An analysis covering how gender is represented within our A2 Media Studie Neo-Noir trailer.

1. By David Marriott

2. § In classic noir, the creation of the character type of the
‘Femme Fatale’ came to fruition.This was the idea that a
woman used her appearance and sexuality to lure a gullible
‘fall guy’ into committing some malicious act.
§ Examples of this include Cora Smith in The Postman Always
Rings Twice who talks Frank Chambers into murdering her
husband Nick Smith. A very similar character can be seen
with Phyllis Dietrichson who convinces Walter Neff to kill her
husband and commit insurance fraud together.
§ The way in which these characters expressed their sexuality
was very limited due to the existence of the Hays Code,
which prohibited explicit content on the screen.
§ Meanwhile, the male characters were seen as foolish who
were easily led along by the female characters and usually
meeting a demise at the end of the film; for example,
Walter’s apparent death before fleeing to Mexico to escape
his crimes.

3. § In Neo-Noir, the Hays Code had been abolished, allowing
the Femme Fatales to become a lot more explicit in their
sexual seduction and relationships on screen.
§ Characters like Mrs Mulwray openly use this to persuade
Jake Gittes towards their own agenda.
§ Meanwhile, the male characters became a lot more world
weary with a cynical viewpoint of the world. However, it
could be argued that they became a lot more intelligent as
well. For example, Brendan in Brick (Johnson, 2005) is
portrayed as a very intelligent young man who uses his wits
to uncover the case on the King Pin.

4. § Put simply, we created the character of Rosette to be a typical Femme Fatale that is
seen within the Neo Noir genre. She uses her sexuality to seduce Mark to get closer
to Hans, who holds information on her organisation.
§ Whereas, the male characters are portrayed in a conventional manner as well.
Mark Rivers is the typical protagonist with his own moral code and a cynical world
view. Like those in classic noir, Mark is lured in by the ‘web’ of Rosette which
inevitably leads to his own demise.
§ Whilst Hans is an important part of the film and trailer, he fits more into the
character type of the messenger- delivering important news to Mark which
ultimately ends in his death.

5. § In our trailer, we used multiple shots to convey Rosette’s
nature as the femme fatale. In the first shot, you can see that
Rosette has finally succeeded in her plan to seduce Mark.
§ Rosette’s costume and red dress/lipstick also conforms to
this typical idea of the sexualised nature of the femme fatale;
with the red being used to act as the signifier for this.
§ Both of these shots can be linked with Laura Mulvey’s idea of
the male gaze which sees female characters as sexual
objects largely based on scopophilia and voyeurism.
§ The dialogue used in the first shot ”he’s dead, you need to
accept that” shows Rosette’s commanding nature over Mark
and her ability to make him believe what she wants.
§ All of these ideas already exist in the repertoire of elements
for the neo-noir genre, showing our trailer conforms to
generic conventions.

6. § Whereas Mark is presented as the world weary protagonist.
We have used multiple shots to show Mark being beaten up
and injured.This is to convey the action sequences within
our film and shows that Mark is the more aggressive
character with his own moral code.
§ There are also shots of Mark within an office environment.
This could be interpreted to show Mark is successful within
his job in the city; a stereotypical idea for men within the
media. Stuart Hall may argue this hegemonic representation
is portrayed within media texts as audiences try to base
what they see on screen with what they understand within
their own lives

7. § All the other characters that appear in our trailer are male.
That was not an entirely deliberate choice, but since the
character of Mrs Stern never made it to the trailer, this
highlights the importance of Rosette to the film.
§ Both Mr Harding and Hans are defined by their jobs,
reinforcing the idea mentioned earlier of men in the city.
This is a common convention in noir, but Szymanski would
argue using his pluralistic approach this is partially based
on reality.This is because the media derives from interaction
among society’s constituent groups; meaning everyone has a
need to consume and create media- meaning the
representations of certain groups are grounded in reality. If
you believe in this theory, then it could be argued that this
representation of men succeeding in the city is somewhat
true.

8. Thus, it could be concluded that our trailer represents gender in a typical way for the
noir genre; with women being defined by their sexuality and men seen as a
vulnerable tool for them to use for their own gain. However, it is important to
consider which theorist you believe when examining representation and everyone
will have their own opinion as to whether the media is pluralistic or hegemonic.
Either way, our trailer serves as an effective tool for contributing to this discussion
using the pre-existing repertoire of elements for the neo-noir genre.