I worked as the director in my group for our opening to a contemporary neo noir film. It has qualities of other neo noir films such as: Brick, Rhian Johnson, Seven David Fincher and Memento, Christopher Nolan. I was inspired by the features of noir films such as dark lighting, the theme of crime and a main character that the viewer can relate to. Our opening illustrates a normal student finding a dead body of another girl, which then leads onto a flashback to when she had last seen the girl. (An example of the dark lighting in Double Indemnity) The mise en scene used in the opening was an important feature as the setting had to be a believable place for one to find a dead body. We set it in a large park and the normal setting illustrates how bad things can happen to anyone. The silhouette of the large tree where the body is found looks quite formidable and the reasonably late afternoon light makes it is dusky which adds to the uneasy feel of the opening, as does the gradual progression of the girl walking through rustic streets and small alleyways. It was essential that the shot of the girl under the tree made it clear to the viewer that she was dead, so I thought she should be laying down in a slumped position with her hair over her face. I also tried to make it look like she was hidden behind the tree so she wasn’t completely visible to everyone in the park.
(A shot from the opening illustrating the way the girl's coat stands out under the large tree) When we shot the opening it was raining, which made filming slightly difficult because we wanted to get clear shots. However, the rain added to the dark and sinister feel of the opening and comments from others they said it fitted well with the type of noir opening. Another feature of the mise en scene was the clothing that the two individuals in the opening wore. I didn’t want to show the girl’s face in the first shot of her, instead I chose to use shots of her walking; especially focusing on her shoes. The shoes became the girl’s recognisable feature so it is clear in the flash back that it is the same person, the unrevealing shots also make the viewer more intrigued as to what she looks like and makes them feel slightly uneasy as information is being withheld. I took inspiration from another contemporary neo noir film Brick that focuses on the character’s shoes in the first shot which makes them recognisable of the character. (Closeup of the character's shoes in Brick) Furthermore, I also thought it was important for the second girl who is found dead to be wearing something obviously recognisable, in this case it was a brightly coloured purple coat. This makes the shot of the dead body stand out under the tree and also makes it clear (as with the shoes) in the flashback that it is the same girl. Those who commented on our opening also said they thought that the casual clothing, especially the purple coat worked well within the opening sequence.
As director, I chose to use a voiceover in the opening. The hard boiled style of the voiceover works well with the slow pace of the opening and the way it is spoken makes the character seem very frank and almost detached about the situation. It also makes the main character’s situation clear to the viewer as the opening progresses. The film Brick inspired the use of the voiceover because the main character also speaks over the action and I think this technique worked really well in our opening.
The choice to use a flashback was influenced from other noir films like Brick and Double Indemnity. The main character in Brick is a detective type character that solves the mystery of a girl’s death and our main character was in the same position. Our opening also has features similar to that of Double Indemnity because both the main character in our opening and Double Indemnity tell the story and look back on the events that have happened. The flashback helps to unravel the story and enables the viewer to piece together the events that have happened, it also illustrates how the two girls had spoken before only days earlier, which adds to the feeling that something bad could happen to anyone which is un-nerving for the viewer.
Overall, I was very pleased with the outcome of the opening. I think that the mise en scene and the techniques used such as the flashback and the voiceover worked especially well and helped to create the feel of the opening that was intended. The feedback from the viewers illustrates that they agree and they commented especially on features such as clothing and the setting. If I were to change anything about the opening I may have slowed down certain shots, such as the girl walking towards the body to increase the tension.
