Film Noir Definition

'Film Noir' means 'black film' in French. The films that are known as 'film noir' for the fact that the lighting in them is very low-key and very limited. The story of the film is very negative with cynical characters and there is never usually happy endings. They are also very bleak and depressing and are usually set in the city or in urban areas.
Their plots usually revolve around cynical attitudes, violence and sexual motivations. The first film noir films were set in the 1940 and late 1950s.

Characters

The women in the films that have the most important roles as characters are usually 'femme fatales'. These women are very seductive and attractive and use this to seduce men in order to get them to do horrible things for them such as murder an enemy.
They are evil characters and film directors created these characters because of the way women were seen after the war because they had taken the mens jobs and were much more independent than before the war because there was barely any men who had not gone away during the war. Film directors wanted to make women seem evil and dangerous.

The main character is usually always a man who gets in trouble because of a 'femme fatale'.
Men in 'film noir' films are usually very easy to convince into doing terrible things because of an attractive woman. They seem to be very naive and predictable.


Visual Styles

• The lighting is always very limited and light is usually used to highlight important objects or people in the films which is very effective and is still used in modern films,
• Deep shadows and silhouettes are used commonly in 'film noir' films because they are so dramatic and effective,
• Black is the most used shade in 'film noir' films as it is what makes them so emotional and dramatic,
• Black and white visual style,
• The light that is used is bright which causes the high contrast and is used to highlight key individuals or objects.

Movie Structure and Plot

• The narration in the films are usually from first person perspectives which is very effective especially when flashbacks are used,
• The theme of the movies are usually based around crime and murder and include violence and weapons such as guns and knives,
• The environment that the films are set in are usually in urban cities,
• Most of the characters smoke in the films because it was seen as being sophisticated which adds to the atmosphere of film noir films.