In a Lonely Place - Trailer

The trailer for 'In a Lonely Place' another big inspiration for creating a parody of film noir, note the characters costumes and attitude, plus some of the acting in the trailer seems somewhat over-the-top and easy to parody. The camera angles in the cabaret club around 30 seconds into the trailer are a good example of what I would need to use in my own film.

The use of the terms 'Suspense in the night!' 'Intrigue at dawn!' and 'Suspicion 'round the clock!' give way to the depth and narrative of the film as mysterious, a plot that will keep an audience hooked by continuously having them guessing about who could possibly be a murderer. With suspence, intrigue and suspicion all playing key roles in the plot, I find this to be a critically important source for my own film which is also centered around a murder.

The Man Who Wasn't There - Trailer

Above is the trailer for the noir film, The Man Who Wasn't There. Note the use of shadows, close-up's and the bleak settings. The character's costumes are also a big inspiration for my own film. The trailer does not show who committed the first murder of the film (That of Big Dave). It shows whoever committed the murder looking at their hands and briskly walking away from the scene of the crime.

The shots of characters in courtrooms shows the intrigue of figuring out who committed the murder, despite the audience knowing the whole time. This is much like what I plan on doing with my own film, making it blatantly obvious who committed the crime but keeping the characters oblivious until the last moment.

Picture examples of Film Noir

Billy Bob Thornton in 'The Man Who Wasn't There' a 2001 neo-noir film directed by the Coen Brothers. Note how the characters face is lit but the sides of the head and the background are kept very dark in order to allude a sense of mystery.

Humphrey Bogart in 'In a Lonely Place' the 1950 noir film directed by Nicholas Ray. Once again, note how the front of the face (particularily the eyes) are much better lit than the rest of the scenery, placing the emphasis on the facial expression of the character.

Harrison Ford in the 1982 futuristic noir film Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott. Despite not being in the stereotypical black and white, the film still has lots of the common conventions of a noir film, it is set in Los Angeles where it constantly rains, there's lots of bleak and dark colors.