Analysis of an opening sequence of a Film Noir

Analyse the opening sequence of a Film Noir

The opening scene of a Film Noir often starts with an establishing shot of the setting e.g. The city. This shot leads to a close up on where the main characters are or a murder that has taken place. These shots give the audience an idea about where in the world the place is typically in America e.g. New York. The film is normally shot in black and white, as it uses low key lighting and uses shadows and the dark to represent crime and murder. The opening dialogue in the film is usually between two private detectives or the main protagonist and the femme fatal this gives the film a story and lets the audience know early that this femme fatal is not to be trusted.

The camera angles in a Film Noir are normally deep- focus or depth of field camera work, disorienting visual schemes, jarred editing and skewed angles. They uses these kind of camera work as it uses the lighting and shadows to represent the story and can let the audience see what the director wants to see, for example dark shadows on murders face to hide his identity in scenes. In Film Noirs women are usually two different types, one being the femme fatal a strong women who is mysterious, gorgeous and manipulative. the other woman being, loving, trustworthy and dutiful. The women in the opening sequence usually are there to manipulate the main protagonist, getting him mixed up in something big or getting him to do her dirty work, this leads to the enigma of the film, e.g partner murdered or someone close to the main protagonist murdered, doing the femme fatals dirty work.

The audience can easily tell if a film is Film Noir in the opening sequence as it is unique to other films, stands out and follows the same narrative throughout all Film Noirs, like the protagonist, normally a private detective or a vigilante, who wears a typical costume of a big overcoat, fedora hat and suit. He is usually cold-hearted and is seen as an anti-hero, not afraid to do something against the law to solve a crime. In the opening sequence of a Film Noir it normally has the enigma show which the detective has to solve throughout the film, the enigma is usually a murder and is connected to the femme fatal or caused by the femme fatal. The enigma is used in the opening sequence to show the protagonists getting closer and closer to solving the case as the film progresses.

In the opening sequence the audience is usually already introduced to the main characters, usually the private detective and the femme fatal. In the film Maltese Falcon these characters are introduced within the first scene, this allows the audience to know who the main characters are. The film only allows the audience to know what the detective knows so at this point the audience has no suspicion for the women being the femme fatal, this makes it a surprise later in the film when the detective starts to realise, the woman is manipulating him.  This is effective in this genre as the audience feels like they are on this journey with the main character as they learn things when he does.

In Film Noir the director uses sound to represent the mood in each scene the sounds used are usually melancholy downbeat music, jazz, uses silence and quiet music, sudden noises and off screen sound, e.g. sirens or gun fire. These sounds are used throughout a Film Noir as it builds up the narrative and to add to the story as it progresses. Sound is used a lot in Film Noir as it is useful to set the mood and build up tension in scenes.