Out of the Past

When thinking about nondiegetic sound in Out of the Past, two examples come to mind. The first occurs when Kathie Moffat shoots Fisher. When this happens there is a sudden blast of music from the background. This sound serves to show how surprising and significant the gunshot was. The second example that comes to mind is just before Joe Stephanos tries to shoot Bailey. As he raises his gun the music increases in pace and volume, building the suspense. In both of these scenes, the music serves to get a certain reaction out of the audience, but as the music does not come from a source inside the story world, it is nondiegetic. As far as diegetic sounds go, probably the most memorable happen in those very same scenes. As two of the very few gunshots in the film, those sounds are very memorable, both are followed by the death of a character, and both occur within the world of the film, thus making them diegetic.

There are a couple instances of familiar images in Out of the Past that I can think of. There are several times in the film where you see Bailey driving a car with Ann. These scenes occur when he is telling her about his past with Kathie. These scenes in the car also tend to precede a pretty large plot development. For instance, it is during one of these scenes in which Bailey first reveals the truth about his past to Ann. Another of these scenes happens just before they arrive at Witt's mansion, in which he is reunited with Kathie. Finally, there is a similar scene at the end, the difference is that it is Kathie in the car with him instead of Ann. This scene immediately precedes the deaths of both of these characters.

Out of the Past has most of the elements of any film noir. From the world weary but intelligent and witty detective protagonist, to the seductive and deceptive femme-fatale. The plot structure is also typical of most films in the noir genre, in that the movie begins in the "present" time (for the characters anyway) but then begins to unfold in flashbacks, and eventually catching up again with the present, and continuing on. The dark tone and lighting are also that of a typical noir. The biggest way in which this film differs from most other film noir, is in the setting. While most films in the genre take place primarily in urban areas or big cities. Out of the Past on the other hand has many scenes that take place out in the country, in the woods, near rivers etc. Not only that, but many of the scenes take place during the day, something that most noir films do only rarely.