The Hit and Run Mystery
[Writer/ Director/ Editor]
'The Hit and Run Mystery' shows the first five minutes of a fictitious crime drama that I was assigned to create. Inspired by the films of Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep) during the 1940's/ 1950's film noir era, and more modern neo- noir films (Sin City, Drive) I decided that I should write and film this so that it could be set in both modern day, and the classic film noir era. I showed this by using technical elements such as non diegetic narration and black and white visuals.
A memorable aspect of film noir is how the setting is depicted through the protagonists eyes. It usually describes the city he is in, as a corrupt, decaying epicenter for criminals to run free and a place where innocence is rare. I was inspired by the film ‘Sin City’ in the description of the environment that they are in, as well as other forms of media such as the songs ‘Jungleland’ and ‘Badlands’ by Bruce Springsteen, in which he gives the audience the sense that he wants to break free of the downbeat city that he’s trapped in. I decided that through these influences I would give the opening scene a non diegetic voice over of the main character describing the city as the “Mean streets we live on, full of blood and corruption.” I decided that a good metaphor to use when addressing midnight gangs would be to to portray them as ‘The Wolves’. This shows that they are people who can’t be tamed and take what they want with no remorse, much like the animals that they are referred to in the lines; “When the night comes up, the wolves come out to play.” Other inspiration for the crime drama came from popular television shows such as 'Gotham' and 'Sherlock'.