Pre-Intro: Before the title sequence begins, during the logos of film companies, the audience can hear the sounds of police sirens, car engines and the sound of saxophonic music. These are all aspects to the genre "film -noir. These help set the scene for the audience, as they piece the three aspects together, the saxophonic music makes the audience think of a time period like the 30's this music would be popular, the car engines suggest the setting is a busy, bustling city and the police sirens deliver the theme of crime to the film which is a key aspect to the 'noir' genre. The engine and sirens are diagetic sounds whereas the saxophone music is non-diagetic.
Scene 1: From the fade in to black, the setting is confirmed to be a city at night. The shot is a high angled hot that introduces a female character, this shot could impose that she is weak or vulnerable. She walks to the edge of a balcony looking down upon the huge city which could suggest that this tiny character is so insignificant to this vast city scape. The film is shot in black and white (as many "noir" films were in the past) but there is an emphasis on the woman's dress in red, this is to show she is to be focused on, the colour could suggest that she is dangerous and could imply that she is a potentinal femme fatale, an attractive sudctive woman who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who is involved with her, as her dress is open and revealing.
Scene 2: During the image swap a male character's voiceover is introduced, he speaks in a calm and crisp voice which could indicate that he is a dangerous character. Another character is introduced as he walks towards the female character. The new male character's appearance (from his suit and gesture) confirms he is the same man in the voiceover. His face is covered in dark lighting this is a technique called chiaroscuro it is the manipulation of the colour black against white to create an eerie effect and makes him seem mysterious. The effect is used to cover half of his face and creates the opportunity to emerge from the shadows and emphasize the female's vulnerablility, the effect also makes him seem powerful and more dominant than the female. He then walks over to the female and the chiaroscuro effect is now more evident as this creates focus on what he is reaching for in his pocket.
Scene 3: The next shot changes to an over-the-shoulder shot and shows the first confrontation between the characters face to face. From the female's face the audience can see that she has not met this man before, the over the shoulder shot makes the male almost entirely silhouetted which gives the effect that he towers over this tiny insignificant woman, you can also see the city in the background which gives it an urban feeling, the figure looks threatening and the lighting creates tension and therefore foreshadows an act of crime or violence created in the suspense. This also improves the chance of the female being a femme fatale.
Scene 4: The next shot is a close up of the male's hand through an exchange between the two for a light for a cigarette. The close up of the flame indicates danger, the male enforcing it upon the female this can be backed up as he earlier withdrew the lighter just like he would a weapon.
Scene 5: The next scene shows the flame meeting the cigarette in the woman's mouth, the light from the flame makes the female's illuminate just as the male character mentions her eyes. They glow a shade of green; this is used to represent greed as it is the same colour of American money. The theme of greed is common within a film noir movie, the effect happens as the male says he can sense something in her eyes this could indicate to the audience he can sense her greed.
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