The convention of film noir thoroughly conformed to throughout our production is mise-en-scene, locations were critical throughout the making to make sure we provided the correct atmosphere for viewers. Research into other noirs was made to provide us with ideas to create an eerie and suspenseful atmosphere, which was needed for the production.
One example taken from other noirs is ‘Scarlet Street,’ this 1945 classic showed mise-en-scene which provided the tense atmosphere we needed.
The character Scarlett is seen to be leaning against a lamppost, the use of artificial light here provides a spotlight to be illuminating the character to the audience.
We were able to select locations very similar, as our protagonist walks towards her location, she passes through a number of conventional noir locations, this includes the staircase which can symbolise either her rise up or fall.
Another example is the use of black and white and large buildings, the large buildings give a vast sense of emptiness, an example of this is from ‘Casino Royale,' although Casino Royale isn't a classic film noir, it still uses many conventions of a typical film noir.The lighting is able to give the building a sense a foreboding, we were able to replicate this, to make the viewers worried for Scarlett as she waited outside the large building.
The black and white gives the film a sense of old age, it can also help to set the mood of a film straight away, after watching the opening to 'Casino Royale' we decided this was the best way to go with our production. It also provides an old age glamour that cannot be achieved in colour.
The use of shadows, a convention we tried to input throughout our production, towards the end of our opening we showed the shadow of Scarlett running up the stairs, this shows two conventions. (shadow and stairs)
An example of a shadow being used is shown to the left in, 'The Killers' a noir heavily influenced by German expressionism, in this case it may appear as if the character has two personalties due to the shadow.
Shadows are used in a variety of ways, the main one to add enigma to the setting or character.
As you can see our use of shadow provided the scene with a lot more enigma resulting in the viewer becoming suspenseful and on edge, Scarlett appears to be running up the staircase off camera to the left, this allows the viewer to be aware she is there without having her on camera. This conforms to the thriller genre as being one of the main conventions to frighten and inform. Scarlett's shadow appears to be disorientated against the staircase, this provides viewers with the feeling she is rushing to escape or meet someone, it could also symbolise the confusion and complexity of the character and her feelings.
We have also captured this shot at an angle as it adds to the emphasis we are trying to place on this distorted character by making the shot itself appear disorientating.
We have also captured this shot at an angle as it adds to the emphasis we are trying to place on this distorted character by making the shot itself appear disorientating.
When showing the character Scarlett getting ready, there is a shot of her reflection in the mirror applying lipstick, this shot supplies another reflection of her to the right due to angle used, this gives the audience the idea of two faces, the good and the bad which can be translated into a fragmented personality, the fragile wife and the glamorous, fatale femme fatale.
Our protagonist Scarlett is based upon the character Irene Adler (Sherlock Holmes love interest in the 2009 film)
When watching the film viewers sympathise for the character and find her glamorous and delicate, as time goes on it becomes apparent that she is the femme fatale character who uses seduction to get what she wants and isn't entirely bothered by the consequences. this is also how we wanted the character Scarlett to appear, by having most of the opening scene showing Scarlett applying make-up and preparing to leave, the viewers find her beautiful and are drawn to her. The action of removing her wedding ring and placing it in the jewellery box forces the viewer to believe that she may not be so delicate and like Irene, she is a femme fatale.
We also replicated the use of the hat from the character Irene, it can be
portrayed in two ways, to add to the femininity of the character or to create moral ambiguity by covering up a portion of the characters face, both of these are conventions used in film noir, so by adding the hat to the character Scarlett we created a larger enigma.
Moral ambiguity is a crucial convention of film noir through the use of lighting, half of the characters face is bathed in light while the other is in darkness, this represents inner conflicts. In 'Casino Royale' the first time the viewer sees James Bond is through moral ambiguity, this makes viewers confused as to whether he is on the side of good or bad. 
We decided to use this idea for the first shot the viewers get of the character Ray, the use of darkness represents his inner conflict, the love for his wife vs. hurting his wife due to her actions. The light reflecting on him gives the idea that he was once a good man and deeply in love with his wife but due to recent actions, the darkness has overshadowed those feelings. 
The viewer is led to believe that Scarlett is someone of great wealth, this can be shown in her clothes and her house, the image on the left shows her leaving her house, this classic Victorian 4 story town house is only shot for a few seconds but gives the viewers enough time to take in her home environment and wealth, she is also wearing a fur coat and a long lace dress.
A convention of the thriller genre isn't usually corruption in the upper class but, in the film noir context this is much more common.
An example of corruption in the upper class is in 'Layer cake,' set in a high end London town house, Daniel Craig's character appears entirely normal but he is secretly a drug dealer, ideas of corruption in high society were taken from this.
The soundtrack used throughout our production isn't one which is typical of a film noir, this challenges the usual conventions. Although it is different, I believe it works with our production as the fast paced sound creates the build up we wish to make to her meeting with her secret lover.
Our production shown below can demonstrate the soundtrack we used.
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