Jazz and Noir

The relationship between jazz and noir

Jazz has been an integral part of noir history, so we aimed to incorporate it into our film. In 1923, Caroll John Daly wrote Knights of the Open Palm. This was the first hardboiled crime story, and it touched off a world of crime fiction. That same year, trumpeter Louis Armstrong recorded for the first time, and that touched off a world as well. Although there is no direct connection, these two genres that began to reach the mainstream at the same time would be intermingled for decades to come. It was the 1951 Gothic southern psychodrama A Streetcar Named Desire that really truly introduced modern jazz to the big screen. Alex North's unique score broke serious ground. The dark, languorous compositions set the tone for Tennessee Williams' brutal and hedonistic masterpiece. Two years later The Wild One was released, a crime-noir film starring Marlon Brando as the archetypal Noir anti-hero. This movie along with many other noir films of the 50s further cemented the relationship between noir and jazz (often known as 'crime-jazz.) Despite the stylistic wars being waged in 50s jazz (dubbed 'The Golden Age of Jazz'), no single school prevailed in noir. Despite this, the different schools had more similarities than differences in their emergence in noir films as they all focused on the comm themes of sorrow, danger, sensuality and suspense. American journalist and ethnographer Stephen Powers lationship believes that the relationship between film noir and jazz also led to a liberation for African Americans in film. In the 1940s and 1950s, social activists campaigned for African Americans to appear in film as something other than caricatures. Film noir provided Hollywood with the perfect solution to this problem, as African Americans were given screentime in Salon Scenes, singing in nightclubs or playing jazz in the background in a bar. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Hazel Scott, all huge names at the time, could now perform in films without people objecting. 

How the Filming Process Went

How the Filming Process Went

We arrived in town around 9:00am to capture the establishing shots. Thankfully, we managed to film these successfully, with the desired weather forecast. We expected the day to be sunny, which would have hindered our filming schedule, forcing us either to reschedule or to fix this in the editing process. However, the morning was very cloudy and dreary, allowing us to capture the desired effect for our chosen genre, noir. We have filmed shots of the Belfast City Hall, The Crown Bar, Albert Clock, and multiple different locations around the Belfast docks. Belfast's many iconic locations have given us a multitude of options to use in the opening of our film.

The weather forecast had changed by the time we had to film our opening scene at the docks at around 11:00am. Since we needed to maintain a dark and dreary tone, we decided that this would need to be fixed during the editing process. To further this we got permission to film in an abandoned area beside Harland and Wolffe, which was a perfect location for the drug deal scene. As we needed to get to the bar at 12:00pm the filming was quite rushed, however both actors worked well under pressure.  The lighting was good and both characters had learnt their dialogue thoroughly and worked well together to provide a convincing performance. We experienced some difficulties with wind, however we will try and fix this in post-production. Coincidentally, we also noticed some very fitting graffiti at the location at which we were filming. The graffiti read 'NO RETREAT' and 'SHOOT TO KILL' - two very fitting themes to this dock scene.

We then went to meet another one of our actors for the next scene. The next scene we had to film took place inside the sunflower bar. We had to phone the bar several days prior to this, in order to gain permission for this, and they were happy to have us. We went to the bar as soon as it opened at 12:00pm so that we would not disturb customers later on. The bar were very helpful as well; keeping the music off and voluntarily supplying us with matches for the cigar. This scene also appeared to be a success, with the actor only requiring roughly 1-2 takes per shot.

We filmed the next scene a week later with another older actor. Although we filmed it a week after the rest of the footage, this pool hall scene coincides with the docks scene. We were filming in the Westway Snooker Hall. We contacted the pool hall a few days before we were to film, and we were allowed to film as soon as it opened at 10:00 am. Fionntan got one of his uncles to play the role of the police chief as he seemed to suit the role quite well. This scene did not take long to film, and it appeared to be a success, with the pool hall providing the perfect neo-noir setting.

Despite having filmed the footage, we decided that we needed to overdub the audio due to problems with wind. A week after the pool hall scene, I borrowed a mic from a friend and invited the actors from the dock scene back to my house to retake the audio in a quiet room. This went well, as both actors managed to capture their voices from the footage perfectly.

Plans for Sound Editing and Music Research

Soundtrack

For the soundtrack of the film, we will try and use moody jazz, very typical of noir films. We will try and use more melancholic jazz for the ending scene, as well as more ambient jazz for the docks scene.

Dialogue

Our film is going to rely heavily on dialogue and as a result we have to make extensive use of it during the phone call between the rookie cop and the chief and the encounter between the rookie cop and the drug dealer.

Overdubbing

In a worst case scenario in which background noise is too loud or the original audio recorded is of poor quality, it may be necessary to overdub the sound. To do this we will simply get our actors to record their lines again indoors in a quiet area and then place the new audio file over the original muted clip.

Ambient Sound

We may need to download and use some typical industrial ambiance and overlay it on the original footage in order to create some background noise

Diegetic Synchronous Sound

We will make use of a variety of diegetic and synchronous sounds, such as the drug dealer's footsteps, the striking of the snooker balls and the lighting of the match.

Sound Perspective

We will make use of sound perspective during the brief close-up noddy shot of the rookie cop while he's stressing out over the phonecall. We will edit the chiefs voice to sound echoed and distorted to mimic the sound of a mobile phone and also give the impression that the sound is at a distance from the rookie cop.

Sound Effects

We will make use of some sound effects in the post-production phase, for example adding in the sound of the chief's phone vibration and the sound of the gunshot.

Sound Mixing

If we encounter any problems with background noise such as wind, we may have to spend a while doing sound mixing using equalizers and different audio effects in order to alter frequencies.

Plans for editing our film

Visual Effects

We will have to add filters to the footage, as well as tampering with the brightness and contrast if the weather is bright in order to make the day seem gloomier than it was. I will go into more detail about this process in the post-production post

Long Takes

The series of establishing shots should all be rather long in order for it to be long enough for the credits scene

Titles

Titles and text will be overlaid over the establishing shots in order to display both the title and the credits

Fade In/Out

The fade out technique will be used both in the credits and at the end of the film in order to gradually transition out of their respective scenes, while the fade in technique will be used in order to gradually fade into the bar scene

Parallel Editing/Crosscutting

This editing technique will be used during the phonecall between the rookie cop and the young officer in order to show that their dialogue exchange is happening simultaneously even if they are in different locations

Action Match

Action matches will be used throughout the film, for example during the phone call between the chief and young officer. Action Matches will be used to create a continuity of action, such as occurs when the young officer dials a number on his phone which then cuts to the chief's phone ringing

Audio Match Cut

As the chief strikes the snooker balls, the sound it makes will act as a key for the young officer to snap back to reality

Ellipsis

An ellipsis will be used at the end of the docks scene to indicate the passage of time from the rookie cop's execution to the young officer reading the news in the bar

Insert

An insert will be used in the bar scene in order to abruptly cut away from the subject and show the text he had received on his phone

Article on film noir, codes and conventions

Film noir conventions and how we're following and breaking them

First off, I will discuss the stereotypical iconography and location traits of classic noir films. Noir films are known for their urban gritty locations, often in abandoned locations or rain-drecnhed alleys with gloomy lighting sometimes populated with neon lights. We will be following this convention, as we will be filming when it's dark or at least foggy, and will be filming in an empty location on the Belfast docks. Some other key locations of noir films are diners, bars, poolhalls,  nightclubs, police stations and gambling dens. We will be incorporating a dimly lit poolhall into our film, as well as an old-style bar.

As for the mise-en-scene, noir films tend to incorporate traditional attire such as bowler hats, trench coats, braces, and props such as guns, cigars and whiskey. We will be trying to match this in our film, including all of the aformentioned attire and props. As for the shot types and angles and editing, noir films have some common traits. Noir films use low angled and canted angled shots, tracking shots to follow action and bridging shots to cut back in time when the protagonist is reflecting. As for editing, noir films use action matches, eyeline matches to show the viewer what the character is looking at and parallel editing to show different characters engaged in phonecalls. As noir films tend to be slow-paced, they rarely have any over the top editing or visual effects. Similarly in our film we aim to use low and canted angled shots, action matches and parallel editing, however we aim to break conventions by using unconventional shot types such as POV shots and over the shoulder shots. Noir films tend to use moody jazz music as their film score or incidental music, which we will try to use as incidental music in the closing bar scene and during the credits. We also aim to make use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

As for film characters, the archetypal noir characters are the corrupt cop, the femme fatale, the stoic detective and the hardened mobster. The prominent themes in noir films tend to be love and betrayal, urban decay and degeneracy, flashbacks and voiceover narratives and convoluted stories. As our film is supposed to be brief and only a short opening to a film, we won't have the time to elaborate on any of these characters or themes in much detail.

As for neo-noir, the conventions tend to be the same but with a modern spin. The films feature violence with more modern forms of crime such as pimping and drug dealing, with more world-weary and cynical protagonists with false accusations and betrayal, focusing more on long tracking shots, obscured frames and deep focus.

We are breaking conventions of noir and neo-noir by the way we blend them together and juxtapose them in our film. We use traditional noir attire, dialogue and characters, while also using modern props and neo-noir scenarios, such as the drug deal. We blend noir and neo-noir together the best in our dug dealer character - despite saying dialogue that seems reminiscent of an old noir film, he will be dressed like an urban youth and speak with a broad accent and their mannerisms. This juxtaposition will act as a parody.