Film Noir

Film Noir:

Film noir is associated with a low key black and white visual style. The term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most American film industry professionals of the era. Film noirs embrace a variety of genres, from the gangster film to the police procedural to the so-called social problem picture, and evidence a variety of visual approaches, from meat-and-potatoes Hollywood mainstream to outré. While many critics refer to film noir as a genre itself, others argue that it can be no such thing. Though noir is often associated with an urban setting, for example, many classic noirs take place mainly in small towns, suburbia, rural areas, or on the open road, so setting can not be its genre determinant, as with the Western. Similarly, while the private eye and the femme fatale are character types conventionally identified with noir, the majority of film noirs feature neither, so there is no character basis for genre designation as with the gangster film. Nor does it rely on anything as evident as the monstrous or supernatural elements of the horror film, the speculative leaps of the science fiction film, or the song-and-dance routines of the musical.

Extention 2



There is high lighting used in the shot. Most of the light is coming from the open door. A silhouette is created from the woman who's standing by the door. This suggests that where she's coming from (the room) has importance as it wouldn't have been signified through the lighting.

There is top-lighting coming from the door to glamourise the man's face. His facial expression and his cigarette stereotypically means he's a detective who has found an idea. Top lighting wouldn't have been used if the director didn't want us to pay attention to him.

The silhouette created by the filter lighting suggests that the women is mysterious and may have a darker motive. We can tell she has this villainy/uneasy look to her as how she's posing.