These methods of production are the essence of what I have termed a `noir filter.’ This filter is an emulation of the visual conventions of film noir and its predecessor German Expressionism cinema. The utilization of these conventions is not only a homage to film noir but an attempt to seamlessly combine captured stills that serve as visual language. The filter enables the manipulation of setting and character. I can make one actor look like another or one setting look similar to another. By applying this filter onto selected images I inhibit their immediate recognition to promote a sense of déjà vu. The desired effect is achieved if the viewer feels they have seen such an image before, but can not recall the film or the character.
The `noir filter’ is also present in the framing of the drawings. In film noir, the oblique camera angles establish an imbalance or a character’s obscure thoughts. In this particular method of framing, the camera is tilted, no longer horizontal to the floor. I implement this element of the filter during the digital manipulation process by digitally turning and cropping the image. For this same effect, in the drawing process I tilt the image plane. Another convention used in the filter is camera tracking. To establish a tracking effect using still images, I crop the reference image during the contrast adjustment process or by gathering sequential images during the capture process. This tracking effect enables me to dynamically represent time and control rhythm. The intended result is to hold the viewer’s attention for a longer duration, showing the importance of these images in the sequence.
At my candidacy presentation I displayed 20 printed and hand drawn stills side by side in a single line. In order to introduce a non-linear narrative, I decided to increase the number of drawings. In addition to providing the viewer with more information to interpret, the creation of more drawings allows me to increase the number of lines within the sequences. This type of display consists of approximately 45 drawings arranged in three parallel lines connected by a single drawing. It contains one large line and two smaller lines (figure 2.1). As in film noir, this approach suggests the convention of a splintered chronology, flashbacks, and complex story lines. In addition, it contributes to non-linear reading, comparable to the Billy Wilder noir films Sunset Boulevard or Double Indemnity or the non-linear narratives further developed during the 1960s with the film works of Jean-Luc Godard. Godard sequenced narrative that challenged the order of beginning, middle and end by placing them in a selected order. To promote such non-linear readings in my sequencing format I commonly use the same drawing more than once. While a viewer is interpreting the narrative sequence he or she determines how and where these flashbacks are happening or whether the reoccurring image is present to suggest the same location or moment in time. This reoccurring image can provide an entry back into the main sequence line or other tributary lines. The application of multiples reinforces the non-linear viewing of the narrative sequence, while also representing the film noir convention of character duplicity: the perception of a character versus the character’s intent.
In the preproduction phase of the film making process, film makers utilize a storyboarding process to block out each scene. Comparatively, as I began the process of making these narrative sequences, I assume the roles of director of photography, lighting design and editing. These first two roles are most present in the initial steps of my process, which include the searching of particular stills and the manipulation of lighting. Assuming these roles, I apply my `noir filter’ and concern myself with what is called mise-en-scene. Film theorist Graeme Turner, author of Film as Social Practice, defines mise-en-scene as the arrangements of elements within a shot (42). These elements often foreshadow events or provide additional information about characters. With the use of this filter I am able to remove elements, obscure identifiable characters and manipulate settings, thus determining what is important or significant. As editor, with completed shot and lighting established, I determine image placement in each sequence by linking subject matter, camera shots and value schemes.
Sequencing is the arrangement of drawings in a line to indicate place, setting, and/ or state of affairs within the narrative. It is achieved through the pairing or juxtaposition of each frame and the implementation of the `noir filter.’ This is similar to Noel Carroll’s explanation of sequencing in The Philosophy of Motion Picture. Carroll suggests that one cannot think of film making as “grammatical.” Although still frames serve as a vocabulary, my methods of sequencing are not a language containing clear rules. The sequences are not created as sentences, but as free formed poetic combinations that utilize common guidelines of editing. These guidelines include the exclusion of like angled or framed shots, or the utilization of entry and exit. As any film theorist would agree, guidelines are not rules and therefore they can be discarded in order to achieve the desired narrative sequence.
As I made hundreds of smaller drawings, their creation became increasingly mechanical. Reading of the sequences became perfunctory and the essence of the gestural stroke became depleted. In contrast, my most recent 24“ x 55” drawings personally restored the quality of the smaller drawings as I continued to explore the nature of gesture. The large scale is comparable to how one might view a motion picture. The smaller drawing and sequences are similar to viewing a motion picture on either a portable media device or small television. By viewing a movie at a smaller scale, an essential element of the cinematic experience is lost. For example, if one views the opening tracking shot of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil on an iPod or small television the immensity of the dark night in that particular film is lost (Figure 3.1). The vastness depicted in that film can only remain by viewing it on a large display. This not only pertains to the scale of the setting but also to the viewer’s overall field of vision. For instance, if one is viewing the hall of mirrors scene in The Lady from Shanghai on a small display, one would lose the power of duplicity of the mirrors and the lateral visual focus shift that occurs (figure 3.2).
In The Simple Art of Murder Raymond Chandler wrote “But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” This quote is for some the ultimate definition of film noir. The image appropriated for figure 4.1 was obtained because it embodies this definition and furthers the viewers understanding of film noir. In order to amplify the solitary figure walking “these mean streets” I chose to draw this image larger. Measuring 24“ x 55” the gestural strokes and bleeds exemplify this dark world of noir. The appropriated image for figure 5.1 was chosen for a similar reason. Appropriated from the film The Usual Suspects the original image depicts the character of Dean Keaton thrown back into the criminal underworld. Filmed in high angle, which shows Keaton’s lack of control of his situation, he walks unafraid to his impending death.
The captured image for the drawing in figure 6.1 was chosen for its mise-en-scene characteristics. Appropriated from Mr. Brooks, the image contains a reflection showing the duality of Mr. Brooks as both a respected business man and serial killer. In order to view this image as initially intended a lateral visual shift on behalf of the viewer is required. If this image were drawn as a 4.25“ x 10” frame, lateral eye movement would be minimal and the viewer would only see the second Mr. Brooks in frame as a reflection not as a separate entity. Lateral eye movement is also intended in two-shots, as represented in figure 7.1. In a smaller drawing one sees the conversation taking place wholly and not back and forth between each character.