Sunday, December 26, 2021

Noir filter

[Click for a larger view.]

Elaine and I went on a walk after sunset last night. When I saw these street-light-lit student apartments and the strong shadows, I thought film noir? and took a picture. When I browsed the phone’s filters to turn the picture black and white, I found that the filter I wanted is called Noir. But I think it could just as plausibly be called Horror.

And now I am seeing this image as a still from a cheap, grainy, imaginary horror movie: Stairway to Terror. God knows what’s at the top of those stairs. I didn’t want to get any closer.

comments: 7

Geo-B said...

In a world . . . where everyone else had gone home for the holidays, he climbed the darkened stairs . . . to terror!

The Crow said...

Perfect image for an opening shot to a horror movie. I mean, those shadows are about as creepy as I've ever seen! They remind me, in tone and lighting, of the staircase in the title shot in Hitchcock's 1935 film adaptation of the play, "The 39 Steps."

Yep, quite creepy!

The Crow said...

Uh...I got that wrong about the Hitchcock film. A search of Google turned up a lot of stills from the movie, but no staircase. My memories from my teen-years late night television viewing are not as good as I thought.

Michael Leddy said...

George, that’s it. When do we start filming?

Martha, I’m trying to think of a possible movie. Staircases are there in Shadow of a Doubt and Psycho, but with very different settings.

Joe DiBiase said...

Scary staircases need not be in a building. To wit, stairs from The Exorcist ... https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fd/24/20/fd24202432aa225e154dcd2a6d3b0f3a.jpg

Michael Leddy said...

That’s a great image, Joe.

Michael Leddy said...

And at the other end of the staircase spectrum, there’s Laurel and Hardy in The Music Box.