D.O.A is also know as death on arrival , the film is a Film Noir. It was produced in the 1950's and was directed by Rudolph Mate. This film is considered to be the classic of the Film Noir category. The plot is frantic as it follows Frank Bigelow as he tries to find out who poisoned him and why before he dies. I have taken scenes from the film that I am interested in for the lighting qualities.
The film begins with what has been referred to as " one of cinema's most innovative opening sequences" The first scene, set at night begins as a pan down a high building, the artificial light from the windows are the only element which is visible. As we reach the bottom of the pan we see the front façade of a building and the artificial light from the buildings above and the car driving pass. When Bigelow enters the police station we have a simple overlay of two scenes. The two combined together with the top layer being partially opaque allows us to see mainly only the artificial light in both scenes. The corridor scene is a long behind-the-back tracking sequence. The black and white qualities in this scene make it a very easy film to watch as everything is the same tone and we only see the overall shape in the corridor as it is very low level of lighting. At any points when the light seems to increase is normally where the space opens up, which is then distracted by the titles being played on top of the image
Looking closely at the opening scene, we never see Bigelow's face. It is only when he reaches the homicide office that we see who he is. On the approach to the office there is a continuous light flow at the top of the film. Everything is irrelevant, this is shown by the lighting only letting us see the edge of the space and Bigelow as he walks along the corridor.
The low level lighting is used in the approach to the hotel that Bigelow has arrived at, to try and solve his murder. We arrive at this scene by a distant shot of the city, which is only visible because of the lighting in the buildings and then we are shown Bigelow arriving outside the hotel. It seems to be that anything of importance in the film is highlighted by the amount of light in the shot. For example, the car which pulls up and Bigelow gets out of is the part of the scene which is lit well, our focus is only on the action happening.
This next sequence below is the chase through the abandoned factory when Bigelow is chasing he killer. He enters through a door which allows the light in and it feels easy and there is no tension for the scene as light is associated with safety. The door is then shut and the scene darkens, you start to be afraid of what is going to happen next as he chases his killer. As he hides behinds boxes and equipment the darkness increases, it increases the apprehension as we are waiting for trouble to happen. All of a sudden a box is pushed from the upper floor which makes some birds fly away, it is almost like a breathe of fresh air as it relieves some of the tension that the audience feel. Then a chase begins, Bigelow following his killer through the space. The pace of the music is fast and intense and eventually the killer escapes back out of the door, letting light in and indicating that the chase is over and now that the light has re entered into the space, Bigelow's safety is not at risk now. The darker scenes increase apprehension for an event possibly about to happen and make it harder for the viewer to watch what is about to happen.
Approaching of the hotel was a scene that I particularly noticed as the lighting qualities stood out. When looking at the stills taken from this scene, the only noticeable parts are the artificial and the outlines of the buildings. Inside the hotel is when we see well lit scenes but we very rarely see any day light scenes. This is in-keeping with the style of the Film Noirs.
Whilst trying to identify the scenes in D.O.A which are most relevant to my work, I was thinking about an experiment of recording using different methods of travel such as car, train, and bike. The scene shown below is when Bigelow is travelling alongside an enemy in the car. It is a very smooth movement as we travel in front and alongside the car, the views we have is sometimes a far shot of the background and car travelling towards us and then at other times we get close ups of Bigelow and the enemy. The artificial light of the surrounding area is shown as we travel through the space. The way the artificial light is shown, we start to see everything being stripped down so we are left we very little in the scene so it does not become distracting.
Here we arrive back at the office to where the killer is working. The lighting in all of the next scenes are very low as we are leading up to the killer being confronted by Bigelow. We see Bigelow approach the building and the only two lights that can be seen from the exterior is where the killer is. Bigelow approaches and walks through the dark and quite corridors eventually to find the killer leaving the office. The chase begins again as they descend down a staircase which is very dark and the only parts that are lit, are where the characters move to.
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