Film Noir “Play it again Sam.”. What constitutes Film Noir?

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Film Noir “Play it again Sam.”

Transcript of Film Noir “Play it again Sam.”. What constitutes Film Noir?

Page 1: Film Noir “Play it again Sam.”. What constitutes Film Noir?

Film Noir

“Play it again Sam.”

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What constitutes Film Noir?

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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.

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Specific Characterisation.

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

attributes, either desirable or non-desirable.

They are also heavily stereotyped.

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The Hard Boiled Detective:

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The Femme Fatale:

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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.

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Lighting:

Strong Lighting.

Use of light and shadow. This is called…

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CHIAROSCURO

(Italian for clear-dark)

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

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Like this one…

Giovanni Baglioni, Sacred Love.

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

definite mood or ambience through use of contrast.

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Camera Work:

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

Noir was popular.)

Such as…

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Extreme Deep Focus

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High angle shots

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Low angle shots

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The “Dutch” angle

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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