Cinematic Techniques In The Big Sleep

The bookshop scene from ‘The Big Sleep’, while devoid of extremely noticeable stylistic noir elements, such as harsh shadows and Dutch camera angles by looking at the mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound elements of noir are revealed. From the beginning of the scene the audience see’s Marlowe walking towards a book store. The cinematography uses elements of deep focus as everything in this wide frame is clearly focused even as Marlowe approaches the bookstore. Looking at the mise-en-scene in this frame the audience can see a very real setting, an urban one. A bustling street with a dense population. This conveys realism as it feels like a real setting, something which was more shown in more post war Noir films. The sound of rain is heard later and towards the end of the scene …show more content…
The cinematography again uses deep focus as Marlowe and the Book shop Proprietress are in focus as are all the people outside and the car pulling up. This is very much in line with post war Noir films as the dark rainy nights convey and supplement the mysterious setting and narrative of the film.

The opening scene of The Big Sleep sets the film up immediately as film Noir. The sense of mystery is created very early on. As an audience we are not sure who Marlowe is but from the medium tracking shot and the mise-en-scene the audience can guess Marlowe is some sort of investigator or detective from what he is wearing and because the archetype is common place in film noir. During the beginning of the scene ‘Carmen Sternwood’ is seen coming down the stairs. The wide framing showing her whole