Alex Proyas Dark City - Science Fiction Noir essays

Alex Proya's Dark City - Science Fiction Noir essays Alex Proyas the director of Dark City takes ideas and ambience from many movies and integrates them all neatly in his visually amazing film. A cross between science fiction, film noir, dark comics, classic horror and early German films, Dark City fails to belong to any one category. This mixture is what makes the film creative and different along with its multi-layered symbolism. Mostly a science fiction story, Dark City deals with a man, John Murdock, struggling to overcome a great mystery as aliens interfere with his life. The aliens are known as Strangers, and do not wish to destroy the human race, but learn from it to survive. Proyas has created a very unique movie based on his use of signs to detail scenes. His film is dark physically and psychologically. In this film, Proyas creates a dark city similar to Gotham City in the original "Batman". There is nothing futuristic or imaginary about the city. Everything in it is a mix of different decades. This amazes the audience because we arent use to observing structures seen in the movie. The intentional mixture of culture throughout the different eras really contributed to the mystery and confusion of the movie. Every shot of this movie screams quality because of intense detail. The way the production design achieves a unique look is through its layout of the cityscape, lighting, details and points of view. The most of the movie is dark and shadowy living up to its title. Proyas visual style is dark and eerie. As the film moves along the atmosphere builds up. The scenery and visual effects are fantastic and add to the atmosphere of fear, confusion, and suspense. At one point a man on a balcony gets crushed between two itinerant high-rises. During the final and visually stunning showdown, The Strangers send laser beams and bolts of lightning around. Proyas' direction is so dark that it adds to the mystery and ...