AH Noir Research

There are a number of key conventions found in noir films which are often used as a stylistic technique for crime dramas. Some of these conventions are:

Themes

• Film noir ,as a style, was first brought to Hollywood in the early 1940's as German film-makers fled Germany to the USA and began influencing films with their noir genre.

• Film noir is often used for crime or thriller films and in particular, ones that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation, however the genre could easily be adapted for horror which is the genre we have chosen.
  
• The type of films that are influenced by the noir style often show pessimistic views of the world and depict a world full of corruption.
  

Some Examples of Noir Films-

Visual Techniques

• A key visual technique used in noir film's is the use of low-key lighting producing contrasts of light and dark and a dramatic shadow patterning which is something we could easily use since lighting is a key part of horror and we could be easily influenced by the style of lighting shown in noir films.

• Another classic technique is the venetian blinds which is an iconic visual technique connoting the character is trapped behind bars.
  
• In addition, the characters' faces being either partially or wholly obscured by darkness - something often avoided in conventional Hollywood films, but could be adopted by us to create suspense or horror.
  
• The use of canted angles, low angled shots and wide-angle lenses are also all techniques often used in this genre and give connotations of distortion which again could easily be adapted for our idea of horror.
  
• Lastly, night-for-night sequences are another key visual technique as many noir films are set at night to add to the thriller side of the genre. Night-for-night sequences are something we may be interested in doing since horror films also heavily consist of night time sequences.

"Double Indemnity" shows the venetian blinds technique.

Narrative

• Noir films often have asynchronous story lines, often involving flashbacks or flash forwards. This could easily fit into our opening because with our idea of finding a video camera, there could be flashbacks of the events that have occurred to give the audience an insight into what has been filmed on the camera that is found.

• Voice over narration is also frequently used to structure the storyline and the storyline is normally focused on crime, heists or cons, false suspicions, double-crosses and accusations.

Memento has a number of flashbacks and cuts to the present, the latter being shown in black and white to distinguish between the two.

Characters

• The stock characters if the noir genre which are often present are the hard-boiled detective, femme fatales, corrupt policemen and jealous husbands.

• The femme fatale character is often present as she is filmed for her sexuality. Establishing shots often catch the hero's gaze and a low angle with the addition of her costume to emphasise her sexuality.

• Visual motifs associated with the femme fatale include cigarettes with wispy trails of smoke and the possession of a gun - an unnatural phallic symbol.

Stock Characters from Sin City: Corrupt policeman, hard-boiled detective and the femme fatale.

Key Ideas from the Noir Genre

There are a few noir techniques that we could use in our opening that I have found through this research such as:

1. The use of lighting - As we have discussed before, lighting is often key in horror films and with it being so blatant and dramatic in terms of style, it is something we could easily incorporate into our opening.


2. Camera Angles - The use of canted angles and low angles is another technique that could easily fit into our horror idea as it connotes chaos and disorientation.


3. Night-for-Night - The idea of contrasting a mundane and chaotic opening to our horror could be heightened if the mundane part was in day and the chaos was at night. This would be particularly effective and add to the dramatic contrast.