2. Film Noir (literally 'black film or cinema') reflected the tensions and insecurities of the time period after the war. This was a counter-balance of the optimism of Hollywood's musicals and comedies. Fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia are readily evident in noir, reflecting the 'chilly' Cold War period when the threat of nuclear annihilation was ever-present. The criminal, violent, misogynistic, hard-boiled, or greedy perspectives of anti-heroes in film noir were a metaphoric symptom of society's evils, with a strong undercurrent of moral conflict, purposelessness and sense of injustice. There were rarely happy or optimistic endings in noirs.

6. The chiaroscuro technique dates back to the time of Renaissance paintings. Also sometimes called Rembrandt lighting, it often pertains to having one solitary light source and depicting stark contrasts between light and shadow. This style of lighting may seem minimalistic, but it yields very dramatic results. The high illumination contrast creates 3D depth on an otherwise 2-dimensional surface. Often this technique is achieved by having one bright, solitary light source - usually daylight. But, in a studio set-up, or with a lighting set-up, chiaroscuro can also be accomplished. Here's how