Film Noir

(Sunset Boulevard, 1950)

Film Noir is a type of cinematography that is associated with a low-key black and white visual style. It is particularly recognised as a style of hollywood crime; it's popularity stretched through from the early 1940's to the late 1950's. This style of film is suspected to have partly emerged from the crime fiction that appeared in the U.S during the depression. The crime/ thriller conventions of a film noir generally emphasize cynical attitudes and highlight sexual motivations; alot of features of film noir are utilised today and often given a modern edge. The tone of film noir is quite pessimistic, depicting a corrupt world. Alot of the time they are imbued with sexual innuendo and self-reflexive humor also.

(The Third Man, 1949)
Visual Style:
* Low key lighting
* Light/ dark contrasts
* Use of shadows
* Obscuring of characters' faces
* Tilt angles, Low-angle shots, Close- ups
* Reflection in mirrors
* Chiarascuro lighting

Structure and Narrative:
* Flashbacks
* Voiceover narration
* First person narration
* Shooting primary narrative as a flashback

(I Confess, 1953)

Tilt shots and shadows are also generic conventions of a Film Noir and they are utilised in The Third Man.

Plot, Character and Settings:
* Crime/ murder
* Criminal motivation
* An investigation- by a private eye, concerned amateur or police detective
* Adulterous affairs
* False suspicions/ red herrings
* Betrayals/ double crosses
* Morally questionable heroes
* Femme fatales, corrupt policemen, jealous husbands, down-and-out writers
* Cigarette smoking
* Urban/ city setting
* Night/ rain