MISE EN SCENE – LOCATION A lot of film noir’s are set in busy urban

areas, this is to bring a sense of reality from the film to the audience as a lot of the audience will be familiar with an urban location, therefore when negative situations happen in a noir film in an urban area, it can put the audience at unease as they will associate the films’ location to the urban location they are familiar with. Settings for a film noir include dark and badly lit streets in a city, or a police station, or a bar or lounge that has a reputation for being dodgy, amongst other various locations. A lot of the time the locations are dark and wet, using pathetic fallacy to signify the miserable and negative mood of a noir film.

MISE EN SCENE – LIGHTING

In film noir a lot of low key lighting is used which therefore creates effective shadows creating a sense of mystery for the audience. The lack of lighting as it is low key lighting being used, signifies and sets a dark mood for the film. High contrast is used meaning that dark areas in a scene are very dark and light areas in a scene is very light, there isn’t many in between area’s (grey areas) which is effective when creating shadows and strange contrasts over characters faces. The high contrast could make the audience feel at unease as the audience will be used to viewing everyday life in natural lighting, it would be inhuman to see something the way film noirs portray light in everyday life. Another unique lighting technique that film noir’s use are the showing light from venetian blinds creating a shadowing and striped effect.

MISE EN SCENE – COSTUME/PROPS

Props such as cigars and cigarettes are consistently used in film noir’s, they can be used to set the period of time in which film noir’s were created, as in that particular time period, everyone thought it was healthy to smoke. The smoke coming from the cigars and cigarettes are often seen in the scene and looks very mysterious, this could be a signifier of the mysterious narrative that film noir’s hold. Another prop that is used in a lot of film noirs is alcohol which goes hand in hand with some of film noir’s settings such as bars and lounges, but also alcohol is classed as a socialiser, therefore by having a character by another character a drink, it is a great way to introduce either a new character, or a conversation that will help to start unfold the plot of the film. Other props include weapons, the most popular to film noir being guns. Neon lights are another prop, this is to help set the setting of a tacky and run down city, as well as point out all the dangerous hotspots in the city, as I have noticed most bars and lounges will have a neon light outside near the entrance of it.

MISE EN SCENE – EXPRESSIONS AND BODY LANGUAGE (CAMERA WORK)

Important expressions and body language that are important to the film are shown through extreme close-ups and close-ups so the audience can therefore see the characters reactions and feelings through out the noir films. Due to the dark lighting, extreme close-ups and close-ups are needed to show characters feelings and reactions with some definition.

MISE EN SCENE – CHARACTER POSITIONING

A lot of the time, when there is more than one character on scene they will be positioned closely together and will be filmed in a camera shot that only allows the audience to see parts of the characters, this can be uncomfortable for the audience to view as in everyday life they are able to view something or someone in full instead of being forced to view parts or sections of something.

CAMERA SHOTS, ANGLES AND MOVEMENT

A lot of unusual camera work is used in film noir, this is to make the audience feel at unease. In noir films, high and low angles are used as well as Dutch tilts, making the viewing experience uncomfortable for the audience as they are used to viewing every day life in an eye level angle. As mentioned before a lot of extreme close ups and close ups are used within film noir’s, not only are these specific shots used to show detailed expressions and reactions they are also used to make the audience feel at unease as the audience will be used to viewing everyday life in a mid-shot, anything closer than this can make everyday life feel enclosed. The use of reflections with views and faces shown through objects and their reflections are also another camera technique used within film noir. The camera techniques put into place to make the audience feel uncomfortable, signifies that the actual narrative is dark and has been written to make the audience feel uncomfortable.

USE OF EDITING The editing techniques used in a film noir are very interesting. Film noir a lot of the time uses a non-linear start to the end and therefore tells the story in flashbacks to parts of the plot unfold gradually. There can sometimes be some montage editing as well as juxtapositioning (putting two unlikely emotions or circumstances together.) Quick razor cuts between reaction shots can be used in film noir, when tension i being built in revealing the twists in the plot.

USE OF SOUND Downbeat jazz music can be heard in the background of a film noir frequently, this is due to the time period that film noir’s were created in and jazz music being popular, slow and low toned jazz music, also fits in with the Mise-en scene of a film noir as it would be the sort of locations that film noir’s are set in that live jazz music would be played, for example in the bars and lounges. The use of quiet and silence, can be used to build tension as it is uncomfortable for audiences to hear silence, as they are used to having some sort of background noise in everyday life. Another way of building tension in a film noir would be to have sudden noises, by doing this a noir is frightening the audience, who will then be tense and a lot for a sudden noise to occur again. Background sound effects from the setting of scene are almost always used as it brings an extra touch to the Mise-en scene and makes the film seem more realistic, for example if there was a scene being shot in a city, there will be background sounds that you would hear in a city, such as cars or people walking and talking on the streets. In confessional film noir’s there is almost always a voiceover of the protagonist telling his point of view throughout the film.

CHARACTER REPRESENTATION – FEMME FATAL

The femme fatal is always the main female lead in a film noir. I would argue that the femme fatal is a countertype to the stereotype of a woman in film. The stereotype of women in film has normally been that women are housewives and can’t defend themselves and are weak and need a man to rely on. A femme fatal is the complete opposite, she is a beautiful and glamorous woman that uses her good looks to control men into doing her dirty work, then killing the men off. She is a strong, powerful and manipulative woman that can defend herself. A femme fatal would normally wear natural but glamorous make up, such as lots of mascara to frame her eyes and red lipstick (red is a signifier of passion and love, as well as anger and danger) making the femme fatal look seductively dangerous. The femme fatal will normally be seen wearing sleek tight fitting dresses, conforming to the male gaze theory by Mulvey, with elbow length gloves and fur coats, also a signifier of wealth.

CHARACTER REPRESENTATION – PROTAGONIST

The main protagonist is normally either a current detective or a detective that had gone out of work. The male protagonist is a single and lonely man, therefore his weaknesses are normally alcohol and beautiful women. I would argue that the protagonist in a film noir is also a countertype of how men had been stereotyped in the time period that film noirs were created in. The stereotype of a man would of been masculine and strong and a person that wasn’t reliant on women but someone that was there for women to be reliant him. However the protagonist becomes weak when meeting the femme fatal and becomes controlled and reliant on being with her. A protagonist is mostly seen wearing outfits such as fedora hats, trench coats and suits conforming to the detective stereotype.