Props and Costume

To achieve an authentic Film Noir feeling in our film it is important for us to match the camera shots, lighting and location with realistic Film Noir costumes and props. To do this, I compared the other Film Noir's that we had watched before planning our own coursework. As a result of this I came out with the following list.

Character Costumes:
 All our characters have some element of black in their clothes. This is to represent the destruction that is to occur in their lives, as well as to highlight the darker side to each, seemingly normal character.

Barnaby Frisco: 

Grey Blazer- Smart look, typical of a detective of the time.

Black Shirt- Smart, blends in with the blazer but is also used as a metaphor to reflect Frisco's dark side and his hidden secrets.

Black Tie- Cant be seen against the black shirt. Is another metaphor, showing that Frisco's dark side is hidden from the viewer at first.

Grey Trousers- Smart look, typical of a detective of the time.

Smart Black Shoes- Blend in with the rest of the outfit.

Bones Goodwin:


Grey Blazer- Smart look, typical of a detective of the time.


White Shirt- Smart, ironic look. Suggests that Bones Goodwin is an innocent character, killed by Frisco in a jealous rage.


Black Tie- Smart, highlights his dark intentions in the plot.


Walking Stick- Highlights his injury and that fact that he is still quite vulnerable.




Adrianna Frisco:


Black Dress- Classy, fits in with her previous role of a sophisticated lady. Highlights her role as a femme fatale.

Locket - The most vital part of costume in the entire film. This is the catalysist that starts Barnaby Frisco's downfall.

Black Shoes- Simple, smart and sophisticated. Dark colours which represent the hidden dark side to her.




Props:  (scene by scene) 




The Frisco household scene:


Razor for Barnaby Frisco.

Fake blood for the razor cut.

Comb.

Dressing table with mirror for Arianna Frisco.

Suitable car for Barnaby Frisco.

Frisco's office scene: 


Office utensils, e.g. stapler, files, papers, hole punch, pens, pencils etc.

Old style black telephone.

Clock, easy to read screen.

Murder victim scene: 

Yellow and black police tape.

Flashlight/torch.

Gun for Frisco.

Locket and Note.

Fake Blood.

Church scene.


Guns for Frisco and Goodwin.

Locket and Note.

Flashlight/torch.

Character Profiles

Character profiles


These character profiles are aimed to introduce the three main characters in the plot. The story revolves entirely around these three people and there is a description of their involvement below their picture. I chose to have my character photos in black and white because it captures the essence of Film Noir which is predominantly in black and white. It also reflects the fact that each character has a dark side to their personality and highlights the sins they have committed during the story.

Barnaby Frisco: (Luke Jones)

Age: 25

Job: Detective, Homicide department

Next of kin: Adrianna Frisco (Wife)

Backstory: Returning from personal leave after the death of his partner in mysterious circumstances, Frisco is unaware of the events that are to occur on his first case. Events that will change his life forever.

Bones Goodwin: (Matthew Williams)

Age: 24

Job: Detective, homicide department

Next of Kin: None

Back story: Bones Goodwin is Frisco's partner. Killed by Frisco himself but covered up to make it seem like an accident. However he is not actually dead and has been living rough for months, scrounging food, biding his time. He is also wrapped up in an affair with Adrianna, Frisco's wife (the reason for Frisco 'killing' Goodwin in the first place.)

  

Adrianna Frisco: (Emilie Cherry)

Age: 24

Job: Housewife

Next of Kin: Husband, Barnaby Frisco 

Back Story: Married to Frisco, but engaged in an affair with Bones Goodwin, the affair is secret but Barnaby Frisco is aware of Goodwin's feelings for his wife, feelings that led to the shooting of Goodwin. Adrianna is the femme fatale in the plot, swearing allegiance to Frisco, yet going behind his back, looking after Goodwin while he recovers before playing a part in his plot to kill Frisco before the two of them can be together. A deadly affair (Le Mortel Liason.)

Planning and story board

We decided on the name 'RELM Productions' which stands for Raya, Emilie, Luke and Matt (The names of the people in my group.) The name is taken from the word 'Realm' which is defined as:
1. A Kingdom
2. An area of interest 
We had several meetings to talk about our ideas and possible themes for the plot. Using these ideas we came up with a story board using all our ideas so that we had a visual template for all our ideas, making it easier for us to add to it.


Here is a picture of my group.
(Top; Luke Jones, Matthew Williams.) (Bottom; Raya Renney, Emilie Cherry.) 

After the meeting we ended up with a name for our Film Noir, 'Le Mortel Liaison' which translates into 'The Deadly Affair' and reflects the plot of our film, which is essentially a deadly affair. We decided on making the film in French because the concept of Film Noir was pinoeered by French critics. We also decided that our film would be located in Paris, due to the fact that several members of our group were visiting the city on a school trip which gave them the chance to collect shots of the city for us to use and give the impression that the whole film was set in France. The film will be set in black and white because this automatically fits into the codes and conventions of Film Noir.

We decided to follow the Narrative theroy, with 5 stages of the storys progression to give us a smooth story line that follows the conventions of Film Noir. 

These stages are as follows:

- Equilibrium

- Disruption

- Period of disequilibrium

- Resolution

- Restoration of equilibrium

  The brief outline of our plot is as follows:
- Barnaby Frisco returns to his job as a detective after a period of 'honarable leave' following the 'death' of his partner 'Bones Goodwin' who he 'killed' because of Bones's feelings for his wife. However no one is aware of this. He is summoned to a crime scene where he discovers a series of clues that reveal that his wife is missing. He then attempts to work out where his wife could be, finally working out her location. he travels there to find that Bones Goodwin is still alive. Frisco and Goodwin then have a fight which results in the death of Frisco. Bones Goodwin and Frisco's wife then leave together.