noise to signal:
Photos - Noir series

Fact: People who drive white cube vans live in houses with wood panelling in the basement.

Hmmmm... we have wood panelling in our basement. Maybe we should get a white cube van. You know, for the soccer team.

oh, weird! it almost looks like light projected on a surface instead of looking out of a window.

Say, have ya installed that outdoor (like a drive-thru) theater in the back yard yet?

(Heather from Tim's computer) - actually, I thought it was a reflection too...

Hello, David, my name is Dylan Hintz and I'm a young college filmmaker. I'm currently working in a studio television production class, and I found your photos and was wondering if I could use them for a green screen project I am trying to do. It's a simple commercial for an energy drink (or it might end up being something else, I still have a few days to prep), and I needed some scary alley ways to do a "vampire" scene (sorta spoofing Blade). Google search returned your pictures and I was immediately struck with interest. You've caught a new reader. Anyways, please feel free to email me at strikeaposefilm@gmail.com if you're cool with this. Thanks!

That's weird.

It's the eloquence of your response that really makes me appreciate the two-way communication possible in this medium.

DUDE!

There. I have used this medium to it's fullest extent possible. What more do you want you noir freak? :-P

yeah, what he said.

way, elegant... eloquent, whatever.

This scene could go either way - classic noir, or baby noir.

One minute Billy was spinning joyously around, staring at the sky twirling above him, laughing in glee, and the next minute silence... except for the eerie squeak of the merry-go-round as it slowly creaked to a stop. Empty.

Not to mention the tree, which looks like it is already reaching out to grab something (or someone!).

Not to mention the photographer! Buggin?

...and not to mention the need to start running and screaming blindly through the night ....

Actually, I viewed this as sort of romantic...hmmm...not sure what that says...

It's always about death with you, isn't it?

Well, even without being able to see the rain, the different shades of grayness, and also the shape they make between the lights, treeline, and sky (and the barrier) are wonderful.

I'm so excited about these results, and I'm not even American. But we have our Deputy Sheriff Prime Minister John Howard, who has slavishly followed Bush's every move over the past few years. I'm hoping that he suffers the same fate in our elections next year.

I really like your pictures. What camera you use? Are you like an photografer? I'm doing a paper about Film Noir. Me and my partner having a photoshoot, with just the pictures you are showing here. Can I use some of you pics to show our teachers what we are going to do? I would be very greatfull. Thank you in advance!!

Nice one. The way you framed it, it's like the lights are there to create darkness. Your picture is about that which is excluded from (and by) the light, turning the glare into the opposite of what it's meant to be. Well done. Your first true noir of the series.

Like hammers ready to fall.

Or like really big, metal stroopwafels (:-D - check http://www.stroopwafelshop.com/ to see what I mean; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroopwafel for more info)

Which is good, cause if they were dry there wouldn't be a whole lot we'd be able to see!

What about if a noir film were set in the desert? Then it would necessarily be dry. I challenge those of you out there who can visualize such things to ponder this question - would a film noir film in a desert setting work or not? And what about a dessert setting?

Certainly one can look at Insomnia as a Film Blanc, where it's never dark, and there's too much light.

I was looking for an answer to why the streets are always wet in film noir, and stumbled across this discussion.

" I challenge those of you out there who can visualize such things to ponder this question - would a film noir film in a desert setting work or not? And what about a dessert setting?"

Sure it could work. The first example that comes to mind it "The Hitch-Hiker" (1953) starring Frank Lovejoy (the radio drama NIGHTBEAT) and Edmond O'Brien (star of noir classic DOA). William Talman plays the psycho-killer who forces them into the desert during a state-wide manhunt.

Excel, err... Word!

Maybe y'all should give a little tutorial on setting up our monitors, or give us a link to your favorite tuning site?

It's really a hardware solution -- our eyes are designed to adapt and adjust, so we can't judge properly.

The good news is that there is a range of choices. On the low end I like the $89 Pantone Huey; on the higher end I like their $249 Eye-One Display 2.

That Huey is a....suggestive lookin' device, ain't it!

I love this and I'm not sure why. I just do. It reminds me a bit of the house in a picture, in the family photo album, of a home my parents lived in when they first got married. It must be one of those starter homes, that someone took really good care of. While it's a bit scary, it's also oddly comforting. But then, I'm from Texas and we're a bit used to bunkers, here.

2nd & Virginia?

2nd & Cherry.

Alex's comment: "Oh my, that's not a nice place!"

OK I want to be the first to ask ... by chance is this down by the river?

Nope, it's down by sporty's place.

This is why I love photography. This one right here is why I love to shoot.

Wonderful! Looks like home...

I stand by my previous comment concerning panel vans.

looks like the back door to the highschool gymnasium where creepy-guy-with-creepy-garage-and-car-and-van likes to hang out to watch for the cheerleaders to exit when they finish practice.

I think these descriptions tell us more about your media diet than it does about the photos :-)

...ummm ...

Like republican??

... or like some sneakers?

Wonderful! I was shooting the exact same thing Thursday night, but I just couldn't capture it.

Panel vans bode well for no one.

I dunno, I commute to work in a panel van and .... oh, wait a minute. Yeah.

Uh oh... dude with the old car and scary garage has upgraded to a van. Not good. So not good.

If the van's rockin, don't come knockin...

Because I'm CUTTING SOMEBODY INTO PIECES HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again...

Wow. I'm impressed. I actually had to look that one up. Fitting!

And scary that you knew it... um... so... uh... had any nice chianti lately?

Your sister, your problem, is all I'm saying.

I love this! I love this one so much!

A yule log on TV is never as cheery as its meant to be ;-)

Nothing says "True Spirit of Christmas" like "Watching a Yule Log on TV While Sitting in Small Dark Hotel Room in Canada."

Hmm... if that was taken this morning, it was quite possibly Sarah's :-)

Ella is the same way. Except I bet you don't point at the sky and go "Oh!"

.... but I do

I'll tell you one thing, he's not building a playhouse for the children.

I think we have a right to know.

And what about all those packages he sends?

I heard he has an ex-wife is some place called Mayors Income, Tennessee.

He's working on his car... the one from a few posts ago. He's cleaning it thoroughly inside and out. Including the hidden compartment in the trunk. Must not leave any evidence.

Ex-wife? No... but he is a widower. The crime was never solved. He was never actually charged due to lack of evidence, but he remains listed in the case file as a "person of interest". He's not worried though. He covered his tracks well.

rhymes with neutron...

What's abstract about a giant boogey man shadow taking a picture of the street?

Creepy...

This one makes me think of the Cingular ad with the signal bars - you know, where the boats, and apartment buildings, and other mundane stuff line up to look like the bars on your cell phone..

Sigh... so sorry. It must be the fact that I'm back at work! Bah humbug ;-)

Publicly covering your tracks, that's an interesting twist...

Kinda eerie...

i love this one in particular
why i can't say but i do

Good job!

Good job!