Monday, 23 January 2012

JS: Conventions of Noir

Casino Royale (Campbell, 2006)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epxYm3OouQA


  • Low-key lighting is evident, which creates a sense of darkness to both the atmosphere and characters.  
  • James Bond in the opening is partially covered by a shadow, which is a classic convention of noir filming.   This further adds to the sense of darkness in the opening, as the audience can infer the characters have moral ambiguity.
  • The protagonist and antagonist are both talking about murder. This is iconic in film noir, as often, the narrative is focused on crime.
  • There is a slow cutting rate, which adds tension to the scene when balanced with the frequent fast flashbacks of action.
  • Like many male protagonists in noir films, James Bond is portrayed as 'hard-boiled'. 'Hard-boiled' characters in classic film noir were often detectives, for example, Philip Marlowe in 'The Big Sleep' (Hawks, 1946) 

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