Representations of Film Noir

Representations in Film Noir on Prezi

Conventions of Film Noir

• Filmed in gloomy greys, blacks and whites.
• The primary moods of film noir were very bleak and often featured moral corruption.
• Story lines were usual twisted, not in chronological order, seen as 'maze-like', e.g flashbacks 
• The films often used low key lighting schemes.
• Credits featured at beginning of the film with class 'The End' as it finished.
• Icons were used to represent characters and emotions within the film, the most famous being the gun.
• Characters famously included the 'Femmes Fatale'; mysterious, gorgeous and manipulative woman

      Film Noir seems difficult to define - whilst researching into it I found that one source said that it was not a 'clear-cut genre'. The era of films that portrayed dark and dreary cynicism through the characters, plots etc. are said to have been influenced from a German expressionism art movement, which displayed themes that address the darker side of the human mind. As well as this there is said to be another influence from Italy called 'neo-realism' which gained popularity during the second world war. During this time films often documented stories of the working class and the difficult moral condition of the times.

      Film noir often featured a difficult moral or economic condition such as those featured in an Italian neo-realist film and also featured the German expressionist ideal of a heightened mood of pessimism and helplessness. It was the French however who pointed out this emerging pattern in American cinema after they had received all of the films made by America during the war. They called the movement ''film noir'' and introduced it back to the Americans. 

Film Noir Stills - Examples

Visually researching into the genre of film noir has really helped me get a feel of how it looks as a genre. Styling is very clear within the pictures, the women are very pristine and glamorous, portraying strong women as you can see from the woman confidently leaning against the lamp post and the lady blowing smoke in the males face whilst men vary from looking quite rugged to very smart depending on the situation they are. Evidence of the storylines in film noir is also present, the picture of the lady looking frantic near the train tracks portray dramatics whilst the photos featuring males and females look as though they are based around romance and mystery. Although this has helped me get an idea of how the genre looks I will still go onto doing research into the history of Film Noir to fully understand what it is about and why it is about.

Assessment Criterias

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Final Piece

These are the assessment criterias for the final piece and research through this blog that I will now be able to refer to to ensure that whichever group I am in I am achieving the academic briefs.

''I Am Legend'' opening - Conventional/Unconventional?

      After watching the opening title sequence to I am legend I asked then weather it was conventional or unconventional? After analysing it and watching it over, I have come to the conclusion that it has aspects that fit into both categories...
      It is conventional because it exposes the viewer to the story by first giving them background information such as the news reel in the beginning, offering an enigma when the audience is then shown the diegesis, the post apocalyptic city, which also conventionally establishes the settings with the different shots of the abandoned city - the miseenscene including yellow cabs and tall sky scrapers, showing that it is a city but keeping the enigma of 'why is it abandoned?'. However the opening is also unconventional as the film first starts with a voice over whilst the studio information is advertised, showing the importance in engaging the audience into the film and not promotion. This in my opinion challenges the conventions and becomes a 'post-modern' convention as it is now commonly done in movies within modern cinema.
      Although there are other attributes to support the argument that the opening title sequence can also be considered unconventional such as the fact that there is nothing within it that reminds the viewer that it is only a movie, there are no director titles or, again, the sound over the studio information to interrupt the true to life experience that is strengthened by the standard 16:9 television screen size of the news reel. There is also no non-diagetic soundtrack to influence the viewers emotions, it is purely silent other than naturalistic sound that is thought of as diagetic to the viewer because the experience is made to be so real.
      However as well as these unconventional aspects there are more conventional ones including the main character acting as a huge hook to the viewers - established very little, begging the questions 'why is he still alive? Driving in the abandoned city with a gun..?’ He is also the first thing, like in many movies, to remind the viewer that the movie is only fiction because of his high status within acting.

      Both the conventional and unconventional aspects have their required effect on the viewer and work together well to create an exciting viewing experience that engrosses people watching within the first few minutes.