The Lover Who Lied encapsulates the classic noir essence we were aiming for and makes use of many of its conventions. In a few aspects we develop these conventions, but due to the nature and intention of our film challenged few; our idea was to pay tribute to and emulate the style of film noir. We understood that in taking on such a genre, visually our film would be unconventional in normal, modern Hollywood terms.
Regarding mise-en-scene, our use of colour was classically black and white, perhaps one of the most instantly recognisable features of noir. During filming, our use of the two portable lamps to create hard light and crisp shadows served us well to achieve that low-key, dramatic effect. Also to enhance its look of authenticity, the use of contrast and depth of black was enhanced in Final Cut Pro for that look of extra hard light we have seen in all of the other noir films we researched. Finally in editing we used the Final Cut Pro software to especially enhance the red colours in the film before we converted it to black and white, to achieve a further effect of drama, glamour and mystery so synonymous with film noir. We also made sure to utilise any street-lights we came across in shooting our outside scenes, as its extreme, distorted or silhouetted look was exactly the effect we’d seen in other noir films. Shots where use of these techniques are especially effective can be seen below in the following screen-shots.
As explained in our planning process, we identified the male costume conventions for forties’ film noir and followed them as meticulously as we could; loosely tailored suits – usually a lighter colour as opposed to black – black smart shoes, shirts and ties and most notably the fedora hats. It was crucial we included a fedora hat in the costume of our male protagonist Jim, as they are a key code in film noir and are an instantly identifiable as a integral part of a film noir costume. Their connotations of mystery, crime, moral corruption and cynicism were perfect for the role of Jim as a detective. His clean-shaven face and handsome good looks were exactly what we felt the role required to make the film believable and engaging, as we knew that noir was still a by-product of Hollywood and glamour was injected wherever possible. The male waiter was conventionally wearing a traditional shirt, tie, black trousers and apron, his simpler attire connoting his minor role.
However in terms of casting Frank, Rita’s husband, we decided to develop the convention of costume in his case as we wanted to create a distinctly separate look. So as to make it perfectly clear to our audience he was a husband since the narrative did not explicitly explain this fact, we opted to cast male actor Henry with longer hair and a beard to show an older age and serve as a physical contrast to Jim. We also cast him in trousers, shirt, tie and a jumper to suggest his more domesticated role as he waited for his wife to come home. Such a deviation from the noir uniform for men was with good reason. We felt that conventionally in noir the characters looked very similar in costume and we did not want to leave our audience in any doubt that Frank was another man, and with him not being in a suit, we felt it was effective to contrast Jim’s younger, sharp cynicism and Frank’s cuckolded, unsuspecting role through costume.
We identified that the femme fatale in all of the films we researched is cast as an attractive, mature woman, as opposed to the film starlets we see today in both indie films and Hollywood in their early twenties. Even though our actress for Rita was only 24, she had a bold, striking and sophisticated look which matched the requirement exactly. We managed to age our actress slightly with the use of make-up to fit a conventional femme fatale. The conventional noir costume of rollered, clipped-up hair, heavy matte make-up, and glamorous outfits showing off the starlet’s curves we followed exactly, as we believed this was the most important costume to get right and have it looking authentic. However I feel we progressed the convention as instead of having Rita in a sparkling long gown or a strapless dress, we conveyed Rita as more ambitious, independent and headstrong by power-dressing her in a long pencil skirt and a voluminous, sheer and ruffled white blouse – perfect for creating the classic hourglass figure we see in film noir – with the noir staples of stockings and high heels. This more business-like outfit was still seductive but conveyed her characteristics more successfully to a modern audience than a woman in a ball-gown, while remaining firmly in the era of forties fashion. The headpiece with the veil over her face connotes secrets or a deceptive nature, and the fur coat, white gloves and clutch bag inform the audience of her vanity and need for material possessions.
Every single prop we included on the set of The Lover Who Lied was to keep the film looking authentic, inform the audience about the character using the prop or suggest to the audience something about the location the film was set in. We knew that cigarettes were notoriously featured in film noir due to their connotations of vice, sin, addiction and mystery, however Jonathon James (playing Jim) did not want to smoke and the chances of getting permission to smoke in restaurant were slim. However, the inclusion of Rita smoking as she walks through the suburban streets and stubbing out the cigarette before entering the restaurant I feel is very evocative, symbolic, and of course important in including another code of film noir.
Film noir is often known for it’s seediness and decadence, so the inclusion of Jim brooding over a brandy glass in the restaurant again is a conventional device to suggest a tormented character and a troubled state of mind. Conversely, Rita’s martini cocktail suggests glamour and sophistication combined with a vapid personality – how so many noir femme fatales are portrayed. Her ill-fitting wedding ring and her struggle to put it on suggests to the audience that she is not marriage material, and that she wrestles with her identity as a wife. The love-note which falls form Rita’s coat pocket onto the floor symbolises how she treats love as a disposable commodity, while the watch on Jim’s wrist suggests he is a shrewd and observant man. His wad of American banknotes, and the casual manner with which he throws them down on the table, is suggestive of his disillusionment with the world and its corruption. The two mirrors into which we see Rita peering signify vanity, leading a double-life and the desire to question what she really wants. In the noir films we have researched, other than meaning, props are also used to create a sense of opulence and style to offer their audiences some form of escapism. Other than these key props, the rest, along with the set design, such as the gilt-framed pictures on the wall in the restaurant, the bottles behind the bar and the candlesticks on the mantelpiece are included to do just that; create an aesthetic of glamour and elegance for our audience to enjoy.
We had seen tense scenes of conversation unfold amidst a public background setting in noir films before, with the ambient diegetic sound to demonstrate this, and this was the obvious way to depict our own scene between Jim and Rita. The background sound of cutlery, customers and coffee being made was an effective filmmaker’s technique to enhance the realism of the scene. Enhanced sound was used to create drama, seen when the note was dropped on the floor, when Rita smashes her cocktail glass or when Jim bangs his glass down on the table.
A combination of diegetic and non-diegetic music used in the film is also a convention of film noir; where often you will hear a off-screen sweeping score in certain scenes or hear a big band playing in a nightclub in another. We decided to use this ourselves and in the external sequences we added a non-diegetic jazzy, double-bass piece of music to set the uncertain, mysterious and slick tone and give the sequences some pace, which we repeated at the end as well as at the beginning to give the film a sense of conclusion, whilst still connoting mystery and the unresolved. While in the restaurant we added some big-band swing style music in the background for a truly conventional sound. This music has classically glamorous, sophisticated and romantic connotations, which as the scene progresses takes shape as contrapuntal sound, as it did not reflect the tension and subsequent split between Rita and Jim. This use of contrapuntal sound is a common convention often used to emphasise the contrasting mood in the scene, and functions effectively in our film. The restaurant music was intended to be diegetic, but we played with this convention by adjusting the volume to quiet to emphasise a certain line, or to louder to heighten the drama in a certain shot. In this sense we developed convention to create meaning and suit the needs of our film.
The use of the narrative voice-over is a clear code in film noir and supports the structure of a noir film; introducing the audience to the protagonist and setting the film in context. We borrowed this convention ourselves as it was crucial to the coherence and significance of the film – our audience would know who to relate to and be given clues as to why the two were meeting. We developed the convention slightly by adding a distorted effect to hide some flaws with the recording, but felt that the style was similar to a telephone call or a two-way radio, which is a conventional concept seen in a telephone confession used as a voice-over in Double Indemnity.
Many conventional devices were used in the cinematography and editing of The Lover Who Lied. The use of the over-the shoulder shot in combination with the shot–reverse-shot editing technique over the dinner table was highly conventional and the most effective way we could draw our audience into the conversation. This was achieved successfully with the use of two cameras to film each character for a portion of the script, and then using the audio from only one of the cameras. It was tricky to edit but we felt worth it due to its natural and conventional result. We noticed that in most of the other films we had seen, the camera does not stay on each character as they say their line but goes to the listening party, when their response is important or to show they are absorbing what the other is saying. We decided to utilise this in our own film.
The use of a slightly lower angle to suggest when either Jim or Rita has assumed a more dominant role in the power balance of their meeting is a well-known trick, and a higher angle to suggest when Rita is having to defend herself or is being placed under scrutiny by Jim. We were careful to use an establishing shot for the exterior of the restaurant, to again give the audience a sense of location, and wanted to use one for the city in which the film was set but wasn’t possible to film. There are examples of eye-line match, such as when Jim notices Rita first entering the room, which alerts the viewer to a significant moment, and also being a long shot gives the audience a sense of spatiality within the restaurant. There are examples of reactionary close-ups placing importance on that character’s thoughts and feelings, and of extreme close-ups showing the audience an enlarged view of any crucial details, such as Jim picking the note up from the floor, sliding it across the table to Rita, the cigarette being stubbed out beneath Rita’s shoe and the smashing cocktail glass on the floor. These are all instances of close-ups being used conventionally to create meaning. Match-on-action sequences in combination with point-of-view shots are also used, like when Jim checks his watch or Rita opens the bathroom door, for continuity and for the audience to really feel within the scene and with the character. Long two shots are used intermittently as a technique to remind the audience of the overall dynamic between Rita and Jim, as they are able to compare their body language and see them both at the same time. However when Rita stands in this two-shot, the camera follows her instead of staying with Jim, showing to the audience that at this moment in time she has the upper hand power-wise.
While filming the two shots of the house, we shot in a voyeuristic style which allowed the audience to see into the living room. This conventional and common technique lent the scene a sense of Rita’s guilt and deceit whilst suggesting we were looking in on a private and intimate scene. The framing of the closer shot, where the audience see Rita and Frank in an embrace framed in between a lamp and the window frame, is suggestive of her sense of imprisonment within the confines of married life. In filming the opening sequence, continuity was ensured by checking the choice of shots that Rita was always walking in one continual direction, by reversing and flipping certain parts in editing. A variety of distorted angles and shot types were used, an interesting feature of film noir, such as the extreme high angles looking down on the street or down the alleyway stairs and an extreme low angle looking up at Rita. This was enhanced further in editing by playing with the angles of the shot to distort them further in Final Cut. This variety of shots suggested that wherever she walked, she was being watched from somewhere, and this effect was exaggerated by the camera lingering awhile when she walked out of shot. The high angles connoted the distinctive evil omnipresence looming over the typical “noir” city. The fast-paced editing gave the walking sequence the same sense of paranoia and imminent danger that all of our researched films were infused with.
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