Film Noir Essay

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disappointment and unclarity between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and dark lighting and camera angles. Out of all of those there are three things that make a movie, film noir; Good camera angles, Ominous lighting, and a mysterious story. Three good Film Noir examples are The Maltese Falcon, Double indemnity, and Out of the Past.

The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any remorse but instead for his greed for riches. All throughout The Maltese Falcon the camera angles change with the character. Camera angles and lighting affected the mood of the scene, scenes in which contained more mystery had distortion of the lenses and hard lighting to create darker shadows among the characters. By creating depth in the scene and tilting the camera angle so that images were portrait, gave the impression of more events were taking place then actually were in the specific time period. Lighting was abnormal with neon lighting in the background and dull lamp light in the foreground, which created it unable to get a clear picture of the situation. As well as background and foreground lighting, there was lighting that would only highlight specific objects, like the Maltese Falcon, when it was being unwrapped. In some scenes camera angle would be slightly higher than the characters or shown through the character's eyes so to speak, the lighting would be underneath the character, not allowing the audience to see their full facial expressions. Lighting and camera angles played a huge role in creating the mystery in Film Noir.

The Maltese Falcon’s settings are dim, claustrophobic, and Shady(creepy). “Sam Spade is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police when his partner is killed while tailing a man. The woman who asked his partner to follow the man turns out to be someone who is not what she says she is, and is really involved in something to do with the 'Maltese Falcon', a gold-encrusted life-sized statue of a falcon, the only one of its kind.” A Summary from Librarypoint.com of this movie tells exactly how mysterious and in depth this story is based on the suspense it leaves in your mind. The film that’s next up is Double Indemnity.

“MacMurray is insurance rep Walter Neff who gets hopelessly consumed by the powerful charms of femme fatale Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson. Together they plot to kill her rich husband and by making it look like a train accident the premium would be doubled, hence the title. Neff narrates the story, a device Mr. Wilder would use again successfully a few years later in Sunset Boulevard. The one flaw in their plot is the uncanny ability of Neff's boss, Barton Keyes, portrayed brilliantly by Edward G. Robinson, to smell a rat. Barbara Stanwyck steals the show as the completely rotten Mrs. Dietrichson. This character has been credited with inspiring Sharon Stone's role in Basic Instinct. They are, after all, both beautiful blondes with a penchant for murder, an obsession with money and the ability to manipulate men. Only things were a bit subtler in those days. Whereas Stone is reduced to a cheap beaver shot, Stanwyck creates sparks