What actually is film noir?

Film Noir is a type of film that originated in the 1930s and while being most popular from the 40s-50s is still considered a strong distinct genre of film. Film Noir originated in America, and is a stylish form of film where the main themes seem to be mystery, suspense and seduction. Several popular noir films have been made. Here are a few examples for some popular well known film noirs. Double indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, Kiss me deadly and The Black Dahlia. Film Noir was extremely popular after the events of the second World War, as the general population was very much use to the idea of violence and in all it was a rather depressing period of time. Another thing that film noir played a big part in was gender roles. After World War Two women had more power and men felt very intimated. Film Noir tried to influence people into falling back into the old roles that genders filled before the war. The films often portrayed the women as being the main reason everything would go wrong. Surprisingly, it would seem that this actually worked in some sense, as gender roles did slump back into their original ways after the 1940s.

Characters

Film Noir has several staple character types that frequently appear in film noir titles. Firstly, the main character would often be the 'everyman'. The average American man. White, normally around his mid 30s and with a stable but boring job. He often becomes an anti-hero during the course of the movie. It was easy for the everyday man to relate to this character and for this reason film noirs were primary focused at the middle aged white man.

The second most important character is without a doubt the femme fatale. Also white and in her 30s, the femme fatale is the normally cause of all the problems of the everyman. Seductive, demanding and dangerous, the femme fatale will often lure the everyman into a situation he can't get out of and which usually leads to his death. But it worth noting that it is also rare that the femme fatale will survive the film.

While the everyman and the femme fatale are without a doubt the most important characters, there are several other standard characters. You have the nemesis of the everyman, normally also white and in his 30s, this man is sometimes also after the femme fatale, or sometimes just trying to catch the everyman for causing trouble. (Normally for the femme fatale.) You also get the henchman, also in their 30s and white, these men normally track down the everyman or the femme fatale and are more than often responsible for the deaths of any characters in the story. Finally, you have the girl next door. Similar to the femme fatale, she may be attractive but she isn't as attractive to the everyman as the femme fatale, and doesn't often try to seduce him either. If the everyman survives the story, it's normally the girl next door who picks up the pieces and looks after the everyman.

As you can see from above, there is a clear link between all the staple characters in film noir. They're all white and in their 30s. This is because at the time of the height of film noir popularity, the African american population still didn't truly have their civil rights.

The narrative of film noirs are pretty simple and often don't stray to far. The everyman is a bit fed up with his day to day life. He'll meet the femme fatale and fall head over heels for her. The femme fatale will then seduce the everyman and convince him to do something irrational to (More than often!) get money so they can run away together. The everyman will do this and the femme fatale will often run off with the money, leaving the everyman to take all the blame, and more often than not, get murdered by someone he's upset for her. The films often start at the end of the story, and the everyman will narrate over the films, until it all comes full circle.

Editing and Camera

Editing and camera wise, the uses of both are very simple. There are never any fancy transitions, often instead being fast cuts and possibly a fade away. Camera angles are held for a long time during conversation or moments where suspense is being built, while chase scenes or fight scenes (Which their aren't many of!) use quick cuts and no camera angle is held for long.

Lighting also plays a large part in film noirs. The use of shadows and smoke is also heavily empathized and used to set the atmosphere. I believe that the use of shadows are normally used during scenes of suspense and mystery while the use of smoke normally sets the atmosphere for confrontation or general conversation.

Mise En Scene

The setting of most noir films also take place in the middle of cities, and the main segments seems to take place at night. It's dark and it's gritty, even in the day time the black and white that most film noirs use makes it look very depressing. Most film noir films wont end happily either.

I hope this has helped your understanding of the film noir genre, the context for this work is that film noir is what our coursework is entirety based on, so I need to make it clear that I understand what the film noir is.