Filmmaker Resurrects Neo Noir With Action Thriller Web Series

Feb. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- Neo-noir (from the Greek neo, new; and the French noir, black) is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilizes elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.

Simplifying this, there are several elements associated with a neo noir film that are similar to film noir:  A crime or crimes is/are the central element of the film; the crime is typically a crime of passion (anger, revenge, love); the film has a stylized lighting and shooting (cinematography) style; a main character has a skewed sense of perspective about life, love and/or what’s right or wrong. This is why “Resurrection of Serious Rogers” is such a perfect fit to the neo noir niche genre.

While the film follows a thriller format — and to a lessor extent, the action format –  it was conceived, written, shot and directed as a neo noir film. Two new phrases were coined during production. Considering the amount of bloodshed in “Serious Rogers” we have a new sub-genre: “Vicious Noir” — it’s your basic neo noir film with lots of angry killing and bloodshed;  “Metal Noir” — it’s your basic neo noir film underscored by ass-kicking action-oriented heavy metal music (Trent Reznor style).

Internet pundits and information portals like Mashable predict that will be over 10,000 new web series developed, produced and released this year. Like their predecessors, many of these episodic films that are made for the Internet will go unnoticed. Many series will be released under genres so vague it will be difficult to find the series when doing a Google Internet search.

In an already overcrowded video arena, it would seem that choosing to produce a video series of professional quality is a fruitless endeavor. After all, most of the more popular videos on YouTube are made by backyard kids with digital video on their cell phones or portable high definition cameras.Yet, for the independent filmmaker, the Internet is fertile, untamed land ready for the taking. This is why web series have increased by forty percent each year since 2003.

However, there is more to the successful launch of a web series than a launch party and clever tagline. Web series producers must think about promotion and marketing before a frame of the series is ever shot. Most importantly, producers must identify and target their audience for deep penetrating outreach before beginning production.

One way filmmakers target an audience is through genre-filmmaking. That is, by making a film in a genre such as comedy or horror where an audience already clearly exists. The downfall of this process is that once a genre becomes fashionable (and profitable) it is flooded with films, all competing for the same audience. When this is the case the film with the better promotion (i.e. the most money) usually wins. This eventuality is not indicative of a quality film, only deeper pockets.

The other issue with genre filmmaking is that the genres themselves are overused. Often films are clearly mis-labled (and erroneously-promoted) for the sake of fitting into a high profile genre. Then there are sub-genres and genre mashups (action thriller, horror thriller, action adventure, sci-fi fantasy, etc). This creates a conundrum for filmmakers who seek to develop a genre web series that is both promotable and true to the genre.

However, one type of genre series stands above them all in its exclusivity: the neo noir film. Neo Noir films are almost mandated to certain forms of content, context, lighting and character conflict lifted to the
nth degree. If there;s a murder make it more gruesome. If there's a love affair, make it more passionate. If there is violence, make it intolerable. The same goes for all our basic emotions: love, hate, anger, envy -- turn up the volume. As Kevin Taylor mentioned in his 2008 Associated Content article, Raising the Bar in Neo-Noir, "A neo-noir film succeeds by raising the bar..."

Neo Noir films further distance themselves from the growing pack of frat-boy comedy, twentysomething love stories, geek revenge tales and dramas with little conflict through a list of must-haves. Along with a clearly defined conflict between protagonist and antagonist the following elements are crucial to the authenticity of a neo noir film:

Resurrection of Serious Rogers is an upcoming web series that seeks to take advantage of the complexity and seldom tampered-with landscape of the neo noir genre. Conceived from the beginning as a noir film, Serious Rogers seems to take page after page out of the neo noir handbook. Writer, director and producer, Angelo Bell, planned from the start to separate the series from the crowd by avoiding traditional genres. The move is shrewd. The series is taglined as isThe Usual Suspects meets The Professional -- a multi-layered neo noir thriller about an assassin who finds redemption in the eyes of a nanny; a drug addicted FBI agent out for justice, a military hero hungry for revenge and the mystery man who controls their fates.

Kiss Hug Five Films, the producer of Resurrection of Serious Rogers,  is offering an Internet-based(YouTube)  sneak peek of the series on Monday March 1st. Interested parties should visit the website at http://www.angelobell.com/2010/02/sneak-peek/  to register. Viewing is by invitation only.

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KISS HUG FIVE FILMS is an Independent film production and distribution company specializing in commercial and artistic films.