Film Noir (black cinema)

1. Film Noir(black cinema)

2. What is it? • Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas • Emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. • Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s

3. Mise-en scène • Lighting- low key lighting which creates suspense. Lighting is kept to the minimum creating vast shadows which help to create certain effects on the audience. it is not important to be able to see your characters' faces. The dramatic hard low-key lighting makes the identity of the characters less important than their actions in this dark and sinister world. • Props and setting- venetian-blinded windows and rooms, and dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances. Exteriors were often urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet asphalt, dark alleyways, rain-slicked or mean streets, flashing neon lights, and low key lighting. Story locations were often in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit and low-rent apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses.

4. Sound • the sound track is used vividly and is mainly instrumental to create suspense or tension for the audience. • At times in film noir, the main character often narrates his own story to show two aspects of the same person. • Other than the sound track, sound is kept to the minimum and diegetic sound isn't heard often. When it is heard it has a desired effect which helps with the film noir genre.

5. Femme Fatal • The females in film noir were either of two types (or archetypes) - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women. Usually, the male protagonist in film noir wished to elude his mysterious past, and had to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him).