Film Noir Research

The term film noir describes a type of film that is very dark in its outlook. The word noir is French for 'black', and it was during the 1940s that film noir came into its own. The term was coined by film critics just after World War II. Film noir was the flip side of life. Doomed heroes, manipulative people and hidden personal and political agendas were around every corner. The lighting used in film noir was very dark, creating long shadows and claustrophobic atmospheres that pervade the films. The characters in film noir of the 1940s always seemed to be set in dark, smoke filled rooms, like flies trapped in spider webs.

FILM NOIR PHOTOGRAPHY 

The woman in this image is most commonly known (in film noir) as the femme fatale. The femme fatale was a portrayal of women as they had been seen before. She was the exciting, illicit desire of the male protagonist. She could lure a man to commit murder for her own purposes; the murder would usually be that of the man's wife. In film noir, the gender roles had changed; the woman was usually the stronger character and sometimes the villain. I think that this image portrays the femme fatale very well. Although the lady looks rather elegant and lady-like, the gun gives her a bit of an edge - something to be wary about.

To create the background of this image, shadowing has been used. A plant of some sort has been placed in front of the side lighting (on the right) to give the 'leafy' effect on the back wall. This technique gives the image a bit more depth; instead of there being a plain white wall behind the model there is a more interesting pattern which gives the eyes something extra and more interesting to look at.

http://www.lafterhall.com/filmnoir.html