CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM NOIR

In this post i am going to be describing the different characteristics of film noir these are storylines/narrative, cinematography (shots), editing, characters & representation, mise-en-scene,ideology,sound and iconography.

Storylines/Narrative
the general story line of a film noir is crime, it includes a detective who is normally either in trouble or gets caught up in some sort of trouble, it also includes a feme fetal and a hero which one of them normaly ends up dead and it has something to do with the other one,
film noirs are normally shot in a dark and depressing type location where there is very little light and normally someone is smoking.

Cinematography (shots)
in film noirs they use a number of different shots this is to keep the audience on edge and in suspense, these shots include a dutch tilt which is where the camera is tilted so that the horizon is not straight in the shot this makes the audience have to adjust their eyes as our eyes are not made to see a tilted horizon this makes an interesting and exciting shot which helps to make for a sinister shot, another shot used in film noir is a wide shot which zooms in this is where the camera focuses on a wide area and then zooms in on one person or a group of people to bring more emphasis to the group of people or the one person who the director wants us to focus on




Editing
film noirs where B movies which means they where made cheaply and using filters meant that they could film at any time of day and make it look like they where filming at night this made it easier and cheaper for them to make the films look dark and dreary without having to find a dreary location and having to shot at night time.
the normal editing for a film noir is to start at the end of the film and then to recall the action of what unfolded in flash backs through the film this is called non-linear.

Characters
the main characters in a film noir are the feme fetal who is usually a very attractive youngish female willing to do what ever she can to get her own way whether its the money or the good looking guy, the detective who normally gets caught up in trouble either helping the feme fatal or in interigating her and the hero who normally ends up dead.
film noirs represent these different characters by their costume for example the feme fetal usually wears casual but revealing clothes when talking to the detective and the detective wears smart clothes and normally a hat, in film noirs they also use music for the different characters to get the audiance to feel a certain way about each of the characters.

HISTORY OF FILM NOIR

The term film noir (french for "black film") first appeared in Hollywood when the term was discovered in 1946 by french critic Nino Frank, before Nino Frank associated the term film noir with this style of film they where unknown to most of the American film industry professionals of the classical era.
Although fiom noir was originally produced in America they are now produced all over the world, the 1940's and 1950's are generally regarded as being the classic period of film noir produced in America.
the story of a typical film noir tells a story of people trapped in unwanted situations, striving against uncaring fate, they tend to include crime flashbacks and usually murder this type of film came around at the time of world war 2.
some film noirs are based on the old gangster movies and to save money they often used the same crew and sets as the gangster movies of the time.
film noir was also heavily influenced by by the "hard boiled" crime books by pulp fiction authors.

the type of film called an aural film noir uses a different approach to showing the mood of the film and the characters, this film uses background music and soundtracks.

in the time when film noirs where first produced there where two different types of movies being made there where the A movies which where high budgetfilms including well known and well paid actors and actresses, and then there where the B movies of the time which where low budget and included unknown and up and coming actors and actresses, film noirs when they first appeared where more B movies using easy to find props and sets from other movies to save money on location costs.

film noirs are based on crime and murder this means that they are good films for an audience who love crime dramas.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

hello my names Emma Coman and i am studying AS media at suffolk new college for our media course work am going to produce a film opening in the style of 'film noir' i will using traditional moods,values and conventions of film noir attempt to bring this into the modern day using modern settings and styles, my film opening will need to be no more than 3 minutes long and have a certification 15-18, we will work in groups of 4 and as a member of my group i will take on the responsibilities for roles in the making of the fiom opening as well as the planning.