Functions and Visual Styles

Conventions of Film Noir

Close Ups  and Mid Close Ups are used often in Film Noir. Close Ups are normally to reveal more to the audience about the characters emotion etc. However the face is sometimes covered or shadowed in Film Noir in this case by a hat to build suspense and intrigue the audience.








The use of silhouettes and shadows are well known when it comes to Film Noir. A dark figure often in the smoke from a cigarette or the fog can appear unsettling for an audience making that character mysterious with a hidden identity.

The shadows of Venetian blinds or banister rods would often provide an iconic visual in film noir due to the use of low key lighting; these were regularly cast upon an actor, a wall or an entire set which had become well known to be done during the film noir era.

The females in film noir are either of two types; dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or Femme Fatales- mysterious, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, manipulative and desperate women. Femme Fatales always appear very glamorous and seductive in the way they dress and their whole ora.

Over the shoulder shots helps to establish the position of each person, and get the feel of looking at one person from the other's point of view. It's common to cut between these shots during a conversation, alternating the view between the different speakers. This also can hide the identity of a character while another develops.

Exterior shots were often urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet dark alleyways, flashing neon lights, and low key lighting. Story locations were often in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit and low-rent apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses.