. To achieve this, I will give each character a distinctly different way of acting in order to convey their different levels of status:

• I intend to write the Femme Fatale as a subtly arrogant character who is stern and sly in assuming her own position of power.
  
• Her Goon, as a kind of personal assistant, will submit to her regardless of circumstance. For this reason, and also in order to sustain a sense of mystery, the Goon will not speak during the OTS.
  
• The Victim will also be sly and cunning, but will be overshadowed and outwitted by the Femme Fatale for whom he is working.
  
• To show the difference in status between the Femme Fatale and the Victim, I will deliberately widen the Femme Fatale's vocabulary whilst constricting the Victim's. I will also ensure that the Victim speaks much less than the Femme Fatale, and rarely of his own initiative.

The more attention to detail that is paid to seperate areas of the production, the more professional the final product will look.

Film Noir & Films Now

It is generally agreed that the era of classic Film Noir spanned almost two decades, from the early 1940's to the late 1950's. The term 'Film Noir' was coined by cinema critics and historians in retrospect, to define a genre of film that revolved around dark themes of pessimism, fatalism and menace. The characters didn't necessarily take the moral high-ground, and events generally took a turn for the worst, leaving the main protagonist tied in a web of betrayal and corruption. The dark, gritty cinematography exhibited all of these thoughts and emotions in a stylishly bleak package. Over the decades, Film Noir evolved into different styles, and it's trademark conventions have been utilised in a variety of genres. The impact of Film Noir can clearly be seen in the violent work of Quentin Tarantino, the psychologically unsettling The Dark Knight, and even the thoughtfully evocative District 9.

The Dark Knight borrows a great deal from Film Noir in terms of characterisation. The main plot also revolves around moral dilemmas, which expose the depraved personalities of heros and villians alike. Desaturated colour palettes and gloomy night-time environments are used to present Gotham City as a true dystopia, whilst close-ups and awkward angled shots make the Joker look infinitely menacing.



To get a good idea of the trademark conventions of Film Noir as a style, we looked at the introduction sequence to Casino Royale. As the first Bond film that returned to the core themes of Ian Fleming's 007 novels, the director has chosen a style heavily influenced by Film Noir to reflect the new persona of Bond and his gritty circumstances. Below is the essay that I wrote to analyse the use of Film Noir conventions within the clip. 

Please click 'full' at the bottom of the box for a full-screen view of the document.Casino Royale - Film Noir Essay

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