Film Noir

Written by Ben Jeffery

The Lady in Scarlet

Edition

Film Noir

Contents

• What Is Film Noir : Pg. 3

• Classic Films: Pg. 4

• Tropes: Pg. 5

• Visual Elements: Pg. 6

• The Detective: Pg. 7

• Femme Fatales: Pg. 8

• The Villain Pg. 9

• The Greats Pg. 10

N‘Film Noir’ is a French term used to describe a specific genre of film. Translated into English, Film Noir means black film. The Film Noire genre is heavily dependant on the lighting on screen and is marked by a mood of pessimism fatalism menace and cynical characters.

Noir was developed in the early forties and refers to a genre of mostly black and white films. These reached there zenith in post war American cinema.

Film Noir was not a term coined by the film industry. It was first used by French critics after the second world war. They found it remarkable that American films were being presented with a new, much

darker, vision

Film Noir’s heyday stretched

from the early 1940’s to

the late 1950’s.

The artistic styling was

widely influential and can

be seen in cinema, books and

computer games even

today – as can be seen in

the posters overleaf :-

Film Noir

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SA

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Visual EffectsIn Noir the lighting and directing tells everythingfrom the mood to the time of day:

• The lighting is specifically directed at differentangles to show the characters mood

• Use of lighting in unconventional positions

• Night-time shots in order to achieve an inky blacklook in areas of the film which are not lit.

• The design of sets and scenes was such thatcharacters are very prominent in every shot

• With each different shot the director would showthe complexity of the protagonist, revealingunknown feelings which would otherwise passwithout being seen

• Protagonists are often featured in windows anddoors

• Use of unusual camera lenses to enlarge keyelements of each shot – usually the protagonist.

Film Noir

Tropes

Film Noir is characterised by a number of tropes including commonly recurring rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés. These include:

Moral• Wrongdoing• Immorality• Criminality

Characters• Detectives • Policemen• Criminals• Gamblers• Hustlers • War Veterans• Women (beautiful,

dangerous and intriguing)

Settings• The city• The Bar or nightclub• The Police Station• The murder scene

Plot Themes• Moider (murder)• Mystery• Betrayal• Intrigue• Deception • Affairs• Corruption

Over the next few pages we investigate the key characters who inhabit the seedy world of Film Noir:

The DetectiveFilm Noir

Uncompromising, hard-drinkin’ and hard-boiled the detective hero often appears almost as amoral, ruthless, and greedy as the criminals he defeats.

A tarnished hero at best, however each flaw makes each act of heroism more complete and more poignant. His heroism lies not in any innate goodness or compassion or concern for justice —such qualities would be liabilities in the world of Noir — but in his personal code of loyalty, professional responsibility, and integrity.

The Dame

Beautiful, mysterious and complicated, the Dame is also known as the femme fatale. She is often a manipulative alluring and devious woman who the male ‘hero’ is inevitably, irresistibly, drawn towards; but can she be trusted?

The femme fatale is often shown in stark contrast to conventional women around her who are often pure, straightforward and honest.

The VillainThe villain of Noir is seemingly a harmless business man but on the inside he is a devious scheming treacherous man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal by any means possible. He knows every evil trick in the book from hiring an assassin to armed robbery the villain is the conductor in the orchestra of evil.

Film Noir

Masters of the Genre

Alfred Hitchcock Fritz Lang Orson Welles

Robert Siodmak John Huston Samuel (Billy) Wilder

Written by Ben Jeffery