Codes and Convention

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 




My film noir opening is loosely based on the 1996 David Fincher film, Se7en. To begin with my film opened with a title sequence from the femme fatales point of view. This allowed for the audience to be given an insight into her mind. It suggests both insanity and gives the film a dark and mysterious tone from the get go. This type of sequence is used in Se7en, and by basing my title sequence on it I am meeting the codes and conventions of a neo-noir/film noir movie. The lighting used in this sequence is low key, this is the classic film nor lighting as it allows for mystery to be built through the abundance of shadows. This lighting accompanied by the ambient non-diegetic sound track builds tension, adding a sinister undertone to the title sequence. This sinister undertone is what accompanies the femme fatales character. Like classic film nor my opening sequence features a femme fatal, by keeping to the classic dark representation of a female femme fatale I'm meeting the conventional codes and conventions of a film noir. Femme fatales in classic film noir films are shown to be beautiful, naïve to the world and in need of a 'hero' this is part of their allure that reels in the detective in the film. By innocent act however is a trap that hides their devious even murderous nature. In my film the codes and conventions are clearly, the voice over when detective Greyson talks about feeling 'like a fly lead by a spider' is a classic example. This not only shows the femme fatales codes and conventions but also shows classic film noir conventions, the sexist language and the uses of a voice over are all aspects of a film noir.  Although my character is not actually shown to be talking she is shown to be wearing a nice coat with a fur hood outline this meets the conventions of a film noir. 







 This would make the audience especially females feel a little empowered but also resentful towards the negative stereotype. Especially as in today's society women are striving for gender equality. 

This negative female representation of a femme fatale is juxtaposed by the female detective in my film. By having both a negative and positive representation of females in my film opening I'm trying to both show the codes and conventions and but also a modern woman who is more relatable to the audience. By having a female detective which is a stereotypically male role the typical codes and conventions of a film noir are being challenged. the two role female detective and femme fatale oppose each other, showing two sides of women. The female detective is also used in my film to represent a side of reason, she's not going to be fooled by the femme fatale like the male detective.