film lighting

film noir

"I killed him for money – and for a woman. I didn't get the money. And I didn't get the woman."

Double Indemnity (1944)

Translates as 'black cinema', a style of film-making that is largely dependent on light for its effects.

Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon

Term used to describe crime dramas, particularly those that emphasise moral ambiguity and sexual motivation.

Spade & Brigit

Noirs use low-key lighting schemes,

producing stark light/dark contrasts (chiaroscuro) and dramatic shadow patterning.

There is more to them than light. Other features include: deep-focus camera work

disorienting visual schemes,

jarring editing or juxtaposition of elements,

• canted camera angles

circling cigarette smoke,

Unbalanced compositions.

but it is the light that is primarily responsible for the characteristic mood

"She can't be all bad. No one is.""Well, she comes the closest.""He couldn't find a prayer in the Bible."

"It was the bottom of the barrel, and I was scraping it."

"Oh Jeff, you ought to have killed me for what I did a minute ago.""There's still time."

a fatalistic mood leavened with provocative banter:

Settings were often interiors with low-key lighting, Venetian-blinded windows and rooms, and dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances.

Exteriors – urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet asphalt, dark alleyways, rain-slicked / mean streets, flashing neon lights, & low-key / high contrast lighting.

Story locations were set in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit and low-rent apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses

The shadows of Venetian blinds cast upon an actor or a wall, are an iconic visual.

Characters' faces may be partially or wholly obscured by darkness – a relative rarity in conventional Hollywood moviemaking.

Films made since 1958 are generallyreferred to as neo-noir.

They include the superb Chinatown (1974)

The influence of noir can been seen in the films of director Christopher Nolan:in Memento (2000);

Batman Begins (2005)

especially The Dark Knight (2008)

Sin City (2005), made in stylised black and white with the odd bit of colour.

"Don't be too sure I'm as crooked as I'm supposed to be."