CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF FILM NOIR

The codes and conventions of Film Noir are very easy to distinguish, making Film Noirs easy to recognize. The codes and conventions, especially when it comes to cinematography and editing, change very little from film to film and narratives and storylines are used again and again. 

The cinematography of Film Noir films is often distorted, in order to make the viewer uncomfortable. There is a lot of use of low and high angles to give the impression of importance, or unimportance in certain characters. For example, in the film ‘Double Indemnity’ the first shot of Phyllis Dietrichson (pictured) is a low angled shot, showing from the start of the film her control over insurance salesman Walter Neff, who looks up at her from below. There is also a lot of use of dutch tilts, or irregular framing of shots to unsettle the viewer. Faces, or views, are often obscured through objects or seen in reflections to create mystique.

Much like the cinematography, the editing was often irregular and non-linear to create atmosphere. Film Noirs would often start with the end, and then explain the story in flashbacks. Most of these would be continuous, but sometimes there would be use of montages. There was often use of jump cuts and jarring juxtaposition to mess with the viewer, and make them very aware that they were not watching a relaxing show. This would put them on edge, reflecting perfectly the anxious and paranoid ideology of Film Noir.

Mise-en-scene was a big part of Film Noir. There was a lot of use of low-key lighting and shadows, to create contrasting images. A famous light effect used was that of the Venetian blinds. These would be cast upon a character or setting, such as in the film ‘Fallen Angel’ (pictured). The films would usually be low budget and sets would often be recycled from other films, so filmmakers would use whatever light they could. The lack of brightness added to the feeling of a grim and pessimistic society, and the lighting often directed the audience on where to look, deciding for them what details they needed to notice. The films were usually set in everyday locations, moving on from crime movies where crime would happen and the ‘dodgy’ ends of town only. In Film Noirs, crime could happen everywhere further causing distress to the viewer. Damp and wet streets were common in Film Noirs, mixing well with the sleazy and untrustworthy characters that were often found in the films.

In most Film Noirs, the main character would be a “doomed hero” who smoked too much, drank too much and spent a lot of his time contemplating his fate. He would usually fall for the femme fatale, a dame with a past, devilishly sexy and definitely not to be trusted. The majority of characters in Film Noir were sleazy, you would have corrupt cops, criminals and dodgy insurance salesmen just to name a few. The characters would talk in very flat, hard and to-to-point language, further showing their lack of positivity. Many of the language would come from the pulp fiction the films were based on, these were tough and sleazy ‘hard boiled’ fiction.

The primary moods of Film Noir are pessimism, anxiety, paranoia and alienation. The films put forward the idea that America was a brutal and corrupt place, and people were not to be trusted. After the war, people were not in a happy place and Film Noir captured this perfectly. Gone were the days when films main purpose was to make people feel good, cinema was now bitter and negative. This was all reflected in the storylines and narrative used for the films. A common storyline was that the doomed hero would fall for the femme fatale, who would one way or another lead him into committing a crime. The film would then follow the hero’s demise, such as in the film ‘Double Indemnity’. Another story used was that in which the hero would be torn between the femme fatale and another woman, a more sensible woman who truly loved him. Of course, he should choose the sensible woman, but could never resist the sexy and dangerous femme fatale. In order to get past censorship rules, Film Noir developed certain ways of putting across sex and violence, without directly mentioning it. Many of the characters talked in euphemisms, especially the main character and the femme fatale. Also, violence was often showed off screen. This meant the audience would often have to fill in the gaps themselves, keeping them actively involved in the film.

Music was heavily used in Film Noir to create tension and drama. There was a lot of piano music and downbeat jazz, which would help to build suspense. As well as this, many Film Noirs would have a voice over. This would allow narration all through the film, even if the storyline was not linear, or the character died. If the main character was drugged, the narration would inform the audience that the surreal images they were seeing were in fact hallucinations caused by the main characters unfortunate luck. There was also a lot of ambience and sound effects of the city and suburbia.