JP: Conventions of a Film Opening
Brick (Johnson, 2005)
What Generic Conventions are in this Clip? How does this opening use the conventions of teen noir?

• A handicam panning shot is the first thing used, at a very low angle, very close up so it is unclear what exactly is being filmed. It is then revealed when a pair of shoes come into the picture, with the legs above in an odd position, creating enigma as it is an unnatural position for the legs to be in and it makes the audience wonder why they are like that.
• The music is very slow and rhythmic, it sounds like glasses being blown and there is a slow guitar in the background, creating a strange music with an old feel about it, quite similar to the music used in old film noir, so it is creating a convention of a noir film straight away with the music.
• The shoes focused on create a visual link of the protagonist, which is shown when the shoes are focused on again after the very first scene to show him at school, conveying him to be an average guy, conventional of noir films as the main male character is often portrayed as being just a normal man.
• Dismemberment is used when the camera only uses extreme close ups on his eyes and his shoes, creating another enigma as to what he is feeling. Enigmas are extremely conventional of film noir, as the audience are expected to be drawn into the film by all of the puzzles and questions left unanswered.
• Further enigma is created when an establishing shot shows that the protagonist is crouching near the dead body of a young girl, as it leads the audience to wonder why she is dead and why he is there with her. Murder is a common ingredient in film noir.
• The location of the dark tunnel provides some connotations of the fear of obscurity and the unknown, and the dirtiness of the location juxtaposes with the young girl's blonde hair and white dress. 
• The fact that the opening scene is clearly somewhere near the end of the film is very conventional of film noir.

When on the phone, the characters talk very nervously and the girl mentions a "brick" which clearly has some involvement with criminals. Phone booths and crime-related storylines are very common elements on film noir.

The character above is introduced to the film as a femme fatale, one of the main and most recognisable features of film noir. The dim lighting around her makes her seem like a dark character, and she is meant to lure in the protagonist and then betray him.

The film is presented as teen noir, a modern kind of film noir intended to attract audiences that are young as well as older and more experienced. The school area and the ages of the characters reinforce this idea.

Film noir is a method of making films in a menacing and intriguing way, that was mostly popular in the 1950's and 60's, and common conventions of film noir include dim lighting, femmes fatales and story lines based around crime and mystery.