genre

Question 1

what is film noir?

Answer 1

• films form 40s/50s that see the world as a dark, foreboding place
• cynical attitudes and sexual motivation
• lowkey black and white visual style
• stark lighting, flashbacks, intricate plots
• ‘hard boiled crime fiction’ that came out of US depression

Question 2

is film noir a genre?

Answer 2

• most american film industry weren’t aware it existed at the time
• historians/critics applied the theory in 1970s
• ongoing debate as to wether it is just ‘melodrama’
• inspired by german expressionalism

Question 3

main character of a film noir could be:

Answer 3

• private eye
• law abiding citizen turned to life of crime
• policeman
• victim of circumstance

Question 4

social context of film noir

Answer 4

• world enveloped in darkness
• the great depression - 1929 until early 1940s
• unemployment
• horrors from world wars

Question 5

lighting of film noir

Answer 5

• isolation from society of typical noir hero/villian was underscored by the use of stark high-contrast lighting - notable film noir feature
• stark contrast / lowkey lighting complimented the inner state of the primary characters
• acts as symbolism - characters falling into darkness and shadows creates strong foreshadowing and can reveal their true desires and emotions

Question 6

chiaroscuro

Answer 6

italian term that refers to the intense contrast of light and dark in art to create a strong/dramatic mood

Question 7

silhouetting

Answer 7

intense lighting could create a feeling of strong disconnection from viewers or enact a sense of impending dread

Question 8

dramatic camera work

Answer 8

• low angle shots - audience percieve subject as powerful
• dutch angles/wide angles - distort reality, make the world feel off-balance and distorts the faces of actors
• manipulates reality to convey a story

Question 9

narrator / flashback

Answer 9

• omniscient narrator frequently clarifies a noir plot/offers a subjective, jaded POV
• death/downfall often revealed in opening scene - flashbacks reveal events that led to it
• tension/suspense are increased by the use of all-knowing narrators/flashbacks, so the audience is always in impending doom