Casino Royal

Casino Royal is a well known and loved James Bond film, starting Daniel Craig. It's the first Bond film to step away from the stereotypical 'villan with fluffy cat', but take a darker turn and go to the conventions of 'Film Noir', which became a popular style of film during the 1940's-1960's however decreased in popularity as its relevance to society became outdated. Film Noir sets a mood/theme, camera work, mise-en-scene ect. James Bond, in its opening first few scenes in Casino Royal sticks closely to the conventions of Film Noir.

Shadowing is a key feature within these scenes which the audience are unable to ignore due to the intensity and effectiveness in creating the mood and feel of the film. The harsh sharp shadows have been created through a single artificial light source. The lack of natural light gives the audience the impression of negative intentions, and in doing so controls their reaction. In this particular scene has light directed just on James Bond's face, and in effect creating a spot light. Bond would be the more important rather than the location or props, so the words spoken or expression he hold would be seen to have more depth and meaning.

Bond was speaking to "  " , the stereotypical male 'gangster'; dressed well in a suit with a long coat to cover him up as much as possible giving the character the enigmatic allure, a successful business man meaning he has money giving him a status of importance, a provider (has a wife and child), and dangerous (keeps a gun). For example in 'This Gun For Hire', Raven is another character whom has many of the same traits as " " in Casino Royal such as the style of clothing and impression given off on screen.  This dark, threatening gang member is a typical Film Noir cliche which James Bond is famous for including.

The 'buisness man' trait of a stereotypical 'gangster' brings in the convention of business offices in cities. Film Noir is set in urban rather than rural settings due to the fast pace, variety of sounds and characters found on the streets. The urban setting is usually a pretty location/ setting making everything look fine on the surface just like each character within the film, however once inside, or having prier knowledge the truth on the actions which go on side are the complete opposite 'pretty', but brutal and unethical. This is seen in the opening of Casino Royal and The Third Man, another film which sticks to the style of Film Noir. The extreme low angle shot gives the tower block and intimidating, power status implying the location is of high importance to those who who work and are in alliance there. The fact that James Bond then proceeded to murder a high ranking business man whom works in that area gives the impression to the audience that the status someone has holds no significance, but the factor which is relevant to James Bond is the actions which they perform and if it affects his beloved country.

James Bond himself is a Film Noir convention; he is the anti hero. For example in This can link with the clear moral ambiguity of James Bond; He appears to be in the right, due to his status of working for 'Queen and Country' however he shoots to kill for a living. As seen on screen James Bond straight away shoots down the 'gangster', who may appear to be a bad person however in doing so, he deprived a wife without a husband and children without their father. There are other methods of dealing with criminals such as prison rather than death. This being said, James Bond is known for being the 'man with the gun', 'shoot to kill' character which gives him this appeal to the audience. He is unique in the sense of the audience not knowing how 'good' he actually is. He has all characteristics to the the villain however stays true to MI5. For example the troubled childhood, the lack of respect for authority and rash decisions. High contrasting black and white, rather than grayscale completely changes the meaning in the scene where James Bond is killing a young man. The saying "Things are either black or white" is saying nothing can be justified. Everything is either right or wrong, and using the high contrasting light within the scene works well, clearly showing James' moral ambiguity is a clear visual way.

The actual filming of Casino Royal has a lot of extreme angle, and obscure shots exaggerates everything which is happening on screen. This is probably to emphasise that this is not going to be a normal James Bond film but is going to take a much darker turn. This being said, the extreme angles also take an unrealistic view on the scene, however i feel that this does not hinder but helps the James Bond films in drawing in the audience. James Bond takes a completely far fetched storyline, which the audience knows and is expecting. It adds to the James Bond films in taking the audience into this action filled story, catching their attention in wanting to discover the ending.