Film Noir + Neo Noir

 The Big Combo
 The very first convention I notice is the typical jazz music in the background, accompanying a dark street with smartly dressed people entering a building highlighted with luminous spotlights. This theme of the contrast of run down streets with glamorous attributes is typical of the film-noir genre and continues with the woman running down an alleyway. The mise-en-scene shows an extremely dark alleyway, complimented by a man in a stetson hat leaning up the wall, smoking a cigarette. This kind of environment evokes mystery and danger, and is typical of the noir genre. The cinematography shows a low angle shot(suggesting secrecy due to the camera being out of sight), placed in a position that gives a perspective on the woman running - emphasising the action with her becoming larger and louder as she nears the camera. Her and the men chasing her move in and out of light as they run through shadows, another major convention of the film-noir genre, as well as the fact that her hair and dress are heavily made up, suggesting she's wealthy and glamorous, the fact that she's running from the men suggests trouble, and that she may be a femme fatale...
 The rule of thirds is showing in this mid shot with the two men on either side of the woman, suggesting that she's a captive of some sort. The mise en scene features light only on the people's faces, emphasising the focal point, while also supporting the running theme of shadows. The two men stepping into the light of the second mid shot at the same time as the jazz music returns on a minor key is one of the more sinister aspects of the noir genre, being suggestive of a menacing change of tone, while also hi-lighting the supposed good and evil characters of the film, by having half of the mens faces shadowed, and the womans face in full light, and looking toward the light. The scene ends with a typical 'private eye' character emerging from the background wearing a stetson hat and a 'hard-boiled' expression, walking through bouts of light from an extreme long shot to a close up, suggesting his sudden involvement in the previous situation.
 The setting for the next scene is your typical film-noir police station. Very open and cluttered in contrast to the supposed antagonists environment: the alleyway. This suggests that the antagonists are perhaps ahead of the detectives, and that the police department are perhaps struggling thought the film. The dialogue through this scene, especially the tape recorder - is very snappy and monotonous, conventions of noir. The speech also mentions words like 'organisations' and 'the top man'. This semantic field is suggestive of the gangster-noir genre.

The Last Seduction
 The opening visual is an establishing shot which shows a corporate building, with no focus on any people which is unusual for any noir genre. The first signs of neo noir appear with the fact that it's in colour, and the cinematography: The camera using basic shot reverse shot in snappy conversation with minimal camera movement, only to follow character. I notice Venetian blinds behind a well dressed man, talking to a woman with a quite old fashioned haircut - typical conventions of film-noir yet in a neo-noir setting. The abundance of gold/bronze decor on the mans desk, along with the fact that his face is lit from the front despite the light coming from the back contrasts with the woman, who's dressed in black with the blinds shadowing her face is remnant of the theme of fame fatale... She appears dangerous and mysterious in the presence of the man.
 Typical females of film-noir are incredible smooth talking and appear delicate - this female is very aggressive which is contrary to the noir theme, as well as the fact that they openly discuss their sexual relations which is incredibly rare for a noir film. A close up of a neon sign is typical for film-noir, as is establishes a crummy, run down environment, accompanied by jazz music to set the scene, as well as people peering through windows, which is similar to that of western-noir.
 I have established this woman as a femme fatale, as she appears manipulative and powerful, however this is conflicted with the fact that there are blinds surrounding her like a cell, suggesting she's trapped. This relates to both aspects of noir females: The dangerous femme fatale, and the captive damsel in distress. The jazz music begins again to signify a change in events. An injured man answers the phone suggesting corruption or danger, a connection is evident between the two, and the audience develop an understanding that there is a mystery or a back story that's going to be explained throughout the film.