The Rules of Film Noir: Documentary

The Rules of Film Noir is a BBC Four documentary about the origins and influences of the Film Noir Genre. Film Noir is a genre that I have always found interesting. I have been wanting to make a Film Noir film for a while now.

Film Noir is a world of cigarettes, rainy streets, shadows, guns and black. It is a world of sinners starring a dame with a past and a hero with no future.

Film Noir Characters:

• Femme Fatalle - the black widow, beautiful and sexy but you can't trust her, dangerous, superior
• Men - drink too much, earn too little, struggle under the weight of their cynicism

People in Film Noir desire to escape this world gone wrong. They are trapped in these spaces, trying to rip their way out of them. The inner monologue is often used to carry along the narrative.

The visuals of Film Noir are smoke, dimly lit streets and long shadows. It is monochrome, dark and moody.

This is achieved with very stylized Cinematography. The lighting is down low, with only 1 or 2 lighting sources. Low angle shots make characters appear taller as they come towards the camera to appear more menacing. Off-screen space was often used for violence to get round strict censorship laws but also because the audience will imagine something much worse than anything the film-maker might show.

The European film-makers who moved to America to escape the Nazis in WW2 brought new styles with them such as German expressionism, which heavily influenced Film Noir.

Noted Film Noir:

• Double Indemnity, by Billy Wilder - 1944
• In a Lonely Place, by Nicholas Ray - 1950
• The Killers by Robert Sidomak - 1946

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