Film Noir

Film Noir is actually one of my favorite periods of film as I find that each film from this period is beautifully made and full of interesting story lines. While reading through Schraders writing I was happy to see some familiar film titles of some films that I have previously seen. For example Gilda, Mildred Pierce, The Big Sleep, The Lady from Shanghai, and of course Double Indemnity. I was glad that I had this strong base of films that I had seen from this period so that I could associate what Schrader was discussing in this article with the different films. Something that I thought was interesting was the points that he made about how the war affected film noir. This is something that I had noticed in a few of the film noirs that I had seen, especially in films such as Gilda, and it was always something that interested me. Something that I thought was important to note was the three phases of film noir that Schrader points out. The first is the wartime period, then there is the post-war realistic period, and lastly the period of psychotic action and suicidal impulses. Looking at films from the general noir period in relation to these phases is important because it can better help the audience understand some of the reasons why the film was structured in a certain way. For example for the film Gilda is laced with German references. The first article also points out some of the reoccurring techniques that were used in film noir. Before going into these I thought that it was interesting to note how Schrader points out that that there has not yet been a study of the stylistics of film noir. I thought that this was interesting point because when I think about style and then I think about film noir, I feel that there is definitely a set style for the films that I have seen so I would be interested in looking more into style and this point. Some of the techniques that he mentions are how scenes are often lit for the night, light that enters room does so in a strange way (through lines and shapes), the damp streets that fill the films, and complex chronological order. I also believe that these techniques that are used are a part of what make the world inside noir films so menacing. All of these elements are what I personally think make film noir so great. Formal elements are then expanded on in the Place and Peterson article which discusses some of the formal elements of film noir. The first, and one of the most important, is that of film noir lighting. The article states that the main type of lighting that is used in film noir is low-key lighting. This is the type of lighting where light and dark aspects of the scene oppose each other and many shadows and much darkness is left. The second element that is discussed in this article is that of directorial style. The article states that film noir goes against traditional mise-en-scene by using off angle compositions, claustrophobic framing devices, etc. A really interesting concept that I got from reading both of these articles is that all of the formal elements and directorial choices work together in films from the noir period to create an unstable, unsafe environment within the film. Because most of the element choices, such as lighting, composition, angles, etc., go against traditional film they also add to the stories within the noir world to create films that go against to norm.