Research Textual Analysis: Double Idemnity by Billie Wilder

1. 1944 American Film Noir
2. About a provocative housewife who wishes her husband were dead 
3. The term 'double idemnity' refers to a clause in certain life insurance policies that doubles the payout in cases when death is caused by certain accidental means
4. Stars Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson
5. Often cited as a paradigmatic film noir and as having set the standard for the films that followed in that genre

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Indemnity_(film)

I learnt from this example that a film of the Film Noir genre will often follow a plot line including death, law ('insurance policies'), sex ('provocative') and possibly greed ('doubles the payout'). I also learnt that a character one would probably find is a 'femme fatale' much like the 'provocative housewife' presented in Double Idemnity. 

This film is a strong example of the genre because, as said above, it is 'citied as... having set the standard for the films that followed in the genre' which means that it was a base for other films in the genre and, therefore, a reliable source.

This knowledge could influence my own work when I come to creating my opening title sequence because I could create a 'femme fatale' character and I could also use the plot ideas (such as death and greed) as a base for my own story line.