Film Treatment - Existence

*Warning Spoilers Contained*

The film begins with a pan down of the engineer entering his house and noticing a letter labelled 'urgent' on the floor – close up is used for this, which he opens. After viewing the letter he becomes distraught after seeing that he has got sacked from his job as a computer engineer. The engineer then embarks on an all night alcohol debacle – this is to be represented through constant zoom ins and outs on his face. Half of the film will be in documentary style, half will be in tradition film noir style.

Pan down from a road sign to the engineer looking extremely roughed up from all night drinking as he begins to make his way home. Slow motion POV shots will be used to convey his drunken disrupted state. Shallow focus shot of a woman walking into focus comes into view, this is Laura. Laura engages the engineer in conversation, although he is reluctant to talk at first, then remembers Laura from their time at university – over the shoulder shots to be used to show their conversation. After learning of the engineer's current state of unemployment Laura proposes a new kind of job. Hacking banks to steal money from them. The engineer is hesitant at first then accepts the role.

The engineer and Laura start work straight away, and as the job starts both parties find success in their 'unique business'.  Mis-en-scene in The happiness spreads as the two begin a relationship with one another. The engineer then randomly one day notices files left open on Lauren's laptop that show how she divides the money between both her and him. The figures in the amount of money Laura has obtained are incongruent to the amount she has told the engineer. The engineer immediately confronts her on this and demands her to give him the money he is owed. She refuses and after that each character vows to take the other down by informing the bank being extorted on one another. The two characters also make death threats to each other, foreshadowing the future. 

Although the two characters have stated on informing each other, neither has done so A large amount of high and low angles are to be used in conveying characters positions of power. He embarks on independently finding the hackers who have been extorting his employers. The engineer pays a visit to the office of Laura in broad daylight, entering from the back of the building to an un-armed Laura - who is compiling an alibi against the engineer. She is shocked when he appears, intimately touching her neck behind her and he places his hand around her neck. He then asks her to turn around to face him, and then strangles her tp death whilst sadistically staring at her – this will be shown through a canted angle to represent both characters inevitable negative fates.

Reece Report

The office is quite spacious and allows me to perform a variety of camera shots within it. It is also has various electrical outputs incase I need them for camera equipment usage. The dominant red colour seen is simliar to the red within Drive when Driver visits Cook at the strip club. The use of red through cinematography can be noted in The Departed, Brick and Drive - all being neo-noir like the stills I am going to produce. Lighting can also be well controlled here with curtains, natural and artificial lighting all available to help achieve the chiaroscuro lighting that is in: Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon and Sunset Blvd.

Casting Considerations

These are my casting considerations in regards to choices made with actors for the 5 minute short film I am making. I have additionally linked my casting decisions to elements of my MICRO study of film noir.

Actors Selected:

Actors Declined:

Neo-noir Screenplay - Existence

Plot Synopsis

The film to focus on the debatable genre of film noir, and will be of the newer neo-noir variety. The film is to follow the loss of identity in a male protagonist character, (The Engineer). He loses his job of being a computer engineer, which he saw as the main thing in defining his identity.  Following the job loss he sees an old friend from school (Laura) and after a while with them speaking to one another Laura presents a proposition to the engineer on Internet fraud job. With no real other options the engineer takes on the job.

Whilst on the job, both characters find success in hacking a bank system, with them gaining a lot of money from it. Laura attempts to con the engineer by lying in regards to how much money has been made, whilst simultaneously they begin a relationship with one another. He eventually finds out about Laura keeping most of the money for herself and demands her to give him the money, she refuses. Each character then threatens to take the other down by negotiating with the bank that has been hacked and informing on one another.  The engineer becomes increasingly frustrated and decides to take down Laura. Whilst compiling an alabi that states the engineer forced Laura into being part of the bank hacking, the engineer grabs her by the neck and strangles her.

F634: Creative Investigation in Film (Film Noir Essay)

Film noir is described as‘… an atmosphere of disillusion and sense of foreboding, a dark quality that derived as much from the characters depicted as from the cinematographer’s art.’[1], The Departed (2006) Brick (2006), Drive (2011), are all films influenced by film noir; whether this be through cinematography, lighting or narrative. Additionally these films are more modernized compared to the noirs of the 1940s – 50s, with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media not available during the 1940s – 50s[2] (the period noir films were most prominent). Due to the differences these more modern movies are called neo-noir films. Some of the most notable classics films from the noir canon include Double Indemnity (1944) and Sunset Boulevard (1950). These two films like many noir are what Jon Tuska describes as both a screen style … and a perspective on human existence and society[3]. The debate on the subject of noir is whether it is a style or genre of film. I believe film noir is a genre of film, although it has a style ubiquitous to itself, the general aura of noir includes common characteristics. Motif and tone, social background, and artistic/ cultural influences, iconography, mood and characterisation, visual style... paranoia and patterns of narration[4], are aspects one would expect to see in a noir film. Similar to other film genres like a thriller or horror, noir has its own characteristics, which are clearly recognisable and apply mostly to noir, conclusively making it a genre rather than style of film.

 

Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding-Refn is a film that embeds various forms of film noir rooted into it but also it’s not fully a noir film. The cinematography ‘plays more like an exercise in turn-of-the-Eighties nostalgia.’[5] Predominately the film acquires a brightly lit visual style throughout, which goes against archetype noir films (Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard) – that use low key lighting. The term used to best describe Drive is ‘neo-noir’[6] with its overall display as an updated version of the noir films of the 1940s -1950s. An example of the brightly lit film is the elevator scene, in which Ryan Gosling’s (driver) stamps a hit man’s face to the ground. Another scene is where driver goes to a strip club and nearly hammers a bullet into the club owners (Cook’s) forehead. This could be a stylistic approach from Refn who says himself that he is very much a fetish film maker[7].

The film is certainly influenced by the early noir films with its main character in a loss of identity and although subtle, the sexual motivations involved between Driver and Irene (Carey Mulligan) are evident. Also Irene acts as a damsel in distress throughout, although raising her son alone, she is helped significantly by men throughout, mainly Driver. The character Blanche (Christina Hendricks) also acts as a femme fatale, in the bank robbery scene she already was aware that it was a set up and of Standard’s (Oscar Isaac) inevitable death. (The damsel in distress role is also something attached to noir).

Also this is also seen in Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder where Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck) acts as a femme fatale, entering into an affair with Walter (Fred MacMurray) and later trying to kill him. Then she acts as a damsel in distress additionally with her longing for the affection of Walter whilst still being in a relationship with her husband.

           
The influence of early noir films is clearly evident on neo-noir, whether this be the chiaroscuro lighting brought into noir by people like John Alton and John F. Seitz – who did the cinematography for both Sunset Blvd. and Double Indemnity. The more updated narratives in the late 20^th century and 21^st century noir are the main difference in comparison to the noirs of the 1940s -60s. Visual style as seen in Drive, where it is lit most bright often in the most tense scenes, which is more like a conscience choice of Nicolas Refn’s to go against the conventions of earlier noir films, which still shows there is an influence. In reference to film noir as a genre rather than a style, Drive proves this point. With the films highly stylistic luminous lights, it is still recognised as a noir with their being the loss of identity, the sexual motivations and although the romantic undertone between Driver and Irene the film is still dark in its mood and tone – like Standard’s unjustified death. Along with Driver being an anti-hero self-excluded from others, committing very violent acts, these acts are to help Standard, Irene and their son Benecio (Kaden Leos). An alternative interpretation could be that Driver is more sexually motivated and that is why he helps so much.

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[1]Neale, Steve (2000) Genre and Hollywood, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), 151, 2 – 4

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-noir

[3]Neale, Steve (2000) Genre and Hollywood, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), 153, 23  - 24

[4]Walker, Michael (1992) Film Noir: Introduction, Cameron, Ian, ed.  Studio Vista 1992, 8-38.

[5]http://www.filmlinc.com/film-comment/article/short-takes-drive

[6]http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/cannes-q-and-a-driving-in-a-noir-l-a

[7] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XQMSe5N990

Film Noir Essay Ideas