Advanced Game Studies: L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire (2011) - Rockstar Games

"L.A. Noire is a 2011 neo-noir crime video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. L.A. Noire is set in Los Angeles in 1947 and challenges the player, controlling a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, to solve a range of cases across five departments. Players must investigate crime scenes for clues, follow up leads, and interrogate suspects, and the players' success at these activities will impact how much of the cases' stories are revealed." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire

Plot summary:

"Amid the post-war boom of Hollywood's Golden Age, Cole Phelps is an LAPD detective thrown headfirst into a city drowning in its own success. Corruption is rampant, the drug trade is exploding, and murder rates are at an all-time high. In his fight to climb the ranks and do what's right, Phelps must unravel the truth behind a string of arson attacks, racketeering conspiracies and brutal murders, battling the L.A. underworld and even members of his own department to uncover a secret that could shake the city to its rotten core." - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764429/plotsummary

Structural Framework:

The players' struggle is not found in multiplayer or co-op modes, as it is a single player expereience. In fact, their struggle is placed on solving mysteries and finding as much evidence possible. The interrogation game play proves particularly interesting to an average player because it complicates traditional methods of information-feeding commonly used in video games today and introduces an exciting, immersive form of play. Therefore it requires the player to be actively engaged in the narrative, through forcing them to make important decisions that does in fact impact how the story unfolds. As a result, this method proves much more interesting than being drip-fed objectives and storytelling that many games employ these days.

Placing a mystery story into an interactive medium changes this entirely. Our evolving theories and understanding of cases develop and become incredibly vital because it is our job to solve the case. A large amount of importance is placed on the idea that if we cannot discover or evolve the case, then no one can, which evolves the role of the player to a great level of importance because the narrative cannot resolve itself. The player’s perception becomes an integral part of the narrative because the player has the responsibility of solving the crime.

Aesthetic Framework:

"The game draws heavily from both the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir, stylistic films made popular in the 1940s and 1950s that share similar visual styles and themes, including crime and moral ambiguity. The game uses a distinctive colour palette, but in homage to film noir it includes the option to play the game in black and white. Various plot elements reference the major themes of gum-shoe detective and mobster stories such as Key Largo, Chinatown, The Untouchables, The Black Dahlia, and L.A. Confidential." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire

With a title such as 'L.A. Noire', it is extremely apparent how Team Bondi is conciously presenting the game within a defined light - the noir film genre, to the extent that the studio entered the game into the Tribeca Film Festival.

Above: A screenshot of the menu players are greeted by when playing L.A. Noire - the shady scene coupled with a black and white filter instantly reflect the film noir aspects of the game. 

"For those wrapped up in the allure of 1940s Los Angeles and the hardboiled detectives, conniving criminals and glamorous femme fatales that inhabit it - and for those PC gamers out there getting ready for L.A. Noire's release in just a few weeks - we've got another in our continuing list of favorite and apropos Film Noir entries for you to check out." 
http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/19171/rockstar-recommends-scene-of-the-crime.html




"With quintessential black and white Noir cinematography (the underground bookie outfit's police-style criminal lineup scene in particular) and a screenplay full of riotous pulp-fiction dialogue ("I'm no Humphrey Bogart. He gets slugged and he's ready for action; I get slugged and I'm ready for pickling"), this one has much that L.A. Noire fans should appreciate - from double-crossing dames, to eccentric interrogations, all the way to an explosive climactic shootout and some third-act twists and turns that you really won't see coming." - http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/19171/rockstar-recommends-scene-of-the-crime.html







http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_life_in_America_like_in_the_1940s
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090907225549AAMa1VR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_in_art
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1947.html


Style:The game draws heavily from both the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir, stylistic films made popular in the 1940s and 1950s that share similar visual styles and themes including crime, sex, and moral ambiguity. 

Above: An iconic film noir image taken from the film 'Big  Combo' (1955.)

The game uses a distinctive colouring-style, but in homage to film noir it includes the option to play the game in black-and-white. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire#Reception

Various plot elements reference the major themes of gum-shoe detective and mobster stories such as:

'Key Largo'

'Chinatown'

'The Untouchables'

'The Black Dahlia'

'L.A. Confidential'

Contextual Framework:

It is clear to see how Team Bondi have added further elements of realism in the game through closely intertwining reality with historical referencing. Above, the screenshot taken from the game presents a promotional banner for the US Representative Elections of 1947, which Nixon would have won a little time before the time that L.A. Noire was set in.

 L.A. Noire's true similarity to L.A is partly due to Team Bondi's research into the area through using aerial photographs taken by Robert Spence during the 1920s. In one of the many Achievements/Trophies in L.A. Noire to collect, “Star Map”, you’ll need to traverse L.A. to discover all the designated landmark buildings around the city. In the development of the game’s lovingly recreated 1947 Los Angeles, Team Bondi spent time exhaustively researching Los Angeles right at the source – traveling their own gumshoes around real world L.A. to assemble a photologue for research and also mining the city’s historical archives for reference information and invaluable visual assets. 
That was a huge help to Team Bondi - Simon Wood, production designer for Team Bondi, calls the Spence collection a "magical find, as they're the equivalent of satellite photography" decades before satellite photography would become common. Spence's photos actually showed Los Angeles as it was to its residents. Says Wood, "They showed us the density of the traffic and the pedestrians, the trolley car routes; they showed us different mosaics and sidewalk patterns that we couldn't make out from the other street photo reference materials. They showed the different types of rooftops and tar roof styles and air conditioner units." - http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-05/using-extreme-aerial-photography-1920s-rockstar-rebuilt-1940s-los-angeles-la-noire
The final product of in-game locations, both interior and exterior, wound up an amalgam of carefully researched reference material and artful inspiration.  Wood explains, “Some were designed from the ground up as we couldn't find what truly matched the needs of the gameplay or the original script by Brendan (McNamara, Team Bondi Studio Head). But other locations are interiors that we inserted into wonderful existing buildings. The Art guys in the team did an amazing job, as you really can't tell what was made up by us and what was an original fabrication." Additional reference material that wasn't photographed was sourced from rare items such as vintage magazines from the time. "I bought from eBay old House & Garden magazines, along with Architectural Digest, Sears catalogues and Interior Decorating guides from the 40's. These were invaluable as not only did it show you the best of how they styled their homes, but it showed you how they lived."

"We created ‘Production Bibles’ which are like production design style guides for all the locations in the game,” said Wood, “The bibles have floorplans, material, dressing, graphics and signage, lighting details, and any other reference images that are needed to create the locations in the game.  We made over 140 of them altogether.”

This was particularly challenging considering the sheer amount of locations and the need to keep each one unique, yet accessible to explore and investigate. "I had a checklist of which styles of architecture and colour palettes would work well with the characters Brendan was writing, so that their persona was reflected in their personal surroundings." - http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/13361/behind-the-scenes-of-la-noires-painstaking-production-design-par.html

Above: an in-game shot of the City Hall, next to a real-life shot taken by Spence of the City Hall.

Above: In-game and real-life shot of Roosevelt Hotel.

Above: In-game and real-life shot of Bullock Wilshire  Department Store.

Above: Real-life and in-game shots of Westlake Saving and Loans Bank. 

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/16081/la-noires-los-angeles-landmarks.html
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-05/using-extreme-aerial-photography-1920s-rockstar-rebuilt-1940s-los-angeles-la-noire
http://videogameaficionado.com/2011/06/rockstar-games-la-noire-part-v-real.html
http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/16081/la-noires-los-angeles-landmarks.html

Clinical lighting takes all warmth out of what would usually be a homely, cheery atmosphere. 

This painting works well within the jazz-themed club, what with the USA being the world art hub, during the post-World War 2 era. Despite the anti-abstraction movement in the 30s, abstraction had spread and this is quite obviously shown in the portrait above.

In-game props such as the soap boxes work well in mimicing the styles of advertising during the 1940s and 50s. 

The 1940s B&W photos were still in abundance and of course, cheaper than coloured photographs. Portratis of boxers abound in bars and clubs can be found widely across the game. This has worked well in adding elements of realism because this sport was popular at the time, and even held a spot in the plot of the game. I hope that the game's art directors used liberally to reaffirm it's film noir appeal.

A clue within the plot of the game - Team Bondi have worked props well into the storyline. 

The lino flooring used on the kitchen's floor is typical of the era  in terms of it's material and it's quirky patterns. 

The unwashed dishes work well within the plot as their messy positioning and dirtiness add to the idea that not everything is well within the quiet, suburban street. 

http://videogameaficionado.com/2011/05/rockstar-games-la-noire-part-iii-loving.html 

In terms of a persuasive nature, I believe that L.A. Noire persuades the gamers to consider what culture what like in a completely different time period and to embrace it completely. With the information given earlier in this blog post, I believe that Rockstar Games conveyed a time period incredibly effectively with thorough research taken from aerial photography, museum visits, etc and therefore, cleverly informs and educates the player through a fun, immersive storyline set during this era.