The aesthetic style of Film Noir

Film Noir is a detective, spy thriller genre of film which was especially popular in between the 1930's and 50's and is well known for both its particular and select styles of lighting, strong characters, and dark ominous tones and themes.
'Noir' is literally a translation of the French word meaning 'black' to reflect the consistent bleak moods present within Noir Films.

Lighting in Film Noir is a key aspect of the genre, as they focus on hard and severe lighting, which as many were created in the 40's and 50's were created in black and white, helps create a further extreme and dramatic effect. 
This black and white  element is also used to outwardly portray a characters qualities to the audience. This can be done because of the two juxtaposed
  connotations of the colours black and white. The colour black creates ideas such as death, misery, danger, mystery, and the unknown, whereas white connotes ideas such as innocence, purity, and goodness.
 For example, the image on the bottom right of the collage shows how the mans face is split into black and white through the use of lighting. This represents the characters two seemingly contrasting personalities, his seemingly innocent side and his darker more dangerous side. The darker side of his face creates a mysterious enigmatic impression to the audience as we are unaware of what other aspects of themselves the characters may be hiding. Also the way in which the shadowing falls on the face is as often done in a way that stops the other characters within the shot from being able to see the dark side that is exposed and therefore the possible dangers that the characters may bring.
This dramatic effect is created by the (very often) single strong harsh light source which creates strong bold shadows which can help to build tension, by playing on dramatic irony so that the audience can speculate about what is going to happen, and are more aware than the characters within a scene, resulting in the audience feeling more engaged and therefore more connected with the characters within a scene. 

The camera angles used within Film Noir are usually quite obscure, often using many low or high angled shots, to create a skewed effect, reflecting the tone and mood of the film.
It is quite conventional within film noir to frequently use extreme long shots (as shown in the 2nd image on the left on the first row of the collage) to establish the setting which may also be used to show the isolation of characters and therefore the vulnerable position they may be in. As well as possibly being used to show the remoteness of their surroundings, Extreme long shots can be used to show the space between characters which can therefore be used to non verbally communicate ideas such as suspicion tension  between the two characters.
As well as this, the use of extreme long shots can be used to hide a characters identity, creating a more mysterious, enigmatic and thrilling scene as only the distinct outline is visible to the audience and the audience are therefore unaware of that specific characters emotions or again indeed their identity which makes them appear more threatening and builds anticipation within a scene.
 Tight shots are also commonly used in this sense (an example of these can be seen below under the Film Noir Examples) with the characters obtaining the majority of the shot resulting in the audience being unaware of the surroundings, further building the suspense, tension and sense of unease as the audience feel restricted and almost cornered by their limited sight, which makes the audience feel the panic that usually the characters themselves within a scene are too experiencing.
Contrastingly, extreme close ups although are not as commonly used, are still present in Film Noir as they are used to focus on often certain important props or a characters emotional response, which the audience may have before missed.
  Obscured shots are often used within Film Noir to 
make the audience feel more involved with both the film and the genre. This is a shot which creates the feeling of hiding as if the audience themselves are onlooking the situation and almost spying on them. This can be created by using a tilt shot shown in the example which is perhaps how somebody in that position may look at the characters, or often objects are placed infront of the camera to directly block or "Obscure" the audiences view, in this case, the stairs are put infront of the audiences view which created the impression that they are crouched hiding on the stairs. This shot is frequently used to put the audience on edge and build suspense and tension.

Extreme angles are used to create a more dramatic effect and again are used to build tension within a scene.
Extreme high angles are used to either establish a scene and a setting in often to relation to characters, or commonly to make a character appear powerful to another. 

Extreme low Angle shots are used therefore to make a character appear weak and vulnerable in contrast to another character, as shown here.




The body language and composition within the shots in Film Noir are over exaggerated as well as carefully composed to portray the characters in the exact, often stereo-type, character role given.

This is an example from the Noir film 'Double Indemnity' by which the use of exaggerated body language is used to establish character roles, as well as lighting to effectively portray and connote things such as innocence or mysteriousness to reiterate character roles and help set the dark and bleak mood of the film.






The other elements of Mis-En-Scene such as Props in Film Noir are very limited. As you can see from the example collage below, the consistent theme of props used are limited, but the frequent appearance of cigarettes is not unnoticed. This is probably because smoking was regarded as glamorous and sophisticated at the time of many of these films were produced in. Also because of the nature of the genre, guns are also a frequent occurring prop used.

Costumes are also very similar within Film Noir as they usually require a glamerous and attractive woman, therefore wearing distinctively feminine and seductively suggestive clothing such as dresses, a detective or inspector who dress to their stereo type and therefore wear trench coats and hats which therefore are also used to hide their identity, as well as businessmen who will appear smartly dressed to conform to their 1950's gangster role in suits,hats and ties, to represent their state of wealth.

The locations used in Film Noir are usually busy urban settings in major cities in America such as New York so the audience feel like they are aware of where the story is taking place. However, the sets and locations within the cities are often quite small such as alley ways, bridges and staircases to give the impression of claustrophobic and trapped people in big places, which could link back to the idea that they are trapped in a situation and although it may appear they have everywhere else to run to, they are actually far more limited in choice than it would at first appear.

Example images of Film Noir
The above images show the repetitive conventions within Film Noir, such as the strong chiaroscuro lighting to cast strong shadows for a more dramatic affect, the glamorous role that women portrayed, shown through their flawless appearance and suggestive clothing, as well as the idea of deceit, betrayal, and the clashes between the two genders as a key theme.

Batman-Dark Knight Rises

Anna Karenina

How to shoot a conversation

When shooting a conversation, as the focus of the shot is to capture the dialogue, body language and facial expression of the characters, only a few shorts efficiently capture these vital elements in a conversation meaning it is common for very few shots to be used when shooting a conversation.

 However it is important that even if few shots are used, that the shots constantly change to still keep the audience engaged, and to make sure the audience are aware of both characters verbal or non-verbal (body language, facial expression etc) responses to one another.

In despite of their being few other shots other than close ups, or indeed extreme close ups or mid shots, usually in a conversational scene there is a momentary extreme long shot of the setting. This is known as the establishing shot as it informs the audience of the setting in which the conversation is taking place.

Extreme Long shot from 'Leap year'

Master shot from 'Leap Year'

An example of this is from the film 'Leap Year' where by the audience are at first introduced to the setting, although only for a few seconds, it is enough to show that they are in a remote, romantic and traditional setting which importantly sets the mood for the conversation they are having.

Another type of shot which is almost always used is a master shot. This is the shot of all characters present in a conversation and is usually a mid to long shot which displays both characters dialogue and body language or facial expression. An example of this is once again used in the film 'Leap Year' in which both the characters are in the frame with both of their faces clearly in full view to the audience. Although this is a mid shot of the characters, they are still close to the camera meaning that the audience can therefore clearly see both characters facial expressions and body language within one shot.

Over the shoulder shot-'Leap Year'

The arguably most common type of shot used when shooting a conversation is an over the shoulder shot as it makes the audience feel as if they are truly in the setting and present at the time of the conversation. It also makes the audience feel involved in the shot, but able to view it from a slight distance so that they can take in what is happening in the shot. It also reminds the audience of the other character in the scene, as for example if a point of view shot was used entirely through a dialogue scene, the audience would feel too emotionally involved and forget about the other character to whom the first is talking to. 

Close up from 'Leap Year'

Close ups are also extremely important when shooting a conversation as it is often needed to show a characters emotion or opinion to something which has been said, and a close up can be equally as effect as dialogue and is often used so that the audience know immediately of the response of one character from what another is saying or said. An example of this is again from the film 'Leap year' when the female character is having an epiphany about what the other character is actually saying, and the audience are therefore informed that she understands the situation, without the other characters dialogue being interrupting.

                                                                                                  

   Another technique used when filming conversations is the 'shot reverse shot' filming method. This is when the camera is often, but not always, a point of view shot, and captures somebody looking at an object. It then cuts to what they are looking at, and once more to the person looking at the object. 
Here is an example below from Harry potter, when Ron and Harry are introducing each other, the shot reverse shot is frequently used, as well as later when Ron is watching the chocolate frog, a shot of the chocolate frog jumping out of the window is shown, and Rons facial expression after.

Also, it is important to consider when shooting, the number of cameras and sequences in which they are shot in. For example, the order in which you film things will differ depending if you are shooting the sequence with one camera or two. This is because if you are shooting with one camera it is commonly thought to shoot the Master shot first, being the main shot with both characters in, and then the individual character shots, and finally pick up shots (the odd shots such as extreme close ups of somebody's hand.)
However, if you are shooting with two cameras, you should shoot the Master shot, whilst shooting the pick ups, and then two cameras can be set up to shoot each characters individual shots at the same time, which is a less time consuming and  more convenient method of shooting.

To make the shots seem smooth and consistent in dialogue scenes in which their may be fast paced movement, match on action should also be considered. This is the means of cutting from one shot to another view that matches the action and pace of the shot before to create the impression of continuity.

It is still also important to consider the 180 degree rule as to not confuse the audience on the seeming change of position of the characters.