CODES & CONVENTIONS OF FILM NOIR

The name ‘Film Noir’ (literally meaning ‘black film’) relates heavily to the general tone and mood with which these films were made in terms of characters, settings, storylines and lighting techniques. These films were recognisable for their generally downbeat tone as well as the cold, cynical characters and rather complex non-linear storylines.         

         

One of the typical stock characters in a film noir would be a female character known as a femme fatale and a storyline would often be centred around her and a male character who would often be a seedy, hard boiled detective or private eye, cop or gangster. Femme Fatales (meaning deadly woman) were represented as beautiful, seductive but also cold, manipulative and often quite slutty. In many of these films the woman would use her power given to her by her attractiveness to take a hold on the man who would find himself unable to resist and manipulate him into doing things which would lead to an inevitable downfall. These things could include killing someone (Double Indemnity) or getting involved in a chase to find an object (Kiss Me Deadly). Male characters are often flawed fall guys who are heavily influenced by their past. ‘Choose a dame with a past and a hero with no future’ is a well known quote related to the conventions of a typical film noir. The femme fatale became common in these films because of the greater power given to women as a result of the war effort. Men felt threatened by this and the femme fatales capture the new found power and independence of women at the time. A distinctive feature of some film noir storylines was that they were non-linear meaning they would start and end at the same place with the story being told in the middle.

          

A common feature of film noir was 1^st person narration by the main protagonist. The voice would be cold, serious and reflective but also sharp and witty. The way characters talked in the films was similar and reflected their personalities with a serious and threatening tone but in a quiet way as shouting was not especially common. Flashbacks from the point of view of one of the main characters were also used regularly as amnesia was common amongst characters. The background music would be foreboding and go well with the voiceovers to add to the negative tone and always give the audience the feel bad things were happening. Often when there was no music heavy breathing could be heard from the characters to show their insecurity and transfer it to the audience. Titles of famous film noirs include ‘Out of the past’ ‘Kiss me deadly’ and ‘Touch of evil’ which all make reference to either death, evil, doomed romances or being unable to run away from the past which immediately give the audience an idea of the dark tone and themes of the films.

         

The style of film noir was heavily influenced by German expressionism which. relied heavily on the use of shadows and minimal light to create the visual style that is associated with classic film noir. The dark shots and settings that were used were designed to give a sense of claustrophobia and oppression to the audience as well as the darkness and gloom that these films were known for. Especially recognisable was the contrast in the shades with light and dark often appearing next to each other.  Examples of the low key lighting used include having half a person’s face being obscured by darkness or a whole person being shown up in silhouette to make them look more threatening. Similarly the use of venetian blinds with light shining through against a dark background would also be used to partially obscure a characters face and emphasise the contrast between the dark and light shots as well as add to the sense of insecurity felt by the audience. Other examples of the cinematography designed to make the audience feel ill at ease included the use of extreme close-ups and dutch tilts which gave the setting or shot an unnatural look.  A typical setting for a film noir was a dark back alley at night in a large American city such as New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco. These streets would often be damp and poorly lit with very little except shadows visible and steam from sewers giving them an insecure feel to the audience as dark urban back alleys are often associated with crime. The interiors were similarly poorly lit and cigarettes and smoke was a common part of the mise-en-scene. The way the characters dressed tended to be similar with men typically dressed smartly in a dark suit and tie with top hat to give him the stereotypical image of a detective or gangster. Femme fatales similarly tended to be dressed in dark shades but generally looked glamorous often with lipstick. One of the most well known parts of film noir iconography were cigarettes which every character seemed to smoke and provided the common swirling smoke background. Guns were another object that were also quite specific to film noir with its roots lying in the Crime & Gangster genre.

           

Overall the ideology of film noir was to mirror what American society was like at the time with the femme fatales capturing the new found independence of women and the storylines and characteristics capturing the general insecurity that was felt at the time.