NARRATIVE STRUCTURE & EDITING
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| Retrieved from Sunset Boulevard ( Billy Wilder,1950) |
A basic structure for Film noir editing is like a maze
with the hero as the thread running through it. Film noir editing follows most
of the traditional crime film’s characteristics but they are generally known as
non-linear editing. It usually starts out on a quest, and then tells the story
in flashback to solve a mystery or else to find work, after that settle down it
and commit murder. For instance, in the Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder,
1950) film, starts up with a dead body of a young man, Joe Gillis floating in
the swimming pool. When the policeman starts to investigate the murdered case,
Joe’s voice narration is leading the situation by telling the story of his own
murder for audiences.
Film noir’s dramatic feeling are occur due to the use
of flashback. The film usually presents this as a very brief story telling then
to the flashback just like the example above. Flashbacks and voice narration
structures may be the means of suggesting that the progress through the maze is
the working out of a fatal pattern. The reason of using flashback for most of
the film noir is because the use of flashback can bring more depth, suspense
and excitement for telling a story. And it is also like a bridge of time, place
and action to reveal the truth about the character. Other than flashback,
continuity editing is used to most of the footage and montage which falls on
storytelling. The use of continuity editing is guiding the audiences to know
the flow and sequences of the story. After reveal the truth of the murdered
case, it backs to Joe’s dead body floating in the swimming pool where policeman
were investigating.
COSTUME
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| Retrieved from Sunset Boulevard ( Billy Wilder,1950) |
The costume for the character in Sunset Boulevard (Billy
Wilder, 1950) is in the old-fashion of America attire, which appears in the
1940's and 1950's. There will be antique car owned by Norma, together with
suits and hats that bring out the attire of people from that era. Usually women
will have curly hair with long dresses which is exactly what the old-fashion
image portrays. Women in film noir usually wear white, smart, and silk dress.
For example, the dress wear by Norma in the film show that she is a rich person
and yes, her attire and living place show that she was a big star before. With
the glamorous dresses on, the level of class will usually presence and being
express through the clothing. For instance, with the money that Norma had, she
able to give a luxurious cigarette case as a gift to Joe who shows she is from
an upper class community people.
For men, normally they are wearing smart, tidy suits
with ties. The dress code for men is always being black, grey and brown in
colour. Clothing is really a personal issue in the film. There is a saying
that character who wears their clothes on their bodies, they are literally
attached into their wardrobe (Maria Pramaggiore, Tom Walls 2005). As seen in Sunset
Boulevard (Bill Wilder 1950), Joe has a big transformation after he met
Norma, who was a former Hollywood star. Norma bought a lot of expensive clothes
for him as she wants him to be her partner. Joe's status had arisen by wearing
what Norma bought for him. However, there is another meaning for Joe's new
clothing in the film. It show that Joe is starting depending on Norma on the
expenses. There is a part whereby the cloth seller persuades Joe to choose the
more expensive or luxurious cloth since Norma is paying for it, it challenge
Joe masculinity as he treated Joe like a gigolo. Joe gains a higher class of
status by his clothing but he lost his freedom after gaining all his benefits
(Maria Pramaggiore, Tom Walls 2005).
By watching film in film noir, the recognition of the
character is done by looking at what the character wearing. For instance, the
male character wears hat and suit and the female character lingering gaze and
sensuality. In Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950), Norma is likely to
live in her own world, the house which is full of photo of her, she only watch
those old films which acted by herself. Besides, she is happily receiving the
entire fake fans letter which is prepared by her guardian. She is a femme
fatale who sustain her fantasy by draining the lives of those who surround her
(Gerd Gemunden,2008). This will be more persuasive with the presence of the
empty swimming pool with lots of rats crawling across, this emphasis the past
and decaying era that Norma being going through. Norma is a typical woman who
wants to control others to live in her own imaginary world.
LIGHTING
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| Retrieved from Sunset Boulevard ( Billy Wilder,1950) |
Lighting is one of the important
aspects of mise-en-scene in film noir. As we know film noir are much on
dark nature therefore the lighting uses on low key lighting and shadow to
create moody atmosphere and the sense of danger that will occur. In the Sunset
Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) film, it is full of shadows in a very
figurative way. It shows the shadowy world deception, greed, lust and jealousy.
These are all strong characteristics of noir narrative. For instance, Norma is
just delusional while Joe is caught in a moral battle of genuine love of
another screenwriter and the wealth and pity of Norma. The film does use
shadows most commonly when referring to Norma's past, particularly the scene
where they are watching her old movies and she stands in front of the
projection light, arm held high with very strong light contrast on her
face.
CAMERA ANGLE
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| Retrieved from Sunset Boulevard ( Billy Wilder,1950) |
Film noir is known for the use or establishing shot,
low-angle and wide shot to create dramatic effect. Other common found in film
noir include shots of people in mirrors, shots through a glass and multiple
exposures. The establishing shot mostly used in film noir movies start off with
symbolic features of trouble. The establishing shot in Sunset Boulevard (Billy
Wilder, 1950) films portray to the audience what the male protagonists are
going to go through. The film starts with a high angle shot of a black concrete
street. Very rapidly the camera tilts up and reveals a medium
angle long shot of Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950). Then, Joe
Gillis is shown dead floating at the top of a pool.
The camera performs a slow backwards tracking indicating
something is coming.
Apart of that, we can see a low-angle shot pictures of
Joe. When he looks down at the burial, we see Norma in a high-angle shot from
Joe's point-of-view. Later, low-angle shots of Norma at the top of the stairs
contrast this position. In the first scene, Joe feels in a position of power
having just found a solution to his money problems but by the end of the second
act, Norma holds a life-threatening amount of power over Joe. This to show that
Norma is not manipulating or evil but instead showing she is insane and
insecure woman that has the power of dominating over man and the femme fatale.
A femme fatales character is frequently shot from low angles top show there
power and threatening nature.
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin. (2010). Film Art An
Introduction, 9th ed, USA: McGraw-Hill
Gemunden, G. (2008). A Foreign Affair: Billy Wilder's
American Films (Vol. 5). Berghahn Books.
Schrader, P. (1996). Notes on film noir. Film Noir Reader.
New York: Limelight Editions, 53-65.
Street, S. (2001). Costume and cinema: Dress codes in
popular film (Vol. 9). Wallflower Press.
Telotte, J. P. (1989). Voices in the dark: The narrative
patterns of film noir. University of Illinois Press.
Winston, J. (1998). Drama, narrative and moral education:
Exploring traditional tales in the primary years. Routledge.
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