FILM NOIRHannah Wicks

Aesthetic conventions

Film noir has a very distinct style, it represents the oppression people felt between 1935 and 1945 after the second world war. The shots used gloomy grays with blacks and white, these colors signified the mood of America and the comeback it was facing after the second world war took its toll. The dark color's showed the morally corrupt themes and characters , it was symbolism for the inhumane nature the character of film noir possessed. Visually film noir films was branded by the expressionistic lighting, juxtaposing elements, shadows, deep focus, skewed camera angles and gloomy appearances. These all signified for the audience the isolation of the time period and the struggles people were facing. Society was broken from the war and film noir was a symbolic feature in the great battle America was going to face in order to heal the wounds of war.

One of the most recognizable features of Film Noir is the low key lighting causing a disorientation of the action happening on screen, for example the use of shadows and darkness emphasizes the coldness of the characters in film noir. An example of shadows use would be The Stranger on the third floor, with the shadows recreating how the characters may be not what they seem on the inside. The shadows show how they are distorted and take monster like characteristics.

In film noir the most basic lighting uses strong key lighting and back light, fill light is not a prominent feature in film noir lighting as the production team wants to exaggerate and show the true contrast. In order to achieve the true film noir style hard lights are generally used. The hardness or softness of the very important shadows is created by the harshness of the light, harsh, bold lighting leaves harsh edges on the shadow's which is created by a single source of light, an example of this would be a bare halogen bulb. Severe shadows are often used in pairs with morally corrupt characters where as soft shadows will be used with characters that often play the victim. Softer lighting creates fuzzy shadows and are created using a larger point of light where the light is being scattered and is not specific to one concise area.

Here we can see the antagonist, this can be told by the use of fuzzy shadows which highlight that he is the victim. This lighting is non diegetic and would have been from a light source with the light rays spread out create and almost fuzzy like effect. The audience does not focus on this shadows as it has an effect of blurring almost into the background.

The protagonist is shown here through the use of harsh shadows highlighting his morally corrupt character. The harsh edges of the shadow show the cruel and meanness of his character. The harsh edges of this shadow stem from a single light source which enables it create clean cut lines.

The Stranger on the third floor, 1940

The positioning of the characters is very important as we can see the antagonist looking down upon the protagonist while illustrates to the audience that he is of higher moral grounding

The protagonist is looking past the antagonist which suggest he is looking past his morality, also he is not looking upwards which heightens this point.

MEN AND WOMEN

Gender roles: Women■ In film noir we are introduced to two different types of females, the

femme fatale and the innocent victim. These key characters portray very different personas, the dark, sexual and dangerous characteristics of the femme fatale and the maternal natural instincts of the innocent victim who's beauty is seen as sweet rather than sexual. The two different types of female characters in film noir showed how traditional family values were being challenged during this time. This functions as a turning point in the traditional ideology in society.

■ Contextually in this time society saw the only relationship to have acceptable sexual life was marriage as the traditional however the out dated idea that sex was only for reproduction and marriage went hand in hand with this. Married couples were rarely represented in a sexual manner or erotized in any other way. With reproduction follows the bringing up of children which mostly fell on the women, the innocent victim in film noir shows natural maternal instincts were as the femme fatale does not have this inner instinct and is not seen in a caring manner. From a feminist point of view this ideology further legitimizes the traditional view that the women is the lesser of a man as the man is typically seen as the head of the family. This further highlights the hierarchical and authority that men possessed over women in society.

Gender roles: Men■ The male protagonist: In film noir the male protagonist is

often a detective, policemen or another socially alienated individual. As they are seen as the heroes in film noir there jobs often reflect this, for example a detective or policemen reflects the goodness in their characters which directly contrasts towards the villains in film noir. It is not rare fro the male protagonist to be featured as a amnesiac, this creates a feeling of estrangement and disillusionment.

■ The environments they work in are often dark and lonely places, with examples such as red-light districts or large office buildings that resemble no human nature and the hard, grey exterior reflects the aesthetics of film noir. The large buildings can often highlight how small the protagonist can feel.

■ Alike the women, the men are also shown in true stereotype form, they are not allowed to live their lives in different ways other than what society deems appropriate for a man. The chain in society shows a set of unwritten rules that men are expected to uphold, for example keeping women in their place, to not show emotion to ensure they appear tough and strong. To be emotional is to be seen feminine. A life outside these unwritten rules alienates the man from the world as his life decisions are not accepted by others.

I wake up screaming■ In this early film noir movie, 1941, Carol Landis plays an aspiring

model. She was strangled to her death before she leaves for Hollywood, her recently fired agent is accused of the crime. Although innocent he is still mercilessly interrogated by corrupt cops.

■ It is said that ‘I wake up screaming’ is an example of one of the greatest femme fatale films. This film is an insight to the the difference between men and women in this age. It shows how a women in the 1940s could aspire to nothing more than being a model, a job that is solely based around their looks rather than intelligence. It also shows the corrupt cops being vindictive and cruel yet showing no emotion which is an unwritten role for society at this time as to show emotions show femininity and weakness.

■ Between 13-15 minutes into the film the audience can see the dynamics between men and women in film noir. How the camera is tilted down when focusing on a female character yet when the camera focuses on a male character it is tilted up, this shows the patriarchal society and how a woman always answered to a man. This also shows the male dominance and power in this time. How the female character, Carol Landis, looks down when her husband is talking to her is striking to the audience as it is almost as though an adult is telling off a child, highlighting the male dominance in this era. By looking down this makes the female character look small and shameful as though she has done something so wrong she cannot look at him

Conclusion■ What could we use in our own thriller film?■ Low, shadowed camera angles that are iconic in film noir.■ Light shining upon on the protagonist to highlight their good nature■ Antagonist hiding in the shadows showing their dark nature and low morals■ Bleak costumes■ Women and men in typical stereotype roles