Darker Than Night

To whom this may concern –
It is to my understanding that you are looking to release some noir films. I have a pitch for you! It’s a lovely film. I think it fits classic noir perfectly. Here it is:
Jamie is a young, attractive, single woman. She works as an Executive Recruiter for a job agency in New York. Dylan is a young, attractive, single man who works as an art director for an internet company in California. Jamie’s boss asks her to recruit Dylan. She wins him over; they are now coworkers. The two build a friendship as they explore the city and bond over lunch dates, movie dates, and work encounters. One night, as they share a couch and watch a movie while drinking wine, they come to a conclusion in which they both agree: they are going to enhance their friendship by adding sexual benefits. The only rule: no emotional attachments or commitment, just sex. They begin that night, and continue for several nights following, until Jamie decides she wants to start dating.
Her and Dylan continue on with their friendship without these sexual benefits as she begins to date a man named Parker. Jamie creates a “fifth date” rule where she refuses to have sex with Parker until after their fifth date. Knowing this, Parker waits until the fifth date, they have sex, and when the morning comes, he sneaks out. This is the end of their relationship.
To her rescue, Dylan, who has remained her friend through it all, flies her out to California with him for a weekend where she meets his father and sister – Annie. During their stay, Dylan sneaks into the guest bedroom where Jamie sleeps, looking to restart the friends with benefits relationship. She denies, but they still stay up all night talking, laughing, and hanging out. Soon enough, as they sit on the bed together, winding down for the night. Jamie leans in and they share a passionate kiss which leads to passionate sex; this night was unlike any other night they’d shared.
Annie saw Dylan as he snuck out of the room in the middle of the night, but she didn’t mention that to him until the next day. Not knowing Jamie was in the room (because she was hidden), Dylan explains to his sister that he does not have any feelings for Jamie. Jamie heard. This broke her heart. She gave the family the “I got called into work” excuse, flew back to New York a day early, and avoided Dylan at all costs. Once he finally gets ahold of her in person, she informs him that she heard what he said and that she has no interest in continuing their friendship.
Annie informs Dylan that his father is flying into New York to stay with him, so he needs to be picked up. They meet at the airport and converse over a meal. Dylan’s father sees a woman who he recognizes as a woman from his past – Deedee. However, due to his Alzheimer’s disease, the woman was just a random stranger walking in the airport. Dylan asks his father who Deedee is. His father shares that she was a woman he met in the Navy. He was in love with her and wanted to be with her but was too prideful to tell her. He explained to Dylan that this was one of his biggest regrets – not telling the love of his life that she meant a lot to him. This sparked a lightbulb in Dylan, causing him to set up a romantic scene (a flash mob) at Grand Central Station where he will surprise Jamie. Jamie’s mom calls her and tells her she needs to be picked up. Upon arrival, Jamie and Dylan lock eyes as the flash mob begins their routine to a song that was obviously relevant to their situation. They kiss and go on their first official date. The movie ends with them kissing passionately and beginning their relationship.
Okay. So, after I wrote this out and reread it a million times, I did some research on what classic noir is and I just realized this film would not classify as such. I read this chapter written by Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton called Towards a Definition of Film Noir. It explains what classic noir is and it is nowhere near what I just pitched to you. I’ve learned that though there is no actual definition of what film noir is, there is a particular type of feeling it gives, along with reoccurring factors that contribute to this one genre. It has a lot of violence, is full of corruption, and filled with different themes, elements, and narratives that work together to tell a story and get a message across. The authors explain it as “black … specifically for the Western and American moviegoers of the 1950s,” (19). Since these films took place in the 50s, the authors also explain that these stories are told “from the point of view of the criminals,” (20) with the aim of film noir being “to create a specific alienation,” (25).
Unfortunately, it was after reading this chapter that I also realized you are looking for neo-noir, not classic noir. I did some research on this genre as well. Let me transform the romantic comedy that I previously pitched, into a neo-noir film that you will easily profit from. Here it is, (seriously this time and in a much more condensed version since you have all the details above):
Jamie and Dylan decide they are going to take their friendship to the next step by adding sexual benefits, but not adding romantic feelings for each other. They spend several nights together, practicing their new relationship, until Dylan decides he wants to start dating. The two of them stop hooking up and Dylan begins dating Hailey, also an art director like Dylan. They met through work, so the three of them all know each other. Jamie is aware that they are dating and respects their relationship, keeping Dylan a true friend. However, Hailey does not like them being friends and decides to murder her sister. Crushed, this brings Jamie even closer to Dylan in hopes to find comfort in him. Dylan is angry; he is on a mission to find her murderer. Dylan’s stress and anger has led him to begin smoking with Hailey. Jamie hates his new habit, and Hailey continues to provide him more cigarettes to anger Jamie.
Hailey dark and cold but comes off as feminine and gentle. She is known for wearing her bright, red lipstick. The same lipstick she wore when she first met Dylan. The same lipstick she wore when she murdered Jamie’s sister. The same lipstick she leaves on every cigarette. Dylan has a flashback to when he met Jamie after she called him crying as she held her dead sister in her arms. We see the three people – Dylan, Jamie, and her sister – on the floor in a pool of blood. The flashback shows Dylan seeing a red lipstick stained cigarette in a little corner on the ground. In the flashback, we hear him say “Hailey.” We come out of the flashback and realize that he knows Hailey killed his sister. He begins to go crazy and starts to plot his revenge without anyone knowing. He becomes paranoid every time he’s around Jamie because he doesn’t want her to find out that he wants to kill Hailey.
After acting normal with Hailey, they wind up in a hotel room that she bought for them. Jamie is in the same hotel, just a different room. They are on a vacation together, trying to help Jamie cope. Later that night, with the lights down low, the couple begins to talk. All lights are off in the hotel leaving the room pitch black with the exception of two candles behind Hailey. With Dylan facing her, we can see his entire face. With her back to the candles, we can’t see any of her facial features, creating a mysterious feeling, implying that her hidden identity relates to her hidden secrets. Dylan confronts her and explains that he knows she killed Jamie’s sister. She cries and argues that this isn’t true. They go back and forth while she still tires to act innocent and confused. He explains to her exactly how she did it and she goes completely straight faced. He tells her he was planning on killing her, and he will if he ever sees her again after that, but he’s letting her walk away as long as he never sees her again. Before exiting the room, she says, “That’s fine, you’ll never have to see me again. But how should I explain this one to your child when they are born?” She exits, and Dylan sits there in silence. Hailey has won.
Hopefully this was better! I mean, it definitely fits neo-noir. I made sure to keep it similar to classic noir as Andrew Dickos said in his chapterComments on the Classic Film Noir and the Neo-Noir: “a new variant of an old look with a new, yet not unfamiliar, feel,” (235). I did so, first, by adding in the violence. That’s very noir if you ask me. I also read that classical films noirs are shown through the criminal’s point of view, but neo-noir is known to “employ unconventional camera movements and plot progression that constantly remind the audiences that they are merely watching the film and are not part of the story,” (Vritika). Dickos also explains that neo-noirs are contemporary, addressing concerns dealing with culture and society, telling stories in order to provoke public excitement. In adding a character that is against the protagonist, which Kim Newman – in American Neo-Noir: The Movie Never Ends– calls the “classic figure like a femme fatale”, I think this in itself provoked public excitement, especially since she “stole Jamie’s lover.” Since classical noirs were made during a time where racism still existed, there was no diversity in these films. In neo-noirs, however, there were more Black and non-European American characters that were seen in positions of power. Dickos writes, “The neo-noir … has become racially variegated and sexually complex,” (Dickos, 240). This is why it would be beneficial to keep the characters diverse and not just white, heterosexual men and women. This is also why I added the sexual tension of the third character, Hailey. Along with this addition of diversity, neo-noir also introduced sexual complexity in their films. I think there is enough sexual complexity in my pitch, all we’d have to do is hire an actor and/or actress that is not White, and they can provide the diversity we need. With Hailey creating the tension and complications into Dylan and Jamie’s sexual life, this will cause a great deal of problems in the film. Along with all of this, I made sure to include at least one narrative strategy (the voice-over/flashback) especially during the murder scene. There will be multiple times where Hailey has quick glimses of the night she murdered Jamie’s sister. These flashbacks will include short voice-overs that help the audience understand what is going on and make questions arise. I also made sure to include this situation in order to create a specific theme, which happens to be chaos, violence, and paranoia here. Lastly, I made sure to change one major element – lighting. To go from regular lighting in the film, to having scenes with noir lighting is a game changer for the movie, especially when giving off that noir feeling.
Though the two genres (noir and neo-noir) seem very similar, their differences shine mostly through the success and profitability of the more recent neo-noirs. In changing this film from a romantic comedy to a neo-noir, it is highly likely that you will get money back after it sells through the roof. Look at it like this – Friends with Benefits,released in July of 2011, as a romantic comedy made $149,542,254 (worldwide) off of its original film that costed a maximum of $35 million to make. These filmmakers have already profited off the original film as is. Now look at a neo-noir film that took around the same amount of money to create. Sin City,released in April of 2005, made $158,753,820 (worldwide) which means it has already received more money for its original film than Friends with Benefitsdid. Obviously, combination of crime, sex, good lighting, mystery, and the rest of the neo-noir content sells! I think this film could get you so much more money than it costs to make the film. You would profit so much. It also provides fun and exciting entertainment for viewers. Let’s do it. What do you think?