The Book Keeper Genre Research

Nosferatu - Classic German Expressionist film

Film Noir – Black Film
Noir has been touched upon in a number of college productions now and we really shall be building on previous experience. The standard definition for Film Noir is:

Film noir is a type of film that is, fatalistic, pessimistic, or cynical in mood and often dealing melodramatically with urban crime and corruption, generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s.

It is highly debated as to whether Noir can be called a genre at all due to the lack of similarities in themes covering the spectrum of movies made and for some the style just continued evolving into the present day. Film Noir may be more accurately described as; a visual style that emphasizes low-key lighting, unbalanced compositions and other conventions. Noir as a genre is generally regarded as movies that follow these conventions which were made between 1940 and 1950.

Classic Noir - The Third Man

Film noir’s visual aesthetics are deeply influenced by German Expressionism 1910-1920.
The basics for shooting are; under lit shadowy contrasting Black & White images, making the most of light sources, props and locations to cast these.

Film noir lighting should come in from the sides, on the whole, this is not a stringent rule as for example a desktop lamp reveal of a character maybe lit from the front but this light would remain the key lighting still allowing for camera play with the contrasting images within the shot
To create sharp, clean shadows, a single point of light is required, this may mean that busier shots requiring more lighting may require a close up cutaway of the required distinct shadow being cast. Gobo’s or (go-betweens) can work to great effect here selling aspects of a shot that do not physically exist  for example a shadow of prison bars illuminated by the moon.

To create good contrast and capture as much detail as possible in the faces and objects lit by the primary light reduce the ISO low to a higher film speed. This will reduce noise, which can ruin a high contrast shot.

High and low camera angles will help capture creative shadowing and dutch-tilts are often included for effect.

Lighting experiments for this scene were performed in the studio.

Sci-fi – Alien Encounter Subgenre
Science Fiction film incorporates hypothetical, science-based themes into the plot of a film set in the past, present or future. As a genre sci-fi is vast topically and cinematically, there are no cover all conventions. 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Kyles inspiration for the sci-fi scene comes from movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Cinematographer - Vilmos Zsigmond) where the heavy use of coloured lighting acts as a signifier to the aliens presence. Often this presence is never seen, or has a major reveal at the end to build a level of tension and curiosity within the audience. Stepping out of the genre the film Poltergeist used it similarly with static from the TV illuminating rooms “they’re here”.  
 
In our scene Kyle would like the café to become bathed in light from the exterior with sharp beams entering through the windows (we will need a smoke machine for this) and the cafe will have to be dimly lit for this scene to not overpower the ‘visitation’ lighting and give intensity to the effect.

Studio test were carried out looking at the effects of different coloured lighting gels for suitability within the scene, of course red won.

Horror – Slasher Sub-genre

Jason - Friday the 13th

Cinematography is carefully used in slasher films to add tension and terror. An example of this is close ups and extreme close ups of a victims face to capture their terror. Pulling focus from the victim onto the Slasher is common reveal. Dark lighting is used, this connotes a sense of mystery or danger as the victims do not know what is lurking in the shadows. Often the assailant is not clearly visible until their big reveal, flashing or moving lights can add to this by seeing fleeting images that should be paid more attention which add to the suspense being generated  by not really being able to see what is happening or is about to happen. 

Fritz Langs Metropolis

German Expressionism
Was a German art movement practiced predominantly from 1910-1920. In film making it spawned such classics as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Metropolis. Due to WW2 many proponents of the movement went to America and evolved on to develop Film Noir.
Shot and presented like filmed theatre plays with twisted landscapes, insane or evil characters and morbid plot lines, expressionism in film cuts a distinctive and stylistic line.

Expressionism was a short lived philosophy for creation and as so to attribute generic cinematography styles to it is difficult. 

Mimicking elements from the classics would be more appropriate.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

These movies often shot at 16fps create faster movement at 24 or 25 fps or flicker if slowed down.
It has been proposed that this scene could be shot on standard 8mm 4:3 at 18fps to emulate this, a post effect to simulate this effect has also been proposed. Lighting for shots broadly fits Noir lighting conventions of under lit shadowy contrasting Black & White images, making the most of light sources, props and locations to cast these.

Lighting experiments were conducted in the studio and street prior to shooting.

Western genre – Subgenre Classic Western
Westerns have a long history in film production going back to the early days of film making. The genre is almost solely representative of early American history and culture. Adored unquenchably by the American public and spat out at an incredible rate by the studio’s in its heyday, up until the 60’s. The genre has never truly gone away and has seen a resurgence in recent years.
Due to this long history it has seen and used many film conventions as they have developed and been superseded with new, often creating western sub-genre’s in their wake. Kyle likes the 4:3 classic western look with centred compositions and villains in black hats, which we will be trying to reproduce.

Blasta from the Pasta - The man with no name.

Conventions in lighting are;

Low-key Light
First seen in the 1930s this Noir style technique focuses on the shadows within a scene, to create an atmosphere of dark mystery. For instance, a spotlight directed from above to light up the cowboy's hat and only his chin, leaves the rest of the face in shadow. This could be used to emphasise the mysterious character of the subject. As movies in the  30’s were shot in black and white, this lighting technique added to the artistic impact of the movie.

High-key light
Natural light is used extensively in westerns due to the Wild West Genre location (that the narrative exists in). High-key light is used to highlight all effects and reproduce the baking sun, however the sun typically was the primary light source. Fill lights and reflectors were also used to highlight shadows emphasising the bright sunny day.

Back lighting
A familiar typical shot uses a back light to create silhouette effects, for example a cowboy and his horse maybe shot against a ridge with the sunset to form a silhouette.

Three-point lighting
Three-point lighting was the standard lighting scheme used in classic Westerns for indoor scenes.