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Evolution of film noir
An essay on film noir
History of noir films
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As the 1940s and 50s phenomena that was Film Noir grew in size, so did its audience base. People during the 1940s and 50s use to go to the movies just to watch crime pack Film Noir, but these film required an intense plot line, an intricate lighting process, perfect camera angles, and most importantly, great characterization. With out these four aspects of Film Noir, it would not have been as popular with the masses as it was. In Film Noir, the plot line in this type of movie are generally the same. The movie first starts out with a crime that often involves the murder of a person. From the murder, a detective or lawyer, the protagonist of the movie who has significant flaws, investigates the crime, but as they investigate, the viewer starts to understand that who the characters in the movie are and that a subplot is forming amongst them. This subplot that forms amongst the characters in the movie is the make the viewers more interested in the movie, yet never misguide them on the fatal future that is ahead. This fatal future for one to two characters is often caused by jealously and love, but it does tell the viewer, if not known already, that the film will not contain a happy ending. Story ends in satisfaction that some characters live on to have a happy life and that the ones whose lives were taken actually helped the people who …show more content…
During scenes where people are partaking in a conversation, the lighting within the film will be called “hard lights.” “Hard lights” is a term used to describe lights that illuminate strongly on a person and created a distinct, edgy shadow. Additionally, the use of barn doors for lights would focus the light on one person or object instead of a wide area. In scenes that evoke a mysterious mood, the lighting is dimmed down so that the viewer has a difficult time deciphering the objects in the picture. Therefore, creating a perplexing, intriguing mood within the
A soft light can establish innocence or youth in a character, and a hard light can establish the evil in a character (Barsam, 222-24). During the bar scene with Terry and Edie, Edie has a softer light that symbolizes her innocence. Edie has been sheltered from the trouble in her town; therefore she is not aware that Terry is in the gang that killed her brother. The main mob boss is often shot with a harsher light. The boss is older and he is pure evil, he is not afraid to kill Terry for ratting him out to the police. The overall film is shot in a hard or high-contrast lighting that features deep shadows (Barsam, 223). The shadows increase the film’s drama and dark style. The overall lighting connects the setting with the plot and allows the audience to feel a certain way about a
While there are many different ways to classify a Neo-noir film, Roman Polanski’s, Chinatown captures many. The 1974 movie consists of many of these elements, including both thematic and stylistic devices. One of the main themes of neo-noir film that is constant throughout the film is the deceptive plot that questions the viewers’ ideas and perceptions of what is actually happening in the film. Every scene of Chinatown leads to a twist or another turn that challenges the practicability of the film’s reality. All of the never-ending surprises and revelations lead up to the significant themes the movie is trying to convey in the conclusion of the film.
Films that are classified as being in the film noir genre all share some basic characteristics. There is generally a voice-over throughout the film in order to guide the audience's perceptions. These movies also involve a crime and a detective who is trying to figure out the truth in the situation. This detective usually encounters a femme fatale who seduces him. However, the most distinctive feature of the film noir genre is the abundance of darkness.
For example, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Burton implements dim lighting during meaningful moments and bright lighting during more vibrant moments. This effectively conveys the tone set for the scene and maintains a clear balance in the scene. This helps the audience clearly understand the scene’s characteristics and its meaning to the film. Similarly, in Edward Scissorhands (1990) Burton utilizes lighting to set contrast between the characters. The superficial town is set in a bright, sunny setting, however, the lives the characters lead are quite the opposite of bright. These individuals spend their free time judging others and have no individuality whatsoever. Furthermore, Edward, one of the only characters who is kindhearted, is portrayed in dull, dark lighting. The lighting contrasts with his sweet personality to emphasize who is accepted and who is not. This contrast helps the audience understand the contradicting worlds of Edward and the frivolous town. In addition, in Big Eyes (2014) Burton implements lighting to show the slow transition of Margaret Keane’s life. The lighting depicts the dulling of her life as she faces troubles in her life. The use of lighting here helps the audience see the clear transition in Margaret Keane's life and clearly understand the conflict in her life. Similarly, Burton utilizes lighting in his films
Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.
mise-en-scene in any film, everything we see has a meaning. But the thing about lighting is we see it,
Orson Wells’ film Citizen Kane received terrific reviews as soon as it opened in 1941. While the average movie buff would not value Citizen Kane as much, for the critics, directors and film students: it provides a technical handbook as to the nuts and bolts of how a film is to be assembled. It has now been chosen as the greatest American film in a number of polls due to the many remarkable scenes and performances, cinematic and narrative techniques and experimental innovations in photography, editing and sound.
The 1920s were a time of change especially concerning the entertainment industry and the build up of movie companies. Entertainment is an important aspect in everybody's lives and just like people entertainment changes constantly. In the beginning of this time period people were becoming less confined and open their minds to new ideas this had an effect of new ways to entertain. The big operation of this time period was films it started out with silent films, until “talkies” pictures that synchronized sound came out. The creation of films especially “talkies” changing movie business, culture, and, created a lasting effect on visual entertainment.
Lighting is one of the most essential techniques to indicate the mood of a movie. In Edward Scissor Hands, Burton blends up the lighting with high and low key lighting to add more emotions to his characters and brighten their personalities. Burton uses the high key lighting technique in the town that Peg lives in. Revealing it as bright and cheerful presenting I to be flawless, but that is only an illusion. In reality the town is hateful and does not accept others, the women create packs t...
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
Film noir (literally 'black film,' from French critics who noticed how dark and black the looks and themes were of these films) is a style of American films which evolved in the 1940s. " The Internet Movie Database LTD. Film noir typically contains melancholy, and not so moral themes. Another characteristic of film noir is just because the main character has the title hero, that does not mean that he will always be alive at the end of the book, or that the hero is always "good." Marlowe in The Big Sleep is a prime example of this concept.
Film Noir is a fairly self-explanatory name. French for “Dark” or “Black Film”, this style (not genre) of film is pretty much summed up in those two words. These films started being made in a 1940’s, Post WWII paranoia, with the threat of nuclear missiles looming over the heads of all United States citizens, Hollywood included. This paranoia led to disillusioned attitudes and existential feelings, which in turn were reflected in Film Noirs through things such as characters, with the two most prominent types being hardened male protagonists and femme fatales. Also, the “Darkness” of Film Noirs was not just a metaphor for the content of the film, but also a fairly literal description of the visual style was like. Taking influence from German Expressionism, among other things, the visuals of film noirs were often of gritty city streets, dark alleys, or smoky, cramped-looking rooms. To add to the dark appearance, the lighting included heavy use of chiaroscuro, a style that is characterized by a dark environment with single-source, high contrast lighting on the subject. While many film noirs fall into the crime genre, as well as detective, there are some exceptions, such as the drama/black comedy Sunset Boulevard. Despite it’s setting and characters being a bit unconventional for the Film Noir style (the film was a fairly realistic account of what goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood), Sunset Boulevard is definitely a Film Noir, due to it’s use of an archetypal Film Noir hero, a femme fatale, and conventional film noir cinematography and storytelling.
For this essay I will briefly describe what film noir is and I will also be critically analysing the film noir “Sunset Boulevard” by Billy Wilder. I will be exploring character themes, thematic concerns and visual style. Film noir originally comes from the French language, it means black film/dark film, this could be referring to the fact that film noir are traditionally black and white as they are from the 1940s to around the late 1950s or because film noir has a dark story line and generally have dark shadowy scenes and shady characters. The story in a film noir is almost always an American crime involving a very stereotypical, average man who lives a boring, routine life and seems to be becoming bored of his 9 to 5 job who stumbles upon
generate moods, and have great psychological affect. This is just as true for the very first series of shots for the film, and perhaps more important since these first shots will give the audience the initial feeling of the film, and set a tone for the picture. The first shot is highly dramatic in its lighting method, and the audience is drawn in immediately to one single detail. A man begins revealing the details of a tragic incident that befell his daughter. We don’t see who he is talking to. There is a spotlight directly above the man, and this is pretty much 95% of the light used. This really lights up the top of his head, which is bald, but there is no hot spot or reflective element which is good because reflection here would be aesthetically displeasing. The lighting causes dark areas under the man’s eyes, which emphasize the passion and eventually the hatred of what he is talking about. The scene is lit so that the background is completely black, so that the only thing we can see is the man. Even though this is logically unrealistic, the stylistic decision to light in this manner is warranted, since this or any other good film draws heavily upon our expectations and imagination to convey a message or meaning. We as audience accept the unrealistic elements, if they assist in making the story ...
Later films would prioritize elements such as lighting and iconography, and ultimately, the setting and look of the film dictated the film’s plot rather than the story determining how the film would visually unfold. I disagree with this idea because while film noir style was crucial in creating a dark, mysterious, and dangerous mood and environment the story is what calls for the use of such devices. Film noirs were about the social issues that arose in the aftermath of World War II. For example, Crossfire is a 1947 film adaptation of The Brick Foxhole, which centered on the issue of homophobia. Because of the Hollywood production code, homosexuality was not allowed to be mentioned since it was considered a “sexual pervasion.”