film noir

The first film noir is called The Big Combo and this set in the 1940's and in the scene that we watched the setting is in black and white which is a typical convection of a film noir. The film is in black and white as in this time there wasn't colour camera's and with the film being black and white it adds to the effect of the gloomy dark atmosphere that are typically in film noir. There is a non diegetic sound which is jazz music at the start of the scene and is played through most of the scene and this is because during this time jazz music was a popular underground music that many people listened too. There is a femme fatale used in the scene which is a typical character within the film noir. This is shown as she is made to look desirable for the men in the film as she is wearing a black tight dress with lipstick so she is appearing sexual to the men. Part of the scene is set in a police station which is a typical film noir convection setting as with part of the scene being in a police station this suggests to me that something bad is going to happen or is already happening. In the scene when the woman is running, she runs past a man smoking which is a typical film noir convention of a character as in many film noir films, there is a lot of characters who smoke. The whole scene is in low key lighting which again adds to the effect of the gloomy dark atmosphere which is present in many film noir films. There is also another typical film noir convection character as there is a private eye in the film who is a police investigator and a private eye is present in many film noir films. There is also henchmen in this scene as they are chasing the woman and they can be linked to the main crook in the film and henchmen are typical characters in a film noir. 
The other film is called The Last Seduction and this is a more modern Film noir and we can this as it is in colour. This is different to The Big Combo as there is no violence present in this scene which is a typical convention of a film noir. However there is a Femme fatale as the woman is appeared as sexualised with bright red lipstick which could also mean that she is danger. There is also jazz music played through the scene which is a typical convention of a film noir and despite the film being modern it still has the 40/50's jazz music to show that this film still has to links to the original fim noir's. During the office scene, the use of venetian blinds, creates the idea of imprisonment as it shows how the office is like a prison cell and there is no way of getting out.

Film case studies

The Dark Knight Rises
US blockbuster
Plot

When Bane, a former member of the League of Shadows, plans to continue the work of Ra's al Ghul, the Dark Knight is forced to return after an eight year absence to stop him.

Stars

 Christopher Bale

Michael Caine 

Morgan Freeman 

Tom Hardy

Director

Christopher Nolan 

Budget

$250 million 

Genre

Action, Thriller

Box office

Domestic- $448,139,099

Foreign- $636,300,00

Worldwide- $1,084,439,099

Certificate 

PG-13

Marketing

Posters
















Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8evyE9TuYk
Reviews
IMDb rating- 8.6 out of 10
88% from rotten tomatoes

The Dark Knight Rises is a sequence to The Dark Knight which received $1,004,558,444 altogether in box office.

Awards
AFI movie of the year 2013
ASCAP award- top box office film
Austin films critic association- best film
IGN peoples choice award- best gilm

Date
20th july 2012- Its competition was 30 beats but this was only released in 15 cinema's so was not as popular as The Dark Knight Rules which was released in thousands of cinemas. 

The prophet
Foreign film

Plot

A young Arab man is sent to a French prison where he becomes a mafia kingpin.

Stars
Tahar Rohim
Niels Arestup 

director
Jaques Audiard

Budget
$13 million

Genre
Foreign 

Box office
Domestic- $2,087,720
Foreign- $15,785.971
Worldwide- $17,873,691

Certificate
R

Marketing
poster

Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l69ARbQt-Ko

Reviews
IDMb rating 7.9 out of 10 
97% rotton tomatoes 

Date
February 26th 2010- Its competition was cop out which received an opening weekend gross of $18,211,126 and The Crazies which received an opening weekend gross of $16,067,552.

Awards
53rd London film festival- best movie
Won a BAFTA for best film not in the English language
Won 9 Cesars at the cesars awards
Won best foreign film at the British independent film awards The Inbetweeners movie
UK Independent film

Plot

Four socially troubled 18-year-olds from the south of England go on holiday to Malia.

Stars

James Buckley

Blake Harrision 

Joe Thomas 

Simon Bird

Theo James 

Director
Ben Palmer

Budget

£3,500,000

Genre

Comedy 

Box office

Domestic £36,000

Foreign £87,989,781

Worldwide £88,025,781

Rating

15

Marketing

Poster

Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3HzTKbsqsY

Reviews 

6.8 out of 10 IMDb 

54% rotton tomatoes 

Date

it as released on the 17th August 2011 in UK cinema's and its main competition was The expandables 2 which received a opening gross of $28,591,370 compared to The Inbetweeners which received £13,200,000 on the opening weekend. 

Awards
Empire award- best comedy

Drive
US independent film 

Plot
A mysterious Hollywood stuntman, mechanic and getaway driver lands himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbour.

Stars
Ryan Gosling 
Carey Mulligham 
Bryan Cranston 

Director
Nicolas Winding Refn

Budget
$15 million 

Rating
R

Genre
Crime and Drama

Box office
Domestic $35,060,689
Foreign $41,114,477
Worldwide $76,175,166

marketing 
poster











Trailer- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWX34ShfcsE

Reviews
IMDb rating 7.8 out of 10
Rotton tomatoes rating 93%


Date 
It was released on the 16th September 2011 and a film also released on that day was I Don't Know How She Did It which on the opening weekend received a gross of $4,402,201 compared to Drive which received $11,340,461 so Drive did a lot better on the opening weekend.

Awards
Broadcast film critics association awards- Best action movie
Also won many awards at film festivals in America for best directer and best actor and also best supporting actor. The film won 78 awards altogether with many of them at American film festivals.

start of my assessment- Batman the dark knight

Jamie Harper

How does the use of lighting and cinematography create suspense in the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight?

 The scene starts with very low key lighting and this is because Commissioner Gordon is interviewing The Joker in the police room and he is trying to find out where Harvey and Rachel.
The lighting is low key because it makes Gordon try to look intimidating so he can get answers out of the joker as by having the lighting low key it shows he is trying to get dominance as he is in control of the lighting.
 Also with the mise-en-scene jokers face being painted white shows how he stands out and how even with the low key lighting it means how he isn't affected by any trouble with the lighting suggests something bad will happen to. As The Joker's as his face is bright white it shows how he will stand out from the trouble. The effect this has on me is that in the light it makes me think that nothing is going to happen to him and that really the bad thing is going to happen to the commissioner and the people of Gotham and this is because there is low key lighting and creates a tense atmosphere as in something bad is going to happen to the city.
 Also with the lighting being low key it makes me think that Gordon is trying to scare the Joker into giving the information needed and with the dimmed lamp I think this shows that he will give the commissioner and Batman a slight chance to save Harvey and Rachel. The lighting goes to high key when Batman arrives to shows that something good could possibly happen, when the lighting is low key I expect that something bad like Harvey and Rachel getting blown up by The Joker could possibly happen and with the scene. The use of both high and low key lighting made me think that not everything is right, it suggests that one minute everything is okay and the next minute everything is not. This confuses me a little as to what is to happen next. The second the light changes to high key the camera uses a close up on The Jokers face to show the confusion in his face as soon as the light is turned on, When Gordon asks where Harvey is the camera is a mid shot of the joker with you only really seeing his face as his face is bright and because of the low key lighting, the rest of his body is black.The Jokers face looks dazzled and confused as to what is happening and to me this shows that by The Joker looking confused it could suggest that the next part of the film will be confusing as to me that is what it seems like. The lighting is very high key at this point as it shows the paint on his face wearing out and I feel that as the paint is wearing out, that The Jokers power in Gotham city is starting to wear out and this makes me feel that the Batman is coming close to finally defeating The Joker and I think with the lighting shining on The Jokers face it is showing how he has patches of skin showing on his face suggesting to me that they are finally starting to defeat The Joker and the camera goes to a close up of his face to show how the patches of skin are on his face as the paint is wearing out.
There is binary opposition in this scene with the good and the evil with The Batman being good and The joker being evil and when they are face to face the lighting is high key which is different to Spider-man 2002 where Spider-man puts the Green Goblin up against a wall with the spikes and they are face to face and this another binary opposition (good/evil) but the lighting in this scene is very low key and normally you would expect this when a good and evil come face but in The Dark Knight this is different and I think this is because in this film everything is not quite right as the lighting is high key and you can always see The Jokers face clearly because of his white paint and the camera tends to go to close ups of his face when he starts talking  so you can always see The Joker more than Gordon which isn't what I would expect considering Gordon is good and The Joker is the evil one so with the lighting being high key it makes me think that the directer is adding to the effect of everything being not quite right.
Towards the end of the scene there is non-diegetic music which is adding to the effect of suspense throughout the scene as the music is tense so it makes me feel that Something big is going to happen that is going to have a huge impact on the whole film as I feel that something bad is going to happen to either Harvey or both so the music makes me think that something not good is going to happen to Rachel or Harvey and this would change the feel of the whole film. The music is used along with the lighting to create tension throughout the scene as when Batman slams The Jokers head on the table that is when the suspense starts as it makes me think what is going to happen next and with the non-diegetic tense music this is similar to in The Wolverine 2013 where Wolverine is facing Yashida in a battle and throughout this scene there is non-diegetic music which is tense and creates suspense in to what is happening. This is similar to The Dark Knight as in both scenes I am engaged in to what is happening and I can feel the suspense throughout both scenes however the lighting is low key in The Wolverine which is different to in The Dark Knight which has high key lighting so the scenes have both their differences and similarities. They are similar in the fact they both have non-diegetic music during the fight scene but they are different in the lighting as The Wolverine has low key lighting which his different to The Dark Knight but is a typical convection of an action film.
With the film being classed as a comic book film there is a lot of action and in this scene there is action when Batman is slamming The Jokers head against the table and also pushing him up the wall and beating him up and throughout this bit of the scene there is parallel edits from Batman and The Joker to the police and Gordon as we see their reactions to Batman  beating up The Joker and by seeing their reaction it makes me feel that Gordon is worried that Batman could kill The Joker which would not be good as they need vital information but as soon as Gordon runs to the door, the camera parallel edits back to Batman and The Dark Knight.
 Typical action convections are a lot of fighting and in this scene there is one part where Batman is beating up The Joker to show that it is a typical action convention that you expect in most action films. The fight is very one sided as The Joker does not fight back so it is just Batman Beating The Joker up. This is different to Iron man as Iron man and Stane fight but instead of this being a one sided fight, this is more even with both fighting back and although this is a typical genre convention of a action film, just like The Dark Knight is, it is different to The Dark Knight as the fight scene in The Dark Knight is very one sided unlike in Iron man where the fight is very even with both characters fighting back at each other.
Another typical action convention is there is always a good person and a bad person. This can be seen with Batman being the good one and The Joker being the bad one and you can tell this in the scene as Batman is trying to find out where Harvey and Rachel are as The Joker has kidnapped them and hid them in different buildings. The buildings are full of explosives which is again another typical convention of an action film as in most action films there is always explosives in like for example in Avator there is a huge explosion towards the end of the film where the human's fight against the Avator's.
There is elements of film Noir in this scene with the scene being set in a police station which is a typical Noir convection and there is also a corrupt character which is The Joker in this scene which again is another typical convention of film Noir. Also with the lighting being low key at the start it shows that again it is another typical convention of a film Noir.
There is some mise-in-scene in this scene with the handcuffs on The Joker as when he is wearing them it is showing that is everything is okay at the minute and no one is being killed but as soon as Gordon takes the handcuffs off everything takes a twist as Batman finds out there is a chance that both Rachel and Harvey could be getting blown up if he doesn't save them and this thought goes in to my head as soon as The Joker has his handcuff's removed.