Other Film Poster

Film poster 'The Hard Way'

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Conventions of Film Noir.

Film noir follows a very original and dark theme, being a genre in itself it has its own conventions that most if not all film noir movies include. Here is a list of generic conventions used within film noir:


Narrative Devices

• Convoluted story lines,
• Flashbacks,
• Voiceover narration,
• First person narrative.

Characters

• Corrupt cops,
• Heroes/anti-heroes,
• Hard hearted detectives,
• The 'lone wolf',
• Crooks,
• Gangsters,
• Jealous husbands,
• Women with an appetite for wealthy, older men,
• Alienated protagonists,
• Chauvinist males.

Iconography

• Dark sidewalks,
• Rain drenched streets,
• Flashing neon signs,
• Hostile/villainous citys,
• Guns,
• Alcohol/alcoholics,
• Fedora/trilbies,
• Suits,
• Trench coats,

Settings

• Abandoned warehouses,
• Dark rooms with light slicing through venetian blinds,
• Alleys cluttered with garbage,
• Run down bars,
• Lounges,
• Gambling Dens,
• Industrial settings - refineries, factories and train yards,
• Nightclubs.

I will now try to include as many of these conventions as i can in my short film, as it would give it a true noir feel to it. From looking over the list i specifically want to include a voiceover narration, a hard hearted detective, dark sidewalks, fedoras and dodgy alleys.

Research into Film Posters - D.O.A.

i like this poster because it actually tells you something about the story rather than just displaying the leading actors. It shows a man reporting his own murder to a policeman, now to your everyday person (bearing in mind its from the 50's) that will see this poster that is a confusing scenario and it makes people want to find out whats going on. It Makes them want more.

This poster uses bright colours to draw attention to its title and lead role. It also gives a brief insight to what the film is  going to entail, "A PICTURE AS EXCITINGLY DIFFERENT AS ITS TITLE!". The artist appeals to the audiences curiosity by making it strange and different.

Research into Posters

Research into Film Posters - The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The Genre - Fim Noir.

film noir was produced around the time of World War II and was named first by French film critic Nino Frank in 1946, who noticed how dark many of the American detective films had become. Films like M, Murder My Sweet and D.O.A. 

Noir films became more prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic "Golden Age" period until about 1960. Many films reflected the anxiety and insecurities of the time period and film noir counter-balanced the optimism of Hollywood's happy musicals and comedies. Distrust, fear, misery and obsession are extremely evident in film noir, it shows the true feelings of the Cold War period when the peril of nuclear annihilation was always present. I have read that the violent, greedy and criminal perspectives of anti-heroes in film noir were a metaphor for society's evils, there was rarely a happy or optimistic ending in film noirs.