Individual Suggestions
I was looking up various ideas for the music to accompany our Film/Neo film, and I came across Jo Stafford's 'My Romance' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXoXFkmy2k). She was born in 1917, and so spans across the eras. Her style is very classical and delicate, and could be used as a passionately strong statement - contrapuntal. This would be very interesting with a death scene/murder report as it reflects a warm heartfelt reaction to the audience as opposed to an obscure and negative connotation that traditional Film Noir's spark. The Neo-Noir genre is very flexible and adaptable in terms of music and sounds.
I specifically found that in Neo-Noir's such as Drive has a very synth type 80's feel to it. This worked well as it created a very intimate and emotional burst of sound especially within the song Nightcall - Kavinsky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV_3Dpw-BRY). Ironically, this song features in the opening of the film, and Ryan Gosling (Loner) makes a Nightcall to an unnamed person.
Within our Film/Neo-Noir, I personally think that we should incorporate various acoustic (guitar) or classical (piano) tracks, recorded with and performed by our friends with Music experience. I think, as in L.A. Confidential, there is a happy medium between original swing, jazz songs, and more upbeat tempo songs. I think we should aim to incorporate these within our Neo-Noir as they would create a flurry of emotions within the viewer. 'My Romance' by Jo Stafford is a beautifully classic creation of which we could either try recreate or use, with regards to the copyright. Alternatively we could use sections of the song, and not the full track at specific pivotal points within the plot.
Another song I had previously heard in a tv show was a quieter, more powerful and emotive/effective song which could be used in a slow motion section, or one where the Anti-hero has a moment of understanding/realisation. The song is called 'Twice' by Little Dragon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1OuofrhKAU). It is very emotive and delicate in it's delivery which also could reflect well on the Femme Fatale. The soft piano tones could be used to create an enigma surrounding the Femme Fatale who is expected to be dangerous, which could be disorientating.
A song by Wiley Ft. Ed Sheeran - 'You' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pluQZjVJ3cc), has an interesting introduction with a harsh riff from an acoustic guitar. The tones are sharp and attention is drawn to the piece, and could be good for both opening and ending credits as they don't have a specific direction and tone within the piece. It has a slight disjointed feeling to it implying something negative will happen, which, within the Noir genre, is an inevitable occurance.
I heard this song 'Outro' by M83, and the emotional effect it had on me was amazing. It was very emotive and effective and was a beautiful introduction, with no words, relying on the light and easy tones, it had a simple tune, very calming and interesting to work with. The beginning of the song is not only simple, but it's very synthy and adaptable and calming - could be good for opening or ending credits.
Group Suggestions
As a group, during a lesson, me, Emma, Georgia and Akshay decided to have a run through of various songs and music that we could use. Georgia had the idea of the song 'Sirens' by Dizzee Rascal to accompany the opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBJJ11fNkD4). We all discussed this and agreed that some of the lyrics as well the 'Siren' noises would match the classic 'Police' undertone within Film Noirs.
"Better run when you hear the sirens coming" - This implies something negative i.e. murder, crime, burglary etc has occured in order for the police to be involved. This also implies of a chase, and when related to a Film Noir, could take place in a dark isolated alley/street.
"Gotta rise up, gotta stand up tall" - This implies of a revolution which is ideal as within our plot, the ultimate ending is that the female character causes a revolt and breaks from the feminist, 'male gaze' views. The pace of this song could also be ideal as in the beginning we planned to have a flashback with a worrying overtone and a chase/crime.
One of the pivotal sections within this song that was easily related to our plot is; "So we followed [him] through this little alleyway into the flats, and we thought the time was perfect, so we crept up and we attack". This basically described the opening of our short Film as in the beginning we wanted to have a group of three hoodies following a woman down a dark alley. This phrase from the song reflected well the impression we wanted as the initial reaction to the short film.
We also noted as a group that we didn't want songs which were too well known as this would detract from our opening, and so by using samples/backing tracks or making our own versions, this may have a better effect on the audience, creating an enigma about the film.
Alternatively, Georgia suggested 'Watchtower' by Devlin and Ed Sheeran (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8NdK2WlDT4). Emma noted that the use of the strumming frets on Sheeran's acoustic guitar created a deeper tone and more realistic pace. We wanted to surround our film in a confusion as to what was going to happen, and didn't want to turn it into a Crime/Gang film which misses out of the Film Noir theme. Although we wanted to incorporate the crime and gang culture within our film, we didn't want it to be the main steer of the film.
In the end, we decided as a group to go for more instrumental pieces to fill the gaps, and to fit with the Noir convention of having a minor key piano score. For the final song we did incorporate 'Watchtower' as was suggested previously. A song that I liked and suggested as well was the instrumental section of Kavinsky's Nightcall of which was very 80's styled and featured in the Neo-Noir 'Drive'. This gives the audience an indicator of what the specific genre is.
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