Codes and
conventions of film noir
Film Noir is a very specific genre which nearly all of the
films follow the same pattern. One of the main conventions of film noir is
moods.
Examples of common
moods often used in film noir are…
Melancholy- Is a mood of a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.
Alienation- the state of experience
of being isolated and detached from something.
Bleakness- lacking in warmth and
comfort.
Disillusionment- a feeling of
disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as
one believed it to be.
Moral Corruption- the act of corrupting a state or being.
Pessimism- is a state of mind in which one
anticipates undesirable outcomes or believes that the evil or hardships in life
outweigh the good or luxuries.
Guilt- the fact of having committed
a specified or implied offence or crime
Paranoia- a mental condition
characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated
self-importance, typically worked into an organized system.
All of these moods are often
portrayed in film noir and are common in famous film noir films.
Male Characters
Anti-hero- a person who often lacks
the characteristics of a hero, the character is often confused the antihero is
often a helpless character.
Hard Boiled Detective- A detective
who often had a strange name for example Sam Spade, or Johnny Jones they were
often middle age men who dressed in trench coats and wore trilby’s. On often
occasions they would be seen smoking or drinking bourbon or some other type of
stiff drink. They were always very cool and calm even when in danger or where
in a rush they didn’t show much expression or feelings on subjects like murder.
They tend to be very flirtatious beings and where quite the ladies’ man. But
would tend to get the job done. There speech would be very direct and often in
one tone.
Villan- Would often be a gangster
or someone from a sort of retro mob like that. They would have a
distinguishable feature about them like a scar on there face or a moustache.
Also they would have names like Robbie Rotten or something like that. They
would be very shady and they would always be seen with either a silouite of
them of a shadow covering most of them sleves to add to the shady sly
characteristic of the villan. Sometimes the villain would be closer than you
think and could be the detectives allies.
Female Characters.
Femme Fatal- The Femme Fatal is
usually shown as a sexy young woman wearing a tight dress high heels and red
lipstick that lures men in to her secret plots and creates tension or problem’s
between the men in the film, getting her in danger. She sometimes could be the
villain’s accomplice to win over the detective and to point him in the wrong
direction to finding the case. Or maybe
even she is the villain, they would also do jobs like roll the detectives
ciggerates and also seduce him into thinking he is in with a chance and then
she can win him over. They are crafty and sly and use there looks against it.
Sound
Voice over- There can often be a
voice over by the detectives who describes his feelings as everything is
happening. He would introduce himself and the other characters’ and tell us a
bit about them. The voice over would add effect and helps us understand the
movie as we go along and he can also make it deceiving for us. As he would
mention his feelings about the femme fatal and then it would turn out she was
not as good as he portrayed.
Foreboding dramatic music- This
adds huge effect to the film, for instance when somebody is murdered the sound
would escalate and become dramatic which makes every emotion and action more
effective and makes everything stand out an come alive.
Lighting
Lighting is a huge part in the film
noir and is one of the important features which make the genre so famous and
recognisable. Obviously all of the films where in black and white but, bold
shadows and lighting effects where used. The lighting effects where simple but
effective, it was as simple as this they would put objects at an angle in front
of the light to make the shadow of the person fit the mood and atmosphere. For
example when the villain would be seen they would make the shadows so you could
only see a limited part of his face and the rest would be hidden by shadows
which all add to the effect. Shadows where a huge part of the whole film noir
movement.
Iconography
Many famous props and objects would
be a constant in the film noir genre. Examples are guns which would be often
used as a murder weapon. Or alcohol or cigarettes would often be drunk by the
detective, villain and other characters and you would very rarely see a man in
film noir without out a beverage or a fag. Blinds where often used to add to
the shadow effects as they would only allow certain amounts of lights in.
Trilby’s and trench coats where also worn a lot and you wouldn’t see a film
noir detective without one.
