Noir
narratives serves a lot of features. First, the central themes of the
narratives are about sense of entrapment, as murders,
betrayal, and psychological entrapment and complex plot with lots of twists and
turns and flashback versus present. Film techniques also used to enhance
noir narratives, including mise-en-scene, mise-en-shot, lighting, editing and sound.
On mise-en-scene aspect, noir involves setting like cramped, suffocating, and
chaotic via the props with over-furnished rooms with lots of objects to create entrapment and danger feel. As mentioned by (Borde
& Chaumeton, 1995), film noir set in black style, gives the ephemeral
reaction to a moment in history. There will be punishment paid off on the bad
things done. Death comes in the end as actual cases that happen. And film noir
also shows the criminal psychology. According to (Naremore,James, 1998), images of wet city street, pop- Freudian characterization and
romantic fascination were used as film setting. After 1946, Vian produced film
that set with indigo mood, smoky jazz club, American fiction and romantic
isolation. Besides that, postwar settings are very common in film noir like
The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) which many building was destroyed and uneven.
Besides that in The Witness for Prosecution (Billy Wilder, 1957), the
suffocating and uneasy feeling showed by hanging many photos and fills the
rooms with thing.
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Sunset Boulevard: Over-furnished
house create entrapment feel
Low key lighting is used to create chiaroscuro effect which contrast between bright and dark, threatening shadows in tightly framed shots via dropped down low key light, sharp can be seen. The used of lighting can create the gloomy tone of the narrative present. Some pools of light that emerge from blackness were using instead of Hollywood artificial studio light. (Conley, Tom, 1987). Backlight also been used by directing light towards camera to create obvious shaft and reduces foreground detail at the same time.
Low key lighting, Light/ Dark contrasts, Use of shadows, Chiarascuro lighting
Costume and make up are very important in film noir in order to show out the femme fatale. The female character normally has the exaggerated costume to emphasis on the sexuality, powerful and attractive. Besides, their makeup that been used are heavy. For the good women, they normally wore simple and light make up to show out they are very pure and kind.
When
comes to editing, flashback used as editing continuity to suggest
unconscious by put together all the time difference between all the illusions
(Conley, Tom, 1987), example like Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) fade
in, fade out and dissolved are very basic editing in film noir. Those editing
used to represented the time is passing like after fade out then is another new
day.
On mise-en-shot aspect, camera
position seems portray German Expressionism, which shows distorted
visual to make the character seems longer. (James Naremore, 1998). Disorienting
camera angles also used to gives the visual of off balance via non straight
horizon, or other strange angle to build the sense of the world wasn't right
somehow.
The Third Man
Shadow of A Doubt:
High camera angle on an uncle's point of view, which stares down at Charlie
High camera angle on an uncle's point of view, which stares down at Charlie
From
(Conley, Tom, 1987) "Stages of “Film Noir” journal article, noir shot
scale use cutaway shots. Most of the shots seem to use complex compositions as stylistic effect and save money. Several actors were framed in a
shot, standing in a triangular
pattern so that each could be seen talking.
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