Film NoirFilm Noir

Film Noir Film Noir InformationInformation

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s.

Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.

Psycho 1960Psycho 1960

Common features of a film noir in psycho: •3 point lighting is used to create shadow on the subject and unveil a dark personality.

•The film is mostly shot in gloomy grays, blacks and whites.

•Norman’s life is depicted to be melancholy and bleak. He alienates himself out of guilt for killing his parents.

Code and Convention

• Alienation

• Bleakness

• Pessimism

• Moral corruption

• Evil

• Guilt

• Ambiguity

Alfred Hitchcock's powerful complex psychological thriller,

Psycho.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3-GlvKPcg

Femme Fatal

Classic code and convention of a film noir is that it nearly always has a ‘femme fatal’. She would use her feminine wiles and sexuality to manipulate the cynical, hard hearted disillusioned male character. The females in film noir were either of two types - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, manipulative and desperate women.

Usually, the male protagonist in film noir wishes to escape their past, and have to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him). If they choose to follow the dangerous but desirable wishes of these dames. It would lead the hero into committing murder or some other crime of passion coupled with twisted love.

Film Noir Film Noir ComparisonComparison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PEnkmdWmdE

Mise-en-scene: •The title establishes the name of the film, with the key behind the glass. •The character at the beginning are dressed smartly, this connoted that they are high class.

Camera: •Mid shots are used to introduce important character. The man and woman are the first to be shot separately which connote that they may be the most important. •The two shot of the man and woman kissing when the gun goes off connoted that they have a fatal relationship.•Low angle shots establishes the height in which the man is falling from the window seal.

•Editing: There is a series of jump shots from what looks like different scenes until the end where the man is falling from the window seal, it shows continuity as he falls through the roof.

Sound: •American voice over, followed by storming non diagetic music which increased a dramatic tension. •There is a gunshot which connoted that there will be violence in the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTNqcqBabwk

Mise-en-scene: At the beginning the men are dressed in uniforms firing guns, which tells the audience that the film is violent and there is a conflict. •Similar to the key glass the character are dressed formally which connotes that they are wealthy and of a high class.

Sound:• In contrast to Glass Key there is no voice over but large writing that mimic the words spoken by the voice over.•Similar to Glass Key there are diagetic sounds of a gun although in this trailer there are more frequent, which suggests that it may be more violent that Glass Key.

Camera: •Spot light conforms to the rule of thirds even when lighting the silhouette which makes the audience uncomfortable as they expect to see the person eye but instead a shadow, which creates enigma. •Long shot of the man jumping off the bridge and onto the train shows that he is a man of risks as well as dangerous.

Editing: • This contrasts to the jump cuts that show the different scenes in Glass Kay as the editor has used transitions to smoothly move from one scene to the other, such as fading in which was used to introduce the main character from the spotlight shadow to his face.

It is almost impossible to incorporate Film Noir into the documentary we are doing. The two are very different in terms of the style, themes and genre. Documentaries are interactive and base on real life situations which is why it cannot be presented in the same was as a film noir.

The things I would take from the film noirs I have researched and use in my documentary is; the smooth transitions from ‘White Heat’ and also having titles at the beginning of the films.