Film noir conventions in 'Drive'

Character roles:

The character roles fit into the typical conventions of the film noir genre, including femme fatales, cynical protagonists and corrupted characters.
The lead protagonist 'the driver', shows very similar characteristics to the classic noir protagonists. 'The driver' is shown as being lonely with minimal dialogue. Goslings facial expression remains predominantly the same, showing a lack of emotion, giving an impression that he is in an un-stable mental state. In most texts, Noir protagonists are usually mentally or physically damaged, which reflects a trauma from a previous experience. Throughout the film, Gosling's character is not named, and only referred to as 'the driver', which suggests his lack of self value and his only purpose as a criminal get-away driver.
He does not value himself and acts to save the female (Irene). He is willing to sacrifice himself to ensure Irene is safe, proving his selflessness. This is evidenced when he and Irene are in the lift, when confronted by a man planning to kill them, however 'the driver' kills the man to ensure Irene's safety. Classic protagonists usually have a femme fatale they protect, however, they drag them into dangerous situations. These aspects are typical of a classic noir protagonist. The femme fatale character, Blanche, double crosses 'the driver', which creates fears of mis-trust and paranoia.

Narrative themes:
'The driver' is an anti-hero as he has no fatal flaw, and works to protect Irene and her son through acts of violence. Gosling's character has no desire for money or his own well-being, with his main purpose to protect Irene.

Blanche double crosses 'the driver', which creates a sense of paranoia. She informs the villains about the planned robbery, and also reveals their location, which results in her death, showing her naivety and lack of power.

Technical codes:

The beginning of the clip features Irene's face half cast in shadow, showing that she may have a corrupt side, which is a common noir convention. This mimics the 2005 hit film 'Sin City', as in the opening scene a similar lighting technique is shown on 'the assassin'. This is a technical code, in addition to the sinister music creating a binary opposition, as she is re-telling the story of how she met her husband. However, the clip has an eerie feel and tells the viewer that something bad is going to happen soon. This is confirmed when her husband is killed in the pawn shop robbery. This is shown through flashback, which is a very common film noir genre convention. Throughout the scene, low key lighting is used to show the corruptness and paranoia of the characters, in particular the lead protagonist, 'the driver'. After 'the driver' has just killed 2 people, his face is bloody and lit well in high key lighting with darkness around him, he then steps backwards into the shadow, therefore creating low key lighting on his face and body. This is an uncommon feature of a noir protagonist, as it shows his criminality and deceit.

Iconography and mise-en-scene:
The iconography of 'Drive' mimics the noir genre throughout. Many urban environments are used, in addition to a strip club and neon lights, which convey danger. Low key lighting is used to show the two sides to the characters, including 'the driver' and Blanche. The split lighting on their faces show their good side vs their corrupt side. We see this when 'the driver' commits an act of violence, however for a good reason to protect Irene. The split lighting shows the 2 sides to him, showing him as an anti-hero. Venetian blinds are also used, which is a large iconic visual convention used in film noir. Blanche is seen smoking which is another popular genre convention.

Short conclusion:
From just a short scene from the film, it is very apparent that the film contains many classic genre conventions from the film noir genre, although it is not classed as being part of the film noir genre, many conventions create noir themes.

The Bechdel Test

"The Bechdel test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Many contemporary works fail this test of gender bias."

"What is now known as the Bechdel test was introduced in Alison Bechdel's comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. In a 1985 strip titled 'The Rule', an unnamed female character says that she only watches a movie if it satisfies the following requirements:

• It has to have at least two women in it
• Who talk to each other
• About something besides a man"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

Representation of males in Sin City

All of the male protagonist characters in Sin City essentially fit into both the film noir and comic book genre, hence why the film is a hybrid of the two genres.

John, Marv and Dwight all use violence, however they use violence to protect and defend the female characters from the villains. They all work towards good, not valuing themselves in the slightest, as they are prepared to die to protect the women. This is demonstrated when John Hartigan kills himself to protect Nancy. The protagonists all have some form of handicap, which is another film noir convention as they are the unlikely heroes, this can either by physical or mental, and sometimes both handicaps are apparent in one character. Their over-exaggerated violence is a comic book convention, as in the classic film noir films, violence was used, just not to this extent. The protagonists all wear long leather trench coats, which were used in the original film noir films. In Sin City the trench coats act as capes, as when they move the coat flows in the wind, emulating a cape. Before committing acts of violence, the protagonist removes the coat and 'de-capes', as he is about to do wrong.

Jackie Boy, Cardinal Rourke, Senator Rourke and The Yellow Bastard are all arch nemesis' of the protagonists. All are working against the protagonists, whilst abusing their power, which is an element of the film noir genre. An example of this is Rourke Jr's involvement in child exploitation, as he kidnaps Nancy, plans to rape then murder her.

Social-realism in Fish Tank

How typical is your chosen text to its genre?

Fish Tank is typical of its genre, social realism, through the characters roles, narrative themes, technical codes, iconography and mise-en-scene. All of these features joined together communicate the narrative of the text.

Character roles:
The character roles in Fish Tank are typical of its genre to an extent. In social realism the protagonist is typically a working class hero, striving for an improved life and circumstance than the one they find themselves in at the beginning of the narrative. Mia does strive for a better life and to escape her mundane life, however she does not have the characteristics of a hero, as she uses violence and is involved with issues such as underage drinking and underage sex.
In the clip from the scene above, Mia watches a group of girls dancing and reacts negatively towards them.
Also in the scene, Mia's mum swears at her and uses violence, this is showing that Mia does not have a good role-model, and is part of a non-nuclear dysfunctional/broken family. After the confrontation with her mum, Mia goes to her room where photographs of her and Keeley (her friend) are shown, in addition to an "i love you" ornament. This shows that Mia's family was possibly once functional and happy. Critics often argue that females are represented in a negative light in the social realism genre, often dependent on men. Mia does not have a father-figure in her life until Connor is introduced.

Narrative themes:
The narrative of the text is fairly linear. It follows the life of Mia and all of her hardships and struggles. Social realism films typically follow the lives of niche under represented groups of people, including issues such as underclass, underage and depression. This aspect is clearly shown in Fish Tank, as Mia is striving for a better life, and is involved in issues such as underclass, underage drinking and paedophilia. Fish Tank constructs a negative representation of women, as Mia uses violence to solve problems, is involved in controversial underage issues, is naive when Connor is introduced, and then runs away from her problems, re-locating to Wales with Billy at the end of the narrative.

Technical codes:
Fish Tank uses common conventions of the social realism genre. This scene and the rest of the film contains non-diegetic sound, with no edited diegetic sound or special effects e.g. CGI animation. The hand held camera aspect is one of the most important technical codes in social realism. This affect gives the viewer a sense of realism and the thought that they are in the same position/location as the character(s). The shaky camera movements and point of view shots are paramount and the largest technical aspect from the genre. Close-up shots also emphasise Mia's emotion and allow the viewer of the text to relate to her more. The lighting is always natural, with this clip proving this, giving a sense of realism. In a previous scene, Mia is standing looking out at the urban environment horizon. A shallow depth of field is being used, with Mia in the foreground in focus and the background out of focus, showing that Mia does not belong in this location as she is separated from her environment via technical codes. The social realism genre contains a linear narrative, containing an equilibrium, a disruption to the equilibrium, conflict, a resolution and a new equilibrium. Fish Tank almost follows this narrative structure, constructed by Todorov. In the text we do not see an equilibrium at the beginning, however we do see photographs of Mia happy and an ornament reading "i love you", proving that her life has previously been happy, reaching an equilibrium until the events of the film including Connor unravel.

Iconography and mise-en-scene:
The main aspect of iconography and mise-en-scene in the text is the urban environment. The tower blocks and council estate suggests the genre of the text and the characters, as the text is based around the underclass. The many establishing shots automatically suggest this to the viewer, in addition to the graffiti in the area. Mia is involved with alcohol, which is shown in the above scene. Her sexual relations with Connor is also breaking the law, as she is 15 years-old. Mia's fashion further establishes the genre and location, as she is wearing a grey tracksuit with hooped earrings and trainers in the above clip. During Mia's dance scene (shown above) the hip-hop music further establishes the genre, contributing to the mise-en-scene of the location.