Conventions of Film Noir

''Between the Great Depression and the start of the Cold War, 
Hollywood went noir, reflecting worldly, weary, wised-up under current mid 
century America. In classics such as Laura, Sweet Smell of Success 
and Double Indemnity, where the shadows of L.A. and 
New York pulse with killers, corpses, and perilous romance, 
failure is not only a logical option but a smart-talking seduction.''
- Vanity Fair March 2007

A brief summary of the 'Noir' genre

Film Noir originated from the french, meaning 'black cinema'. It was popularised in the 1940's-50's widely in Hollywood, with the early black and white  films such as 'The Maltese Falcon' 1941) and  'Double Indemnity' (1944). This genre of film saw the opening of dark, disturbing visual and thematic content to stir the thoughts of the consumers. It confronts a range of status values (focusing mainly on the higher class) and does not focus on the family life, quite like the many movies made before this era. Within the genre, criminal intent is found to be most prominent as well as incompetent in many the case (as in some of the films an innocent man is found guilty). The genre, containing all of this controversy in the dark theatrics after a war that stirred the world, also adopts some stereotypical views within the makings. Meaning, as well as using all this dark, deep, imagery and story line they also keep the familiar stereotypes of women being the damsel and the men being the hero.

The conventions of the noir are sectioned quite neatly into four main sections: Mise-en-scene, characters, themes and moods and camera work. Within these sections the genre can clearly be identified by prominent features that are echoed nowadays in crime thriller movies. With lots to comment on within each section I'm going to start with characters.

Characters
Within the noir genre there are key characters that make the story line and really build together the genre as a whole, these are:

• Cops
• Suspects
• Detective
• Love Interest
• Hero

The love interest is always a woman, as well as the man always being the hero. The Noir films divide women into three main categories, each depicting a different stereotypical view of how women should act within society.The first, the femme fatale: an independent, ambitious woman who feels confined within a marriage or a close male-female relationship and attempts to break free, usually with violent results. The next, the nurturing woman: a dull, featureless, and, in the end, unattainable, giving the man a chance at conventional marriage within the movie only to be denied. And finally the ''marrying type'': a woman who threatens the hero by insisting that he marry her and accept his conventional role as husband and father. Complimenting society's view of women, the stereotypical view of a man is also projected through the movies placing the man as: hero, detective, criminal, and husband. All main parts throughout the noir genre, as a woman's place was supposedly at home.

From left to right: Femme fatale, nurturing woman, 'marriage type'

The use of cops/detectives/suspects is very americanised, and being made in Hollywood, this has really projected in the characters. These characters are put across as very hard and careless to anyone's emotions. The detective in particular plays a role of great importance as he figures out the plot and makes use of it, unlike the cops who are his minions as such, trying to do his work but only really going round the basis of it. The detective is very particular, taking care of every detail put across to him, which echoes the noir genre. I mean this in a sense that the film is in black and white therefore we are focusing less on the colour and whats going on around the setting to more on the specific detail of what the characters are doing and saying and to what the plot might be.

Camera Work
The camera work for this genre is very pronounced. It uses obscured and unusual shots, with extreme angles to emphasise the point they're trying to get across. Common shots used are:

• Close up/Extreme close up
• Extreme long shot
• Tilted shot

The camera work goes hand in hand with the theme, as this is what helps to intensify the mood/atmosphere along with the characters. The close up/extreme close up is used for the emotional response of the characters, which comes up quite often in noir movies. Also, with the close up and extreme close up it can make something being said seem much more important. For example: the detective is explaining what he has found about the suspect in matter, with a long shot and with the camera switching to a close up as he gets to the crucial part of explaining where everything fits in and starts to make sense, the atmosphere becomes more intense and we take more notice of what he is saying. 

This clip is an example of a close up used in the movie 'Mildred Pierce' (1945) an early noir movie. Here we see her walk through the shadows and we get a close up of her face as the camera turns to see what we suppose is her husband/lover with another woman. By going into a close up of her face, we take in the emotions she is feeling. And with any woman that catches her husband cheating? It's not a happy response. 

In contrast, an extra long shot is used quite effectively. Whether between two characters or with just one, this shot creates suspicion within the scene as dim lighting will compliment the scene. With the use of two characters however, the angel creates space between the two, and with distance, suspicion arises as to why there is space between the two? 

The tilted shot/obscured shots are used more with buildings, cars, and more the setting than the actual character. This is because it makes the setting seem more surreal, dark and mysterious. The obscured shots can also make the buildings/vehicles seem much larger than they are, and in effect make the building more of a focus than the character.




Themes/Moods
From a first glimpse at one of the noir movies the main themes that are emanate are:

• Discovery
• Bleak/Hard boiled
• Crime
• Status
• Lust
• Darkness
• Deceit
• Gender
• Betrayal
• Enigma

All of these themes/moods direct us to the crime/thriller era which noir consists of majorly. With the reference to the movies being: 'Bleak/hard boiled' and 'Enigma' it refers to the bluntness of the content of the movie. Unlike today where we have special effects and different techniques used to drag situations out for example a simple technique such as making something into slow motion. Noir uses none of this, and gives you the movie as it is, in content and production. 

The reference to lust, betrayal, gender and status is quite stereotypical in content as it doesn't really need an explanation, they speak for themselves as such. There will always be a female character to lure the hero in (quite like a siren), somewhere along the line someone will betray another in information or love wise. The gender reference is relevant to the point where the set roles are the men out to work, and the women at home. And finally status, as in most Noir films the characters are that of high class in society, as to even have a detective working on a case must give it of some importance and therefore the status most follow suit. 


Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene is what makes the scene, and this is split into four categories:

• Set/Location
• Lighting and colour
• Costume
• Props

Within the noir genre the main locations that there tend to be are: in street by a lamp post, on a staircase, on a bridge, and in an office. All of these settings are set to be very claustrophobic, making the character seem much larger and therefore more important in every scene of the movie. The setting usually has quite obscured shots, from worms eye view and mainly focusing on low angles to make buildings in particular seem much larger and surreal than they actually are.

On the right are two examples of settings used within the noir genre of movies, the top demonstrating an obscure shot and the second showing a eye level shot, to show a good contrast between the two.

Following on from the locations is lighting. The lighting and colour compliment the setting quite well. Being 'noir' as a genre, the black and white colour goes without saying. However the lighting emphasises the harsh colours, making the images quite sharp. The strong theme of lighting that runs throughout any noir film is the harsh shadows that follow the characters, in almost every night scene a very pronounced shadow will follow the character, giving a sense of eeriness and that someone maybe following. In most scenes there is only one source of light and it tends to be of a natural source, for example light from the window or from a lamp. A spotlight is also used, for example when a detective is standing in the moonlit street there is a spotlight from the lamp focused on them. By using this it draws focus onto the one character and also can be used to build tension within the scene.

From left to right: example of spotlight, example of shadow which comes across very sharp and strong, and the last a shadow example but not as strong as the last.

The costume has the stereotypical feel of the time period it was made in. So the glamorous 1950's style strongly comes through with the women especially, with: big skirts, long tight fitting dresses (for the femme fatale), hair in loose curls or pinned in buns around the face. For the men? Trench coats, and suits and hats. Not much to go on for the men, however simple and effective clothing is used however it very prominently brings across the detective/higher class feel to it. As well as this, the men also have props such as guns and cigarettes to keep the stereotypical view of a detective.