Film Noir

“Play it again Sam.”

What constitutes Film Noir?

Story line:• Derives from the American “Pulp Fiction”

tradition popularised by writers like Dashiel Hammet.

• Storylines mostly revolve around crime, detectives, spies, or gangsters.

• The protagonist is generally pessimistic, cynical, cold and detached.

• Common settings are the city, at night, rain slicked streets and sleazy bars.

• The one type of Hollywood film which allowed for an unhappy ending.

Specific Characterisation.

These characters are almost caricatures:Larger than life expressions of certain

attributes, either desirable or non-desirable.

They are also heavily stereotyped.

The Hard Boiled Detective:

The Femme Fatale:

What is a Femme Fatale?

• A female character who will generally seek the help of the main protagonist of the story.

• She will be portrayed as sexually attractive.

• She will, on average, betray the male protagonist.

• Other times, she will see the error of her ways, and repent.

• And sometimes, she is simply a victim.

Lighting:

Strong Lighting.

Use of light and shadow. This is called…

CHIAROSCURO

(Italian for clear-dark)

It was originally used in reference to a style of painting.

Like this one…

Giovanni Baglioni, Sacred Love.

In this context, it is used in reference to strong single source lighting. It creates a

definite mood or ambience through use of contrast.

Camera Work:

Film Noir used a lot of unconventional camera work (in context of when Film

Noir was popular.)

Such as…

Extreme Deep Focus

High angle shots

Low angle shots

The “Dutch” angle

The effect of these techniques?

• Disorientation of the viewer• Symbolic of immoral, amoral or corrupt

society and characters• Used to emphasise character traits

(good/evil)• Establish power relationships