Film Noir
フィルム・ノワール / 1940s–1950s / later revivals / Style / Cinematic Visual Styles
Cuts distrust, isolation and fatalism into the frame with low-key lighting, deep shadow, oblique composition, the city at night, reflections.
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At a glance
Visual cues
- Low-key lighting
- Hard chiaroscuro
- Rain and night streets
- Slanting shadows
Best used for
- Crime and distrust on screen, where unease comes from light instead of dialogue.
- Lighting design for short films and music videos set in the city at night.
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- Place titles and subtitles over shadow so the highlights stay unbroken.
- Composition
- Push the figure to one edge and fill the rest with shadow and reflection.
- Material
- One hard key in low key, wet streets, blinds and grilles cutting the light.
- Caution
- When deepening the shadow becomes the goal, neither the acting nor the spatial layout survives, so carry the city's unease and the character's psychology through composition, light and narration.
- Further study
- German Expressionism / Robert Siodmak / The Big Sleep
Related entries
- Gothic (ゴシック)Shared effects: Luxury / Rebellion.Compare Film Noir and Gothic
- Snapshot Aesthetic (スナップショット美学)Shared effects: Rebellion.Compare Film Noir and Snapshot Aesthetic
More from Cinematic Visual Styles
Continue through styles in the same Cinematic Visual Styles family, prioritised by shared effects.
- German Expressionist Film (ドイツ表現主義映画)Shared effects: Rebellion / Calm.
- Italian Neorealism (イタリアン・ネオレアリズモ)Shared effects: Rebellion / Calm.
- Soviet Montage (ソビエト・モンタージュ)Shared effects: Rebellion.
Browse all Cinematic Visual Styles entries
Cite this entry
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- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/film-noir
- Markdown
- [Film Noir — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/film-noir)
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- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/film-noir">Film Noir — IndexStyle</a>