Institutional Regulations (Hubert Osinski)

Our film is going to be a hybrid between Film Noir and Horror, in order to retain most of the traditional Film Noir aspects I've decided to conduct research into the way film would've been regulated at the time Film Noir were most popular. Through this research I gained an insight on the cautions a director had in mind whilst directing their film back in the 50's.

The PCA (Production Code Administration) which was established by the MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America), established in 1934, enforced the Motion Picture Production Code. The code was a set of guidelines for all motion pictures in the US, it wasn’t enforced but it was applied by most industries as they didn’t want to provoke the attention of the law towards film.

This is a list of the “Don’ts” and “Be carefuls” introduced through the Motion Picture Production Code:

1.       Pointed profanity – by either title or lip – this includes the words "God," "Lord," "Jesus," "Christ" (unless they be used reverently in connection with proper religious ceremonies), "hell," "damn," "Gawd," and every other profane and vulgar expression however it may be spelled;

2.       Any licentious or suggestive nudity – in fact or in silhouette; and any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture;

3.       The illegal traffic in drugs;

4.       Any inference of sex perversion;

5.       White slavery;

6.       Miscegenation (sex relationships between the white and black races);

7.       Sex hygiene and venereal diseases;

8.       Scenes of actual childbirth – in fact or in silhouette;

9.       Children's sex organs;

10.   Ridicule of the clergy;

11.   Willful offense to any nation, race or creed;

This is a list of things were to be shown with caution for suggestiveness and vulgarity:

1.       The use of the flag;

2.       International relations (avoiding picturizing in an unfavorable light another country's religion, history, institutions, prominent people, and citizenry);

3.       Arson;

4.       The use of firearms;

5.       Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, etc. (having in mind the effect which a too-detailed description of these may have upon the moron);

6.       Brutality and possible gruesomeness;

7.       Technique of committing murder by whatever method;

8.       Methods of smuggling;

9.       Third-degree methods;

10.   Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishment for crime;

11.   Sympathy for criminals;

12.   Attitude toward public characters and institutions;

13.   Sedition;

14.   Apparent cruelty to children and animals;

15.   Branding of people or animals;

16.   The sale of women, or of a woman selling her virtue;

17.   Rape or attempted rape;

18.   First-night scenes;

19.   Man and woman in bed together;

20.   Deliberate seduction of girls;

21.   The institution of marriage;

22.   Surgical operations;

23.   The use of drugs;

24.   Titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law-enforcing officers;

25.   Excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character or the other is a "heavy".

Information source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code 

History of 1950's Film Noir and Horror

Film Noir:

The 50s decade was known for many things: post-war affluence and increased choice of leisure time activities, conformity, the Korean War, middle-class values, the rise of modern jazz, the rise of 'fast food' restaurants and drive-ins.

In the period following World War 2, most films were ideolised with conventional portrayals of men and women, but young people wanted to see new representations.

Film Noir (literally 'black film or cinema') was invented by French film critics (first by Nino Frank in 1946), after noticing the trend between 'dark', downbeat and the colour black to the looks and themes of many American crime and detective films released in France to theatres following the war.

A wide range of films reflected the resultant tensions and insecurities of the time period, and counter-balanced the optimism of Hollywood's musicals and comedies. Fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia are readily evident in noir.

The criminal, violent, misogynistic, hard-boiled, or greedy perspectives of anti-heroes in film noir were a metaphoric symptom of society's evils, with a strong undercurrent of moral conflict, purposelessness and sense of injustice. There were rarely happy or optimistic endings in noirs.

Primary characteristics and conventions of Film Noir: Themes and style

The primary moods of classic Film Noir were melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia.

Heroes or anti-heroes, corrupt characters and villains included down-and-out, conflicted hard-boiled detectives or private eyes, cops, gangsters, government agents, a lone wolf, socio-paths, killers, crooks, war-veterans, politicians, petty criminals or murderers. The protagonists were often morally ambiguous and low-lifes from a dark and gloomy background. They had distinct character traits: cynical, hard-boiled, disillusioned, insecure and struggling to survive.

Storylines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically communicated through foreboding background music, flashbacks, witty language and first-person voice-over narration.

Horror:
Between 1940 and 50 the concept of a horrific monster barely changed. Although, there were more recognisably human faces attached to evil, for example WW2 traitors or Mad Scientists. Society was deprived from the joys of family and earth because of the numerous loss of loved ones during World War 2. Homecoming soldiers and bereaved widows had too many horror stories of their own to appreciate fantasies on the big screen, meaning that they gained no entertainment or escapism from these films, instead they may have only had the pleasure of information. The world could never be the same again, and the dawning of post-war posterity in America created a new breed of monsters, adapted specifically for survival in the second half of the twentieth century.

In the 1950's, Films were related to the B-movie category. Thus, the primary audience for horror movies were teenagers, who ensured that the genre remained very profitable. This demographic never truly cared about the plot or character development and the production values, instead they simply cared about the reactions and emotions they were experiencing whilst watching a particular horror film.

The main aim of the 1950's horror films were to thrill the audience the monsters, whilst perhaps more terrifying in conception than execution, never failed to deliver action and intensity.

Location Hunting

1. Interrogation room. We've taken our school theatre as a possibility due to its potential for lighting the scene.

 

2. Potential crime scene, we thought this would be a good area to shoot the crime scene because it's an open space with trees around it which gives us space for mise-en-scene

 

3. Ambience shots, the pines are really tall therefore they'd be good for capturing wind whispering through trees.

 

 

4. This is an establishing shot of the forest, looks very plain and boring without any mise-en-scene. For mise-en-scene we'd have detectives roaming the area.

7. This would be for interior ambience.

 

6. This is a small ditch in the forest, it is big enough to fit Hayden's body, it'd be ideal for the shot of the dead victim.

7. This would potentially be a shot of the detective or a character getting into the pond to take a dead body out of the water. 



This location would be great for the detective to walk down the path with a lantern in his hand to light his way, creating a sense of mystery.

Prop Ideas

Mind Map created by Hayden Woodcock with GoConqr

Resources & Equipment

How do we want our film to be regulated?

The Bitter Kiss age rating & censorship from Hubert Osinski

Codes And Conventions of Film Webpages