Today I spent a long time researching Film Noir and Neo-Noir
and found that I had SO many misconceptions about both of them.
So, some quick background. Film Noir refers to a period in
the history of American Cinema, beginning with the Maltese Falcon (1941)
directed by John Huston, and ending with Touch of Evil (1958) directed by Orson
Welles. Many of the films within this period were crime dramas that with
cynical, world-wearing male protagonists that reflected the feel of America at
the time.
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| The Maltese Falcon (1941) |
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| Touch Of Evil (1958) |
Heavily misogynistic, (not my favourite thing about film noir, I’ll
admit) they usually contain two types of women; heavily virtuous damsels or
femme fatales, women whose sole purpose is to lead the hero astray, usually
through some kind of sexual manipulation.
Man, I love 1950’s America….
Something that heavily influenced these films was the introduction of the Hays Code. Feel
free to read through all of it if you’d like. To sum it up:
1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral
standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never
be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the
requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall
sympathy be created for its violation.
This meant that the bad guy always got his, there are
consequences to breaking the law, and sex is bad. Simple, right?
When the neo-noir era came around, the Hays code had been
done away with. Say hello to gratuitous sex and violence, kids. “In a different
vein, films began to appear that self-consciously acknowledged the conventions
of classic film noir as historical archetypes to be revived, rejected, or
reimagined. These efforts typify what came to be known as neo-noir” (source). Again,
many of these films reflected a somewhat cynical period in American history,
with the Cold War hitting its peak.
Well, that’s enough about the background really. I’m far
more interested in the visual characteristics of noir and neo-noir films.
Luckily Geekcentricity has a fantastic article called “The
Elements of Neo Noir” which compares the two. I’m not going to go into as much
detail here, but I’ll list the basics and a brief explanation:
- Chiaroscuro lighting (I had a lot of fun learning how to pronounce that) – High contrast lighting. Mainly used in Noir due to the limitations of cinematography (black and white). Not used as much in Neo-Noir due to colour, but is still often used to emphasise characters or details.
- Bars, Diagonals and Frames within Frames – often used to show entrapment or confinement.
- Long Tracking Shots and Deep Focus – characteristic perfected by Orson Welles and Gregg Toland.
- Obscured scenes – smoke, fog, rain, darkness etc. Shows confusion.
- Urban settings filmed at night – Angular imagery, enhances feelings of entrapment. Somewhat turned on its head in some neo-noir films, sometimes snow or bright sunlight or small towns used to the same effect.
- Dutch Angles and Inverted Frames – strange camera angles. Not often used in Neo-Noir, but still used occasionally.
- Water and Reflections – mirrors, puddles, etc. Not often used in Neo-Noir, but still used occasionally.
Feel free to go further into them if you’d like. There are,
of course, other characteristics of noir and neo-noir cinema, such as eroticism
and sexuality, violence, betrayal, world-weary male protagonists and, of
course, femme fatales, although often in neo-noir the femme fatales are a
little more complex.
These are all elements that I’m including in my style guide
currently. To get further inspiration, and to analyse and apply some of the
techniques used to my own work, I watched Kiss Me Deadly (1955).
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| Kiss Me Deadly (1955) Robert Aldrich Opening Credits. |
Directed by Robert Aldrich and released in 1955, it’s an absolutely
awesome and somewhat self-aware film that puts you on edge from the beginning.
This film is so desperate for you to feel confusion and discomfort that the
opening credits run backwards. It’s bloody brilliant.
I got some fantastic reference in terms of environments, characters, composition, and lighting. I managed to get around 70 stills throughout the movie, varying from classic film noir tropes to bright LA streets, beaches, and poolsides thanks to Ernest Laszlo, the director of photography.
The first scene of the film is filled with mystery. The isolated feeling you get as you watch Christina run along the road in nothing but a trench coat in the middle of the night is further heightened by the fog and chiaroscuro lighting, with the car's headlights giving Christina's strong silhouette some brilliant rim light. Brilliant shot and immediately sets the tone of the film; you have no idea what is going on.
This scene takes place just after the attempt on Mike Hammer's life and the death of Christina. Considering the previous scenes were filled with confusion and feet, the dutch angle in this scene continues on this path. Something feels not quite right and you're well aware of it from the outset. The geometric patterns cast by the Venetian blinds, a common visual trope in film noir, often reflects a feel of entrapment, which is definitely present in this scene.
Reflections and frames within frames are a big deal, as I mentioned before. In this scene Hammer is being tailed by a mysterious man. The mirror distorts his image and shows the immediate danger and the confined situation that he finds himself in. Again, verticals and bars are a common visual cue to show confinement.
This is one of my favourite shots from this movie. I absolutely love it. It's such a bizarre, almost maze-like shot. Its so confusing and uneasy. Strong vertical lines showing how trapped the characters are, the diagonal lines, also casting geometric patterned shadows furthering the intensity of the situation. The chiaroscuro lighting drawing your eye to the character, who is completely trapped within the angles of the scene, heading towards the light.
So damn good.
So damn good.
Fairly simple composition with this shot. Hammer is hidden behind the bars, shadows cast on his face, showing how entangled he's become within this mystery. The unclear, distorted reflection shows the mysterious danger within.
Ah yes. The femme fatale finally gets her comeuppance. The impending nuclear explosion that's about to occur due to her greed, curiosity and inability to listen to the big bad man when he told her not to open the damn box, Silly women, huh? (If you can't detect the sarcasm here, then I suppose I'd best point it our for you.)
Regardless on my political and social views on this noir trope, the shot is quite interesting. Of course, chiaroscuro lighting is used heavily, the under light casting dramatic shadows across her face and onto the back wall. The smoke coming out of the box, which only increases as the scene goes on, again shows mystery and danger of whatever is in the box (a nuclear bomb in case you were wondering).
Another one of my favourite shots, the spooky feet. As much as I laughed at the spooky feet, this is actually a really good shot and conveys a lot to the audience at the beginning of the film. The strange camera angle that completely obscures everything other than the feet continues the feel of confusion from the earlier scene, and introduces you to the sinister feet of the "big bad" who is only shown in this way until the end of the film. Chiaroscuro and the shadows patterns cast as well reflect the confinement of the situation Hammer finds himself in. The composition is lovely, and almost frames the rest of the plot, Hammer trying to push past the seedy underworld of LA to find out what happened to this one woman he can't forget.
Poetry.
Poetry.
I'll be honest, I absolutely loved this film. It was fun to watch from start to finish and incredibly tense at parts, something that not many older films can pull off in today's society. Brilliant watch and Ernest Laszlo and Robert Aldrich did a fantastic job with the cinematography.
I have some brilliant reference for environments, characters and composition and lighting set ups as well. This will definitely have an impact on the final outcome. I also managed to get some basic block outs done today, while watching. With this extra reference, I should be able to pull together a few more fairly quickly tomorrow.
Now, to counteract the noir, I need some neo-noir. Taxi Driver or Basic Instinct, I wonder?
- Hannah
