20 Key Frames

Letter labelled ‘urgent’ that the engineer is staring, this is to show a significance within the letters content. He is dressed in work wear (white shirt and black tie with black trousers). Pictured in natural light to make it look more like documentary than film noir – exploration of whether film noir is a visual style or genre. The absence of his face in shot and his use of the same uniform foreshadows his identity loss. Diegetic sound would be present from the rustling of the letter in the engineer’s hands. Photoshop was used to bring out more of the colours from the natural lighting to make the shot as real as possible. The choice of black door surrounded by white background was to foreshadow the abandonment of the engineers existing morality. Foreshadowing was informed by all primary texts which use the device often.

This shot involves the character finally seeing the content, I chose not to show his facial expression due to the typical male noir characters which often try and put up a bravado of masculinity instead of revealing true emotions. The use of simplistic mis-en-scene shows the lack of depth and meaning in the engineers life, who only really identifies with his job which he has now found out he has lost. This was actually a different actor used for the same character due to conflicting schedules, so I  gave him the same costume and used photoshop to add facial hair onto the actor to make him appear the same throughout.

This was used to convey how long the engineer has been out drinking.

Nature is also used here, with the tree in the background showing lack of life, with no branches is like a metaphor for the engineers life - living without actually existing. The use of the shirt being more wrinkled with the tie and shirt looking ruffled up was to re-enforce the engineers mental instability from his alcohol intake. The engineer is completely tired and roughed up from being out all night drinking on his own.

This shot was also used to convey the male gaze with both the viewer and the engineer character gazing at Laura through how the camera is used, this is why I had the actor wear clothes that complemented her curves. The engineer characters views Laura waving at him but does not yet recognize her due to his current mental state. Inclusion of dialogue like hi would be present here, along with diegetic sound  of Laura's footsteps as if she was wearing high heels - a piece of costume that also encourages the male gaze subtly.

The engineer after going on a lonely all night drinking debacle finds himself located on a random street, his strange stance and body posture represent his mental instability in comparison to the character Laura who stands straight and upright in contrast. Pathetic fallacy is reversed similar to Sunset Blvd. in which the nice sunny weather is ironic in its inclusion whilst the engineer is in a state of melancholy. A vague body shot used on Laura to show her body frame to highlight the vague inclusion of the male gaze within noir films. I edited the shadows to make them look more life like, rather than stylistic as shadows are often used in the stylistic lighting within film noir.

This shots shows the engineer being comforted and with the engineer in white and Laura dressed in black this is to foreshadow Laura's evilness, whilst she now presently upholds the role as a helper. I also edited a jacket that was accidentally in the shot with photoshop. I made sure when enhancing colours, that there was no contrast between foreground and background colours. This was so that in no way these documentary type shots appeared completely different to the other noir inspired shots. The use of levels also conveys Laura being in control of the male protagonist, often seen within the role of the femme fatale.

The constant colour motif of blue surrounding these shots was to represent the cold dark world the engineer is in and to represent the inevitable negative resolution of the narrative. The choice in the low angle is to convey the shift of power from Laura to the engineer as she asks him to join her workforce in a similar computer role as he contemplates his decision, as she knows that he is a vital part of her plan.

A close up of Laura is used to once again bring attention to her features and the camera is used to place the viewer into the role of being the gazer. Laura is trying to get him to team up with her as she notice his contemplation. 

The decision has been made and the engineer is now part of Laura's new line of business.The use of the handshake which is often associated with masculinity was a conscious choice made to convey Laura's ability take on masculine mannerisms, something a femme fatale often can do.

The engineer later arrives at his new job, Laura's office. The use of more detailed scenery represents the contrast in characters with the engineer who is much more simple and straightforward in comparison to Laura who is more in depth with multiple conveyed personalities. This shot completely contrasts key frame 2 which shows the simple scenery within the engineers house. The shift in colour schemes with orange and red as quite significant colours represent the more evil underworld the engineer is now delving into.

The first of the film noir inspired colour grading. This shot shows the engineers cynical interest as to what type of business Laura is running. I edited the security camera out of shot as I felt it added nothing to the mis-en-scene that related to my study. I also used artificial chiaroscuro type lighting into this shot and all the rest, through bringing out more of a contrast within foreground and background light and darkness within shots. 

Laura is telling the engineer partly the truth in her real role in this new business, involving hacking banks. I consistently made the engineers clothing appear lighter and Laura's to appear darker to show the contrast between the two, and to show the females lack of morality which is often with femme fatales. I once again adjusted mid-tones to bring out both light and darkness through background and foreground. The use of an almost hyper-real white lightness at the back of the engineers head representing the last bit of morality that remains before he gives his soul to Laura, by agreeing to become the bank hacker.

Another shot of the engineer contemplating his decision, the canted angle represents the engineers distortion with the transition from computer engineer to potential bank hacker. The use of the low angle combined with the slanted glass roof represents the environment closing in on the engineer and the inevitable negative resolution for him. 

This shot follows key frame 9, transitioning from business hand shake to a more a romantic undertone handhold between the two characters. This subtly suggests the beginning of their personal and business relationship. I also edited out a jacket accidentally left in shot just to maintain the attention detail carried through consistently within shots. The depth of field employed within this shot was to express that the engineer is now fully embedded within his new role. as an exit in no longer present for him.

The transition within the narrative is shown in which the engineer sees Laura's laptop and finds she has been taking more income from the profits made, through the hacking of the banks. The  original plan was a 50/50 split between the two. The femme fatale here like in other films within my primary texts often get too greedy, like Brigid in The Maltese Falcon.

The engineer confronts Laura and demands for her to reimburse him the money he is owed, she denies all accusations. This shot was quite difficult to edit with photoshop, I had to use the clone stamp tool to turn the board completely black, originally it had a lot of pictures on it. The foreground is now becoming darker like the background to represent the engineers identity being even more lost and Laura's world of evil overshadowing him.

The engineer creeps behind Laura later on and places his hands on her neck, the force of the grip along with it being on the neck - a sensual part of the body, creates a strange anger/ sexual tension undertone mood within the shoot. Laura is found in the middle of writing an alibi to the police explaining how the engineer forced her to partake in the hacking of bank databases.

The engineer spins Laura around so he can look at her whilst he chokes her, almost in a strange sadistic way, this shows the full loss of his identity and morality along with submission to the evil environment he finds himself within. The choice of the canted angle also represents his unstable state of mind. The white board within the background also involved me editing out the pictures that were on it, I felt like they drew attention away from the actual strangling.

The concluding shot showing the femme fatales demise, whilst the male gaze applying even though she has died. I also completely blacked out the area behind Laura's head to convey whilst an evil character has died, evil will follow the engineer. It also corresponds to the previous shot, showing the inevitable negative resolution from the very beginning.