Support NOIR

27 scenes to go until Watchcat episode 2 will be done, but until then, here's an article about the topic of Film Noir and a project that needs your help, called NOIR. Click this link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/noir--5#/to help support NOIR.


Synopsis of "NOIR"
(Horror/Thriller)
Written by Gregory J. Bradley
Edited by Thessa M'loe

When Private Investigator, Max Specter, is hired by Lilly Thorpe to find her missing father, Jack Thorpe, a screenwriter responsible for creating B-monster movies, he soon discovers the writer's enemies are ending up dead. These enemies killed in the same way described in the writer's scripts, which eventually leads our hero deep into the macabre, supernatural underworld of the occult. Who does Max trust in this dark, seedy world especially when he starts to fall for Lilly? But every time he gets closer to her and the case, more people wind up dead and his soul seems to be more and more compromised,

WHY MAKE A NOIR FILM?
Well it's simple really, because one of my favorite movie genres is Film Noir. I have always loved movies, and who doesn't! Every movie has a story, and every story taps into a different part of the emotional spectrum of the human condition. How they can move people and bring them together in a dark space to share something as simple as watching a shared experience. This was much like the first time I saw a Noir movie, except there was something special about these films that had me hooked immediately! The images always pop!! There was something about it being shot in black -and-white that made it feel timeless and classy, like I was looking into another universe. I was amazed by the incredible use of shadows and lighting as well. Cinematographers had to be very creative back in those days of the 30's and early 40's. Using very inventive camera angles to give an interesting perspective on the world they were showing. 

A lot of Noir films back in the 40’s were considered B-movies to be shipped out to theaters with the A-movies for double features.  For every "Gone With The Wind" or "The Wizard Of Oz," a movie theater would get "Kiss Me Deadly" or "Out of The Past."  These B-movies were given half the budget with B list movie actors (most of them character actors).  How did these producers manage to compete?  They would have very titillating, salacious stories from pulp novels that involved sex, violence, and greed.  The protagonists of these stories were usually doomed from the get-go.  It wasn’t unusual in these dark, disturbing tales to begin with the lead hero either dead or dying as he narrates the story on how he got into this certain situation.  It was usually a woman, a dame.  These stories were cautionary tales letting us know that people aren't always who they seem and to trust your instincts.  But if you go against them, there were consequences, usually ending up in death.  A Noir world is usually full of darkness, smoke, and rain to add to the tapestry of the world in which a down on his luck private detective or gum shoe would be seduced by a dangerous woman. 

When I further investigated these Noir films I found there were so many classics!  It really is hard to choose between "Maltese Falcon" and "Sunset Boulevard."  Last year, TMC did a whole summer of noir films called "Summer of Darkness."  To continue my research, I watched as many movies as I possibly could. A lot of these movies were missing for years and I had never seen them before.  One of the best ones I've ever seen was "The Window" made in 1949 about a boy who witnessed a murder from the fire scape of his neighbors window.  He tries desperately to convince his parents that what he saw was real.  And the actor who played the little boy was incredible. 

It was a great little gem that made money once the movie was released and this was before Hitchcock's "Rear Window."  It saddens me that a lot of people don't know these films and what Film Noir is.  This is mostly a younger generation, “Millennials,” as they are called don't even like looking at black-and-white movies.  A lot of them don't even look at movies past a certain date.  As if they somehow have an expiration date like bad milk.  Even some filmmakers have mentioned to me they’ve never seen a black-and-white movie.


I believe these black-and-white classic Noir movies really do matter.  They were my teacher and inspiration for becoming a writer/director.  They can teach us all so many things if we just let them in and allow them to do their magic on us.  I believe a great film doesn't have an expiration date.  A classic will always will be a classic no matter what year it is made.  There are so many great B movies created with little to no money that told amazing stories with fantastic acting.  Character actors back then were the stars in Noir films. 

Bogart was known for playing gangster films in the 30’s.  But when he played Sam Spade in the 40’s, he truly came into his own and became the movie star we know today.   If our film “Noir” does nothing else but shine some light on the old, classic Noir films and the talented people who made them, then that alone will make it worth making.  If our film can make people, young and old, who would normally not see a Noir film go rent one, then I have done my job for I feel they would be entertained and inspired just as I was when I was exposed to this whole other universe called Noir.

 

Learn more about NOIR and help support the making of our film.

Click this link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/noir--5#/

(A list of classics that inspired NOIR)

The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari (1920)
Nosferatu (1922)
Metropolis (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
M (1931)
The Vampire Bat (1934) 
Hound Of Backersville’s (1935) 
Mark Of The Vampire (1935) 
Dracula’s Daughter (1936) 
Son Of Frankenstein (1939) 
Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (1939) 
Stranger On The Third Floor (1940) 
High Sierra (1941)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Wolfman (1941)
Maltese Falcon (1941)
Johnny Eager (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
Cat People (1942)
Ministry Of Fear (1944)
Double Indemnity (1948)
I Walk With A Zombie (1943)
Shadow Of A Doubt (1943)
Laura (1944)
The Lodger (1944)
Detour (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Gilda (1946)
The Killers (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Strange Loves Martha Ivers (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Out Of The Past (1947)
Dark Passage (1947)
Lady From Shanghai (1947)
Brute Force (1947)
Nightmare alley (1947)
T-Men (1947)
Key Largo (1948)
They Live By Night (1948)
Abbott And Castello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The Big Clock (1948)
Criss Cross (1949)
The Window (1949)
Side Street (1949)
The Third Man (1949)
Armed Car Robbery (1950)
DOA (1950)
Gun Crazy (1950)
Narrow Margin (1952)
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
Macao (1952)
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Woman On The Run (1950)
Strangers On A Train (1951)
The Big Heat (1953)
The Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)
While The City Sleeps (1954)
The Harder They Fall (1955)
The Big Combo (1955)
Night Of The Hunter (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
Horror Of Dracula (1958)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
Psycho (1960)
Marlow (1969)
Night Of The Living Dead (1969)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Chinatown (1974)
Dressed To Kill (1980)
The Shining (1980)
American Werewolf In London (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
Angel Heart (1987)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Seven (1995)
Heat (1995)
Ed Wood (1995)
LA confidential (1997)
The Devil’s Advocate (1997)
Dark City (1998)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Sin City (2005)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)From Hell (2007)
The Dark Knight (2008)


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