Powerpoint on the key features and rules of film noir looking at key concepts and styles often identified in this classic genre.

2.  Low camera angle
shows inferior
characters (usually the
femme fatale).
 Camera follows the
eye line of characters
(i.e. detective looking
at femme fatale
because of their
attraction to her).

3.  Cigarettes
 Rainy Streets
 Black
 Shadows (Angle of lighting)
 Lipstick
 Jewels
 Guns
 Torch
 Money
 Low-key black-and-white lighting

4.  One very well known film noir editing
technique is ‘flashbacks’ which are often
presented by the main character
(usually the detective) explaining what
has happened.

5.  Macabre non-diegetic music (usually
representing 1940s - 1950s).
 Flirtatious language/narrative from the
femme fatale to demonstrate her seductive
and powerful nature over men.
 Amplified diegetic sound, often heard from
the gun, punches/hits, etc.
 Diegetic voice overs are often found in film
noirs such as in ‘Double Indemnity’ where
Walter Neff talks about Mrs Dietrichson’s
ankle bracelet.

6.  Mournful
 Tragedy
 Deception/Lies
 Love
 Crime
 Corruption
 Sexual obsession
 Money
 Greed
 Power

7.  Femme Fatale (acts like heroin but is
a sinner)
 Hero/detective (troubled by femme
fatale).
 Victim (usually disliked or victimised
by the femme fatale, who uses the
detective to help her).
 Women in Noir
› The redeemer offers the male protagonist
the potential at domesticity or normality.
› The destroyer places the male protagonist in
a deadly situation, often leading to his
violent death.

8.  Film noir is often set out in a first person
narrative where one character tells the
story, and this links in really well with the
flash backs and voice overs.
 A man meets a woman who persuades him
to commit a crime through sexual
manipulation. The crime is plotted and
committed. As a consequence the man
and the woman are often killed or
imprisoned.
 A dame with a past and a hero with no
future.