Higher National Certificate Creative Media Production – Analysis of Technical and Visual signification used within Sin City – Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.
Within this essay I will critically analyse techniques and methods used within Sin City such as lighting, costume, make up, cinematography, use of props and how they create meanings through visual motifs and signs. I will address how meaning is created in Sin City and how interpretations of meaning can be articulated through the application of those techniques and methods. I will analyse how various theories and models create meaning and evaluate these effects on the audience. Through my evaluation I will be investigating how Sin City was perceived by audiences as well as my own understanding of Sin City’s visual and technical signification.
Sin City is a crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It is defined as being within the neo-noir genre inspired by the novel’s created by Frank Miller. Outlining the influences for the visual style used within Sin City is linked with the comic strip look which is evident through colour processing and hyper-realistic black and white visuals; this is outlined by Miller (2005) in which he states “comics and films have been doing an interesting project together in recent years. The relation between the two visual forms shares a lot of dynamics and this was the inspiration for creating the film noir comic style.”(Page 12) The reasoning behind using the colour processing was the speed and efficiency with which the changes could be viewed as opposed to traditional photochemical processes which are a much longer complex process in production.
The use of contrasting helped to achieve the comic look within the film and also the importance of the selective colouring effect within in Sin City helps to add dramatic effect to the extreme violence and massacres, for example the scene in which Marv escapes Goldie’s flat he is forced to attack several police officers and escape, the use of extreme white light amplifies the anger and determination of Marv, as supported by Keefe Boehner (2005) who cites the influences for Sin City’s look and the intended message “The footage was taken by digital artists to make the film look like pictures from a novel with silhouettes and high contrast, the straight black and white look with no greys which achieved more photorealism and this is evident with Marv’s character as he seeks to avenge Goldie’s death with the occasional flashes of colour amidst a dark setting.” (Page 24) The desired effect as stated by Keefe Boehner is to create a tense experience for the audience, in particular the stark silhouette flashes and unusual tone.
The ability to tweak the lighting and create live action with a digitalized backdrop helped to create an immersive experience for the audience, as supported by Chris Olivia (2005) “Integrating the actors with Computer Generated backgrounds was designed with a balance of looking at the picture compositionally to ensure the film was not too black or white and the live action was embedded realistically in the shot.” (Page 20)The benefits of using a desaturated coloured look with black and white was the negative and positive images used, the beginning sequence of the film where the salesman and the customer are standing on the rooftop makes use of selective colouring whereby the eyes and lips are in colour against the black and white background, this effect breathes life into the characters and the vivid colouring of the lips and fingernails draw the viewers’ attention immediately.
The beginning segment of Sin city is titled ‘The customer is always right part 1’ and the use of pulp noir visuals help to establish the setting of Sin City immediately with the visuals rendering a stunning environment as reinforced by Chris Olivia (2005) who comments on the process and vision of Sin city, “The artist were a creative spark for Robert to help conceptualize his ideas. We mapped out the blueprint of the film with drawings and 3D animatics and throughout post production we continued to install new ideas” (Page 20)The decision to not produce the film in complete black and white but leave some parts in colour was a decision that would benefit the visual signification of Sin City, the monochrome palette of the film blends with various features of characters who have stylized coloured features, for example Manute’s golden eye instantly grabs the viewer’s attention and amplifies the darkness of the surrounding visuals.
Rodney Brunet expressed the pressures when faced with creating the neo-noir visuals, the importance of staying true to Miller’s original comic’s was also important as supported by Brunet (2005) “The challenge was to ensure the visuals worked in a 3D environment, the contrast of black and white and the art of filming moving imagery had to be carefully constructed to ensure that the visuals represented by Frank Miller in the series of Comics were achieved.” (Page 24) The decision to use digital image processing and then restore certain images to colour was used to modernize certain features of characters and to provide a special effect to the overall imagery, for example the scene in which Becky is walking down the street the striking intense light of the car is juxtaposed with the rich black visuals of Becky’s costume and light stricken setting.
The highly stylized visual aesthetic of Sin City was outlined in the opening sequence of the film with the use of colourization on the customer’s red lips and red fingernails combined with her red dress which creates a red colour palette driven with the themes of lust, desire and danger. The importance of colourization within the striking opening sequence is key to establishing the setting and engaging the viewer as explained by Keefe Boehner (2005) “The world of silvery shadows and expressionist cinematography creates a feeling of post war noir and the use of colourization creates a heightened realism with the red imagery juxtaposed with the dark setting of Sin City.” (Page 25) Further elaborating on the use and importance of colour is The segment of the film titled ‘The Big Fat Kill’ which depicts a scene in which the violence would usually be graphic and disturbing, however the scenes with Jackie Boy and his gang portrays his death in a comical sense. The notion of a person being stabbed or beheaded would usually be sinister and harrowing but the fact that the blood is not red makes the scene more viewable, the film is in black and white and the highly stylized white glow of the blood allows more extreme violence to be shown within Sin City.
Importantly the use of music was fundamental in creating suspense for the audience particularly in ‘the customer is always right part 1’ as expressed by John Ford (2010) who outlines the use of soundtrack within the opening of Sin city, “the rough saxophone and sorrowful trumpet maintains a soundscape that compliments the visuals and takes the viewer into Sin City.” (Page 21) Fords quote is reinforced by The blend of splashes of colour as the Customer and Salesman share a kiss which heightens the emotion and the shock of the customer being shot by the salesman is amplified by the driving bass line of the score, Fords message is also supported in the scene in which Marv meets Lucille and learns of Goldie’s killer, the scene goes from being serene to highly emotional, the undercurrent of the story being that Marv accepts Goldie is the only woman who has ever truly loved him and his acceptance that she is gone.
The opening segment of Sin City makes use of diegetic sounds and dialogue incorporated with a soundtrack from Robert Rodriguez called ‘Sin City’, the second segment of the film is ‘That yellow bastard part 1’ which instantly establishes the setting with a reverse zoom shot. The use of sound is integral within the film and the benefits of having multiple composers helped to establish various different styles of sound, this is supported by Miller (2005) who states “each composer Robert Rodriguez, Graeme Revell and John Debney bring a different style, the use of saxophone from Robert and trumpet from Revell and Debney creates a unique musical journey.” (Page 14) Elaborating on this the bracing drive and at times gloomy saxophone evoke the feeling of unease for the audience in particular when John Hartigan enters the warehouse to rescue Nancy, Hartigan is fighting off his heart pains and to amplify the danger of his character the score drives the emotional tone of the scene.
That yellow bastard also focuses on the use of sound to create mystery, in particular with the battle between John Hartigan and Junior Roark in which junior shoots Hartigan in the shoulder and Hartigan shoots Junior’s ear, as a viewer we are unsure of which character will survive and the imagery and visual effects are important in creating realism within this scene, as supported by John Ford (2005) “the use of the Sony HDC HD camera and the use of green screen helped to open up a large amount of possibilities for the production team, we tweaked the lighting and added brooding atmospheric music to enhance the audiences experience.”(Page 21) The poorly lit locations and dark skylines within the film are a result of Ford’s visual style, the splashes of colour embellish characters and create an original comic look, for example the glow of the blood when Hartigan is shot in the back in the opening section is more effective than simply using red blood, the use of white glowing blood creates an eerie tense atmosphere for the viewer as we sympathize with Hartigan and feel emotional as he has sacrificed his life for Nancy.
The use of colourization is a visual motif which is prominent throughout all 5 acts of Sin City and was implemented to add definition to individual characters and objects, the combination of the highly stylized colour and musical rhythms helped to create a driving tension throughout the film as expressed by Rodney Brunet (2005) the visual effects artist who explains the reasoning behind the colourization and choice of music, “ the electro rhythms and use of crescendo within the soundtrack evokes emotion from the viewer and creates a disturbing sense of unease.” (Page 22) Brunet’s quote is supported by the scene of Dwight’s red car and red converse shoes highlighting the themes of danger and aggression, Kevin’s white glasses created the feeling of mystery and religion, Becky’s blue eyes symbolized innocence but her red blood symbolized the loss of a pure spirited person and the colour palette of yellow for the yellow bastard was to evoke mystery but also to ensure the character stood out amongst the dark backdrop.
The sequence of ‘That Yellow Bastard Part 1’ faced the complexity of filming and whether to be filmed using Computer Generated imagery or not as noted by Keefe Boehner (2005) who explains the decision making behind the production, “The challenge we were faced with was presenting the ‘glowing blood, initially we thought of animating the blood but then we agreed this would be costly so we used fluorescent paints and black lighting.”(Page 25) An example of the significant effect of production choice as noted by Boehner is in the ‘Hard Goodbye’ as Marv goes to old town to track down Goldie’s killer, as Marv kills Kevin the striking visuals of Kevin’s blood as he has his legs severed is harrowing and disturbing but also helps the audience understand the psychotic and strangely calm character that is Kevin and the remorseless Marv who is pleased to have avenged Goldie.
The use of cinematography and visual evolution of Sin City is also an important tool to engage the audience, the use of the High Definition cameras and green screen helps the setting to be more photorealistic, as described by Keefe Boehner(2010), “the use of medium close up camera shots of Bob and John Hartigan establishes setting and creates a dramatic effect, combined with the sombre music of ‘one hour to go’ and the internal diegetic device use throughout all ‘that yellow bastard part 1” (Page 46) This is further outlined with John Hartigan as the use of internal diegetic helps the audience understand John’s emotion and his suffering due to his bad heart condition. The usage of extreme close up shots and medium shots focuses on the characters movements and every emotion and amplifies John’s worry as he searches for Nancy. Boehner statement is evident in the scene between Hartigan attacking low life criminals and internal diegetic of his thoughts help to give the viewer more of an insight into why he wants to display violence and aggression, the combination of low angle shots and tracking shots creates tension and suspense.
Other themes present within Sin City are religion, death and the human condition and its struggle to live a life of purity and morality, in particular Marv who although is determined to seek revenge for Goldie’s killer, explains that he does not attack innocent people and people who do not warrant their punishment, this is supported by Robert Rodriguez (2005)who outlines the use of cinematography and the meaning that is established, “the use of the crane shot when showing Goldie’s death was implemented to reinforce the red colour palette of the sequence, Marv internal diegetic of him explaining his moral compass is juxtaposed with his anger to find Goldie’s killer”(Page 25) The theme that runs through Sin City is redemption and revenge and this is supported by Rodriguez quote, Marv’s character is finally brought to an end with a savage punishment of going in the electric chair which is a brutal and harrowing treatment of Marv, this is due to Marv’s desire to destroy anyone who stopped him from avenging Goldie and he paid the until punishment of death, a punishment we he accepted virtuously as he does not show emotion but simply accepts that death is the price he is willing to pay if it meant Kevin was stopped, this is equally the case with John Hartigan who is prepared to accept death as long as Nancy as safe, the recurrent theme within Sin City is self-sacrifice for the greater good.
The ‘hard goodbye’ features the use of artificial light sources which was constructed with the use of hard lighting and also an important scene in which the location is completely in colour as expressed by Rodriguez (2005), “the use of lighting from cast shadows was an effect that we used in ‘the hard goodbye’, with the film being shot on an artificial background and three of the sets constructed by hand, Kadie’s bar which is a scene that interlinks all the characters and also empathizes the use of natural light and the richly toned visuals with all characters being featured in full colour for the only time in the film.” (Page 25) further strengthening this the construction of the sets allowed for visual effects to be added in in post-production, Kadie’s bar is an iconic scene because it features all the major characters from the three individual chapters and to mark this event the scene is completely in colour, this technique was used to intensify the mood and anxiety of Marv as he inconspicuously seeks to rescue Nancy all the while the on looking Yellow Figure is also looking to kidnap her.
The ‘Big Fat Kill’ focuses on a war between a rival gang of prostitutes and mercenaries, the war begins after the death of Jackie Boy by Miho who is visually stylized with blue and red clothing, the importance is to represent the good and evil of her character, this is clarified by John Ford (2010) outlines the use of setting within ‘Big Fat Kill’ and how the behaviour of figures in space and time is important to understanding characters, “ the scene in which Miho protects the prostitutes and kills Jackie boy and his goons depicts highly stylized visuals, the use of costume is important as a theme that runs throughout Sin City and the use of Blue and Red for Miho is represent her good and bad side.” (Page 55)An important reasoning behind using red and blue costumer is to embody the light, dark and cold and warm aspects of every human being and our inherent nature, the important message within the scene of Jackie’s death is not take risks if they are not calculated, the group of girls who encouraged Miho to kill Jackie did not think of the consequences of his death, the theme which Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller have intended is too highlight human nature and our often instinctive need to react and the deadly price which we must pay if we make these mistakes, this is further outlined with the mysterious Yellow Figure who seeks to kidnap Nancy but does not accept that his death is imminent and is fooled by Hartigan who fakes a heart attack.
The syntactic element is the relationship between the character and the setting, the eerie soundtrack of ‘deadly little Miho’ by Debney and the Jackie Boy’s black coat all reinforce the themes of danger and anxiety which is also present in the other story featuring Nancy and John, the themes of the three chapters are interwoven to reinforce the message to the viewer, this is supported by Frank Miller (2005) who states the importance of the music, “ the music is perpetuated and becomes frantic during the death of Jackie boy as the prostitutes become aware that he is a policeman and now war will be waged onto them.”(Page 25) The music magnifies the anxiety for the Hookers as they accept that they will now have to wage war with the Police of Old Town as they killed Jackie Boy. Jackie Boy appears as a womanizer who attempts to pursue Becky in the hope espousing her, however his real persona is that of a police man who wants to clean up the streets and promote moral behaviour. The message from Miller and Rodriguez which I have interpreted is that the hookers judge Jackie Boy without being fully aware of who he was, thus the message is that we must not judge others as we do not know what really goes on their lives or who they really are.
Art direction was an important aspect of Sin City which is outlined by the usage of props and the visual concepts, this is supported by Steve Joyner (2005) “The efficiency of the production from Robert Rodriguez was important in helping me as the prop designer and Nina Proctor as the costume designer to stick the original designs which Frank Miller wanted. We manufactured all the props.” (Page 75) The art of original designs is adhered to within Sin City as the film has a 1950’s vibe but also with a modern twist and focused on the theme of booze, broads and guns. The nature of the stylized vision with the use of weaponry was an important part of the iconography of Sin City.
In addition the significance of props helps to further engross the audience, Steve Joyner (2005) explains his ideologies behind the props, “The level of accuracy was fascinating, as a group we a draw concepts and craft their exact detail and bring them to life. The creation of the props was very intricate and a large level of detail was implemented, the level of research was very in depth.” (Page 75) This is supported by the detail for Miho’s sword which was inspired by the use of swords in kill bill, with Quentin Tarantino being on board with Sin City he lent the swords.
The use of props is an important embellishment for developing the characters and their styles, in addition to Steve Joyner, Devin Aoki (2005) discusses the various styles of weapon which she uses and the symbolism of these weapons, “Miho has various props, she has a belt with two swords and throwing stars. The property department set up a bank of four Roland CNC cutters during production to create different models and styles for the props.” (Page 85) Within the context of Miho as a character she is a deadly assassin who relies on weaponry as a saviour, as a martial arts expert Miho required the right costume design and accessories such as weaponry that was attached to the costume to portray her as a deadly warrior, the usage of the Red and Blue costumer also outlines the different sides of her personality, one side which is cool and composed the other side however is rash and this is supported by her foolish decision to kill Jackie Boy.
In summary I have explored the technical signification and cinematic devices used in Sin City with relation to the context of the film noir genre and also have elaborated with my own response to the stylized environment and colour palette which reinforces the noir visualization of the crime genre.
Bibliography
Miller, F - 2005 - 1ST Edition - The making of Sin City - Troublemaker publishing’s.
Miller, F - 2010 - Sin City volume 6 Booze, Broads and Bullets - 3rd edition - dark horse publishing’s.
Miller, F - 2010 - Sin City volume 7 - 3rd edition - Dark horse publishing’s.
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