Clip 1- The Big Combo
At the beginning of the sequence, there is
lots of different people going in to watch a boxing match, in a street that
looks like it isn't looked after that much. Then there is a woman running
through some dark corridors getting chased by two men. This is used in a lot of
different film noir films, because it brings up the tension in the audience and
there is only one way to go in a corridor and one way out, it is also helpful
for the creators of the film as well because it makes it easier to make the corridor
dark, using low-key lighting to keep the film dark, in lighting and in tone.
When she runs out she is in an abandoned street that isn’t looked after very
much, showing it is a rough community. Both the men re dressed in very smart
suits and the woman in a very glamorous dress, even though they are there to
see a boxing match, most people wouldn't dress that smart to watch a fight. The
police office also was very un-formal to each other, and late at night working,
all wearing suits instead of their uniform, could show they are detectives
instead. Also they were smoking and drinking coffee which is very stereotypical
for them to do this because people think this is what they do all day. Most
police officers in film noir are normally seen doing this, because they are
seen as corrupt from the citizen’s point of view and they are seem to not be
doing their job properly. They used diegetic sound near to the end, when the
man recorded his own voice that he is currently investigating, but earlier on
in the clip near the beginning it had non diegetic music that was very jazzy,
jazz music was very popular in the 1940-50s and was normally played in local
inns and clubs.
Clip - The Last Seduction
In the last seduction they use femme
fatale to show the power of the women and what she is like compared to the
other men in the film. This includes her ex-lover when she took power over him
by saying they never knew each other and the man she was having an interview
with, agreeing with him but also at the same time taking the power by telling
him what she is going to do. This sequence used a lot of high-key lighting
instead of low-key, but only used low-key in one section when she was moving
into her house in the night. This shows that this film will take place in the
light more and isn't going to be as dark as the other noir films. All of the
characters seen in the sequence were wearing very smart clothes, like in most
noir films all the characters dress to impress someone throughout the film.
They are all working class, because they all seem to be office workers or in an
office environment, and most film noirs involve working staff as the main
character, if it is a police detective or an office staff.
