Film opening analysis (Double Indemnity 1944)

 Double indemnity is a classic film noir thriller made in 1944 by Billy Wildner and staring Fred MacMurray as a keen insurance sales man (Walter Neff) who foolishly falls for the seductive charms of one of his client's wife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) after he stopped by the clients home for a routine renewal inquiry. Phyllis first approached Neff she with an inquiry about purchasing life insurance for her husband without his knowledge, this aroused Neff's suspicion but her bewitchery was too strong for Neff to resist and he ends up helping her craft and execute what they thought was the perfect murder in order to claim the life insurance money for themselves. But the plot began to disintegrate when Neff's best friend Keyes began to suspect Phyllis. Also Phyllis's step daughter begins to over analyse the situation and she eventually becomes convinced that Phyllis murdered her father with the help of another man. Initially Neff their plan went off well but then Neff soon came to his senses and realized that he had been played and decided to do something about the situation.





Even before we start seeing actually pictures we are greeted with the sound, a loud and bold sound track which makes us feel like something serious and intense has just occurred. The sound captures the attention of the audience and draws up in. One may argue that the loud steady stream of sound resembles the loud trumpet noise that goes off just before an important announcement. Others may argue that the sound is somewhat heroic like something from a bond or Marvell film which could signify bravery. The sound goes on throughout the entire title sequence which build up the excitement and suspense. The sound track speeds up to keep up with the fast pace of the  cars in the opening scene and serves as a good compliment to the on screen activities.  There is ambient noise in the diegetic soundtrack when the car drives through traffic. After the main character gets out the car he knocks on the door firmly and quickly which shows he was in a hurry. The main character is then greeted by a man who's voice sounds warm and welcoming and keen to start a conversation but the main character whom we are tracking answers back with short answers. After the main character gets to the office he pics up the phone and makes a call to the police, He sounds regretful and exhausted but he wasn't holding back which gives the impression he had been thinking about what to say for a long time before finally gaining the courage to pick up the phone. At this point the back ground music completely fades out and we can only hear the voice of the main character. This helps draw more attention to what he was saying and the message he had to give.

In the title sequence the camera s stationary and there is a take of dark shadow on crutches steadily walking forward towards the stationary camera. At first the the take on the hidden figure walking towards the camera is a long shot but then the camera shot gradually becomes a close up and an extreme up. The camera swiftly fades in to a shot of a car swerving a traffic light and narrowly missing another car. This gives as a sense of Danger. The car eventually pulls up and a mysterious man calmly walks out the car with his face hidden in the darkness of the night. The camera then moves to a tracking shot, which allows us the audience to follow the character he makes his way to the door and then up the lift. We then see an over view of the inside of the building before the camera returns to tracking the movement of the main character as he makes his way to his office. The camera angle then changes to an over head view of the character smoking in his office then moves to a close up of his face when he picks up the phone to call the police. At the end of the scene the camera fades out.

Like all classic film noir films the lighting is very low key ( which is also known as Chiaroscuro in the art world). This style helps emphasise shadow and harsh lighting creating a sense of depth and volume. This also helps to overcome a bland flatness of black and white photography. The first scene was shot at night time and the low key lights helps draw attention to relevant things on the screen whilst hiding the face of the main character this makes him appear more mysterious. The shadows watching over the character becomes more dominate when he got to his office and sat at his desk. This was done by using a strong key light and a side fill light. One may assume that the soft lighting technique was used due to the wide spread and lack of precise definition in the shadows casted by the the character in the scene and the objects around him.

The opening features some of the classic mise en scene features of thriller/ film noir film. The opening titles are presented in a white on black style. At the point where the two main cars almost crashed we can see a traffic light with the sign ''stop'' on it. The hat the character is wearing conveniently covers his face which masks his emotions. The blinds in his office are all closed which shows how isolated he is from the rest of the world sitting in his office all alone.