Film Openings- Genre Specific Analysis

The film ‘Sin City’ (2005) is established as a neo-noir film as it uses similar conventions of black and white, dramatic lighting to create a serious, almost menacing tone.  The non diegetic slow jazz music is alike to that of the 1940’s, revealing that the female character is seen as a sexual object as well as that she can be perceived as dangerous. The scene starts with an exposition voice over which is common to film noirs, when the hero reveals to the audience his thoughts and hints at his character development; ‘she shivers in the wind like the last leaf on a dying tree’. The speech is said over the events of the scene, which again is seen throughout Film Noirs like D.O.A in 1950 that aid the audience into what the story is about and how it is told. A similar speech pattern is used to that in the 1940’s complete with pauses in the dialogue that fit the scene to add dramatic effect.

   We also learn that the film is set in the city or urban environment as the wide angle long shot of the woman walking towards and standing on the balcony shows her looking out to a city landscape. The use of Barthes Enigma code is also used to intrigue the audience as we are restricted as we hear the thoughts of the man, not the woman. The audience asks questions such as: Who is the man? What is the woman afraid of? Why did he kill her if he said that he loved her?

    The woman in the scene is portrayed as a typical ‘femme fetale’ as she is attractive connoted by her revealing dress, but looks slightly dangerous to the man as the over the shoulder shot shows her turning away from the man. The mise en scene of the cigarettes they both smoke again reinforces a film noir feel to the opening as the cigarettes were frequently used to add a sense of mystery, created by the wisps of smoke shown by the close ups of the woman whilst she smokes and a shot of their hands as he offers her a cigarette. 

    Another element of film noir used in the opening is pathetic fallacy, in which the weather is used to reflect the mood and heighten the drama as the two characters kiss. This creates a feeling that something will happen that will startle the audience or seem gloomy, as rain is commonly associated with sad events. The female is then shot which hints at a theme of violence and crime as the male character murders the woman with a silenced weapon. This also connotes that the male is more powerful than her as the scene ends with a high angle shot that zooms away as he cradles her in the rain. He is also a figure of power connoted by his suit. Men in Film Noirs were commonly shown in suits to show them as attractive and powerful as suits remind the audience of a high paid or respected job of that of a business man or detective. Contrastingly woman are always shown wearing a dress, connoting their femininity and perhaps they’re weakness as a sex. This is shown by the close up of the woman’s face and she hold tightly to the man after they kiss. This highlights her scared emotion and her need to be protected or saved.

    After this short scene, the titles begin of which they are animated pictures like from the original graphic novel the movie was based off. They look similar to comic books as the writing and drawings show. This connotes a further edgier feel to the film as both animation and film clips are used.

 

    Similarly the film D.O.A (1950) is has restricted narration as the audience follows the story of the man we later learn named Frank. During the titles we follow the unnamed character through what seems to be a police station. Until he sits down and reports a murder, we only see the back of his head which engages the audience in finding out who the character is and why we are limited into not seeing his face. This creates a sense of mystery and hints that of Film Noir elements as plotlines revolve around the police and crime as he reports his own murder.

   The use of unnatural lighting creates shadows in the head of homicides office again reinforcing its ‘Noir’ and dark/sinister feel. Unlike ‘Sin City’, there is no exposition and the story is told in a different way.  It uses Barthes Enigma code to raise questions as the character Frank retells a story of what has happened to him over the past week.  The mise en scene of the characters costumes of suits and the 1950’s furniture/objects further add to the ‘Film Noir’ feel.

    The titles are integrated into the scene where the man is walking through the police station, that mainly take up most of the screen but so that you can see some of the action moving behind. The titles then fade out when the character find the door stating 'homicide division'. I like the idea of having titles integrated into the action but would prefer it alot more subtly, less like DOA.