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.

Film Script

Below is a copy of the script to my film, right now it is not considered completely finished with shooting elements being added at a later date.

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Film Script

(A montage of Alfred McGuiness walking into the college and up to the crime scene as a voiceover by McGuiness is played)

Alfred: This is it for me, this is my last chance to make a mark, and this is my last chance to go out with a bang. Many are considering it my last case, myself included. The murder of a college student within this very place of learning. I’ve been given three major suspects to look at, the kids teacher, his ex-girlfriend and his best friend, like the true detective I am I shall have to trust no-one whilst I’m here. Anyone I walk past right now could be a possible suspect and maybe even the killer, but at this moment in time, I’m going to concentrate on this particular suspect… The kids teacher, Mr Franklin.

(As the monologue finishes, McGuiness turns into the classroom in which Mr Franklin waits, from the characters nature and the number of alcohol containers scattered around the room, it is clear that the teacher is drunk)

Alfred: Mr Franklin.

Franklin: Ahh! Detective McGuiness… I do presume?

Alfred: Yes, Mr Franklin, I’m investigating the murder of one of the students in this college and I was just wondering, if I could see the body?

Franklin: Yeah! Yeah! Sure! Just follow me!

(Alfred steps aside, expecting to leave the room but Mr Franklin instead just moves a few chairs and exposes the body of The Victim)

Alfred: Sir, are you telling me you’ve been sat here with the body the whole time? Possibly perverting this entire investigation?!

Franklin: Perverting?! No, no , no! There’s been nothing perverse going on Officer, I’ve just been sat here uh… Marking papers…

(McGuiness nods)

Alfred: I’m sure. Still, I shall make do with what I have…

(McGuiness motions towards some of the empty alcohol containers)

Alfred: Been drowning your sorrows have you Mr Franklin?

Franklin: That’s what I’ve been telling people! I just see all this as a good excuse to have a drink… I like having a *hic* drink…

(McGuiness scribbles something down on his notepad)

Alfred: You do realise you are breaking the law, do you not?

Franklin: Pfftthh… Let’s face it, I let a student get murdered just before a lesson with me, do you really think I expect to keep my job after this?

Alfred: Maybe so, but being fired for drinking on the job could be even more disastrous.

Franklin: Watch in amazement! As I. Don’t. Care.

(Franklin prods McGuiness on the last three words for emphasis)

Alfred: Quite the attitude… Seems almost suspicious doesn’t it Mr Franklin?

Franklin: We shall see Detective… We shall see…

(McGuiness approaches the body and leans down to look at it, being careful not to actually touch the corpse he tries to look for anything he could use as evidence)

Alfred: Do we know how he died Mr Franklin?

Franklin: No…

(McGuiness pulls on some gloves and opens the students jacket, noticing a large knife wound)

Alfred: Mhmm, it seems there’s no obvious explanation for his death… Poison maybe?

Franklin: Don’t ask me! There’s only one poison I like! And that’s vodka!

Alfred: I guessed…

List of Needed Props/Costumes

For the scene of my film I will need a number of props and costumes for each character as listed below.

Alfred McGuiness

With McGuiness being a parody of the common film noir detective, I want him dressed as such, in a long trench coat, fedora hat, shirt and tie and dress shoes. All of this will emanate his status as a detective as well as make him seem ‘mysterious’

·         Long dark coat

·         Dark fedora hat

·         Black trousers

·         Shirt and tie

·         Dark dress shoes

Mr Franklin

Mr Franklin is a drunken teacher. So not only am I going to have him stereotypically dress like a teacher, I’m going to dot some empty cans of beer and lager around the classroom which alongside the nature of the actor will give away the drunken nature of the character.

·         Trousers

·         Shirt (Optional Tie)

·         Smart shoes

·         Empty cans of beer or lager

‘The Victim’

‘The Victim’ is the only character in the scene that doesn’t either speak or move. And possibly the easiest to dress, all that will be needed for the character is

·         T-shirt

·         Jeans

·         Trainers

·         Fake blood

Story Type

The story type of my film is The Quest with my film being around a character needing to take a long journey to achieve his goals.

In my film the main protagonist, Alfred McGuiness, has to go on a journey through the investigation in order to find the murderer.

Aims and Context

Aims

I aim to create a sequence from the fictional film 'The Detective Chronicles of Alfred McGuiness' in a Film Noir style and use the common codes and conventions to create a parody of the usual detective film. With the use of the most common codes and conventions it will be easier to raise these to a parodical status. I will be using a genre-based approach and will look at different films of the genre. The audience I will be aiming at is the 15-20 year old in a working class family and preferably have some experience in Film Noir so as to recognize the conventions of the genre.

Context

The context of my sequence is to introduce the main protagonist of the film as well as the disruption in the narrative. I will be taking on the role of director, camera man and editor so as to produce the film language that I want exactly. This particular scene is the first scene after the opening scene and as such will introduce the first secondary character in the narrative