history, code and conventions

History of Film Noir

Film noir (French black film), is a cycle of crime films made in Hollywood between 1940 and 1959 presenting a number of distinctive characteristics. These include their settings (modern cities); their visual style (dark, urban streets and shawdowy interiors); their themes and characters (crimes and investigations involving psychologically disturbed men and deceitful women); their narrative strategies (first-person voice-over narration, flashbacks, ellipses and sometimes ambiguous endings); and a general mood of darkness.
The genre was prevalent mostly in American crime dramas of the post-World War II era.
In the 30s, it was the Great Depression Era in American histor. Building on advancements in filmmaking in the 20s that added sound, better black and white picture and photography, and more controllable lighting, the 'Big 5 Hollywood Studios' (MGM, Paramount, Fox, RKO, and Warner Bros.) were expanding their methods.

Pulp Fiction - Film noir heavily used and was influenced by private eye crime books of pulp fiction authors. The availability of these stories involving the dark tones, anti-heros, deadly females, tales of crime and murder all contributed greatly to Film Noir.
Authors such as Raymond Chandler, James M Cain and Dashiell Hammet were some of the most adapted books.

The term is thought to have been first used by French critic Nino Frank, in a 1946 review of four Hollywood crime thrillers ('The Maltese Falcon'-1941, 'Murder, My Sweet aka Farewell My Lovely'-1944, 'Double Indemnity'-1944 and 'Laura'-1944) that pointed to the films' complex narration.

Stranger on the Third Floor

This film is generally considered the first film noir, The Stranger on the Third Floor, directed by Boris Ingster.
It has many of the main features of film noir: an urban setting, heavy shadows, diagonal lines, voice-over narration, a dream sequence, low camera angles shooting up multi-story staircases, and an innocent protagonist falsely accused of a crime who is desperate to clear himself.

This poster of the film is very interesting since it is cartoonised (hand drawn) and it creates a sense of mystery and crime due to the hand who belongs to an unidentified person, is reaching towards the characters with a shadow coming off it, meaning the light source is behind the hand since there is also shadows on the characters faces. All the chracters are pulling different facial expressions which gives the audience an idea of the personalities of the individuals.

Codes and Conventions

Narrative: The film noir narratives are often complex. The storyline is dramatic, tense, twisting and most of the time, unrealistic.

• The Protagonist (usually male) is often seen attempting a journey, usually lead on by the femme fatale character(s) present and this journey almost always goes down hill with bad things happening to him.
• The narrative is often based around an anti-hero, 'everyday man', who fell victim by temptation (usually by a manipulative woman who is after his money or sexual intentions).
• Narrative themes often involve the following: detectives, crime, disease, psychological, punishment, adultery, murder, money, drugs and sexual obsession.
• Flashbacks are another common convention in film noir narratives.
• Voiceovers are used to help lead the audience through the narrative and to go inside the characters thoughts since the storyline can be difficult to understand.

Characters: Some typical film noir characters involved are:

• A male protagonist who usually gets caught up in the cunning plot of a femme fatale.
• An attractive and seductive 'femme fatale' who uses her sexuality to take advantage of the man. She aims to bring the male hero to a downfall. Although some people have argued that this 'evil/bad' female representations are positive since they are portrayed as strong.
• Another female character is the opposite, a loving and trustworthy person.
• Other male characters are known as smart and slick although some can be portrayed as dodgy with mysterious pasts.
• Other typical stock characters include police men, agents, detectives, etc.

Cinematography: Film noir cinematography is often weary, dark, and sometimes uncomfortable to look at.

• Low and high angles
• Extreme close-ups
• Reflections (faces through mirrors or windows)
• Tilted or irregular shots

Mise-En-Scene: Film noir uses everyday urban settings and sounds to present the eerie and unsettling feel.

• Rain and damp streets
• Low key lighting
• Dark black and whites (few greys)
• Heavy breathing
• Sudden noises
• Voice overs
• Melancholy downbeat music
• Use of quiet and silence
  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZVSonBHMPM