The Rules of Film Noir
Femme Fatale: The women in Film Noir are beautiful, sexy and innocent on the outside. They are usually overly flirty and this caused them to have the upper hand on men. They are power driven and cannot be trusted. They are sweet and pretty at first sight but inside they are bad, dangerous and very secretive.
Heroes/Protagonists: They are usually the willing victims of the femme fatale. They are considered losers because they smoke and drink too much but earn too little. They are often womanisers.
Pulp fiction: Pessimistic stories about hard boiled detectives usually including violence and murder.
Popularity in the 1940's: They were popular because they were cheap to make and appealed to people.
Endings: They are anti love stories and end negatively. Usually include violence and/or death.
Endings: They are anti love stories and end negatively. Usually include violence and/or death.
Hard boiled: This phrase references tough detectives who got into 'hot water' (trouble).
Voice overs: Voice overs were used in Film Noir because it allowed masculine men to show a softer side without appearing weak, helped the film make sense and allowed them to experiment with psychological views.
Nazi and WW2 influence: The war created the conditions in which film Noir was born. Directors were usually from Europe who moved to America to escape Nazi Germany. They saw murder and therefore knew what they were talking about as they had lived it.
German Expressionism: A visual style of nightmare images including lots of shadows, darkness and horror.
Paranoia: Paranoia is a feeling that everyone is out to get you. It relates to Film Noir because in these movies, even the good people are bad. The police are as bad as the villains.
Inhumanity: A lot of people in the 1940's had seen inhuman deeds; war, death, violence, torture. This showed through the Film Noir stories because they were always very pessimistic and American cinema in general at that time was nasty, gloomy with dark endings.
Realism: Film Noir was really exaggerated and included strange angles, lack of lightning and an unrealistic day to day atmosphere.
Shadows: Shadows were often used to create sinister, moody, abstract horror images and a sense of mystery.
Light sources: Usually, in Film Noir, there is only one light source and the angle is low. It's unnatural but very simple and allows the setting to be dark and mysterious.
Voice overs: Voice overs were used in Film Noir because it allowed masculine men to show a softer side without appearing weak, helped the film make sense and allowed them to experiment with psychological views.
Nazi and WW2 influence: The war created the conditions in which film Noir was born. Directors were usually from Europe who moved to America to escape Nazi Germany. They saw murder and therefore knew what they were talking about as they had lived it.
German Expressionism: A visual style of nightmare images including lots of shadows, darkness and horror.
Paranoia: Paranoia is a feeling that everyone is out to get you. It relates to Film Noir because in these movies, even the good people are bad. The police are as bad as the villains.
Inhumanity: A lot of people in the 1940's had seen inhuman deeds; war, death, violence, torture. This showed through the Film Noir stories because they were always very pessimistic and American cinema in general at that time was nasty, gloomy with dark endings.
Realism: Film Noir was really exaggerated and included strange angles, lack of lightning and an unrealistic day to day atmosphere.
Shadows: Shadows were often used to create sinister, moody, abstract horror images and a sense of mystery.
Light sources: Usually, in Film Noir, there is only one light source and the angle is low. It's unnatural but very simple and allows the setting to be dark and mysterious.
Conventions from The Killers
Doomed Hero: The doomed hero is cursed but careless. He's depressed, lonely and has given up on life. He's a good guy that has made a mistake. In "The Killers" this is showed in the quote 'once I did something wrong'. He is out of control and suicidal because he is dominated by a woman who has done him wrong. Swede has a criminal past, used to be a fighter and has 2 identities. He takes a lot of punishment (usually for a woman) and is very attracted to the femme fatale.
Doomed Hero: The doomed hero is cursed but careless. He's depressed, lonely and has given up on life. He's a good guy that has made a mistake. In "The Killers" this is showed in the quote 'once I did something wrong'. He is out of control and suicidal because he is dominated by a woman who has done him wrong. Swede has a criminal past, used to be a fighter and has 2 identities. He takes a lot of punishment (usually for a woman) and is very attracted to the femme fatale.
Femme Fatale: Kitty Collins is a mysterious, sexy and confident young woman who seems interested in the doomed hero but is manipulating him, usually for power.