The Classic ‘Lighting’ of the Era of the Film Noir

The drama in Casablanca comes from the use of low-key lighting. The lighting is used to capture the essence of the drama. The filmmaker uses light or the absence of light to mirror the emotional response of the character for the viewer. The filmmaker uses three different types of lighting key-light, backlight, and fill light.

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. 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 signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.

The scene that I will be discussing for this paper is called “He’s a spy” from the movie Young Guns. In this scene, Billy and his gang are confronted by Murphy’s men. With the mise-en-scene, this helps the viewer identify that the time period being portrayed here is the late 1870’s or the early 1880’s. The mise-en-scene being used for this movie is important in telling the story from a different era as in today’s world, no one dresses this way anymore. Also to include from this scene is the lighting. I will attempt to give an explicit description of the use of the lighting and the sun and how the cinematographer designed for the use of it. Furthermore, I will also discuss the people that are directly involved with the making of Young Guns, the director, the production designer and the art director and their roles and responsibilities.

Lighting as we know, creates the atmosphere for the setting, it establishes the overall tone for what the audience sees. Lighting is key in filming, as it can change tones from scene to scene to create a certain subliminal meaning. For instance the contrasting light from character to character to allow the viewer to understand the differences. Throughout the movie “The Dark Knight” we are able to see how the lighting allows for the directors subliminal meaning to seek through; darkness within. As the name of the movie suggests “Dark Knight” the movies overall tone is set in the darkness. This dark atmosphere allows for an eerie feeling, tension to build up and an anxiety feeling for the viewer. To understand the underlining meaning behind the lighting choices within the film, it 'll be shown by the protagonist, antagonist and the overall atmosphere within the movie.

Between 1940 and 1959, Hollywood produced many crime films characterized by low key lighting, night time urban streets and shadowy images. This genre is known noir film which later evolved to neo-noir. The production of noir films was influenced by low budgeting and German Expressionism. Bound and The stranger are both noir film. Bound is a neo-noir film produced in 1996. Neo-noir is a noir film updated in content, style and visual element. Bound is centered on Violet played by Jenifer Tilly who is a lesbian, prostitutes and a gangster. Violet meets Corky (Gina Gorshon) fall in love with her and wants to leave her boyfriend Caesar ( Joe Pantoliano) also a gangster and money-launderer. But before

The houses also show an example of realistic

Film Noir tags: High contrast filming, low-key lighting provides a sense of underlying evil/undercurrent of malevolence in society.

Many of the houses’ exteriors resemble the style that people attempt to mimic in today's neighborhoods to create a nostalgic connection for those who seek that feeling. The interior design is where the differences in each house can be found. For example, during the 1920s the homes were simple and lacked the amount of technology that houses found later in time had implemented. The houses in the past were smaller and composed of: a parlor room with with a piano and few seats, a small kitchen, a family room, a dining room, and some of the bed rooms. The mannequins wore clothes that were popular during the era; they were posed doing actions that normal life was composed of

Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity is one of the best representatives of the film noir era in Hollywood as it contains all the main characteristics of the genre. The general darkness present throughout the movie is embodied in the plot which reveals the moral bankruptcy of the main characters. It is also present in the mise-en-scene choices such as the dark costumes and modest lighting with the great emphasis on shadows (Allyn 1978, p. 117). The main character’s voice-over, another important film noir characteristic, brings this darkness to life and communicates it to the audience with brutal honesty. One of the scenes of the film which contains all of these features is the one where the two main

Secondly Leni Riefenstahl demonstrate the uses of lighting techniques during Nuremberg Night Rally .By using lighting develop the atmosphere and mood during Hitler's amalgamation speech against the soldiers .“We want to be one people, and through you, to become this people. We want a society without class or rank, and you must not allow these ideas to grow within you. We want to see one Reich! And you must educate yourselves for this. We want this people to be obedient, and you must practice this obedience in yourselves. We want this people to be peace-loving, but at the same time courageous. And for that reason, you must be both peace-loving and strong. We want this people not to become soft, but to become hard, and therefore you

“‘Here I was born, and there I died. It was only a moment for you; you took no notice,’” says Madeleine, played by Kim Novak, as she foreshadows the mysterious events which take place in Vertigo. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Vertigo qualifies as a film noir because it contains a femme fatale, a pessimistic romance, and is filmed by an immigrant director. Many film noirs contain a femme fatale, and Vertigo is no different. Madeleine and Judy, both played by Kim Novak, are definitely femme fatales.

After World War II, the American motion picture studios began releasing films shot in black and white, with a high contrast style known as Film Noir. Though the roots of this style of film was greatly influenced by the German Expressionist movement in film during the late 1910-early 1920’s, and films that resembled this style were made prior to the war, including the early films by Fritz Lang, a German director who fled Germany prior to the war to work in America, this film style would become prevalent during the post WWII era. Besides the shadowed lighting style and the psychologically expressive mise-en-scène, the film noir plot-lines often surrounded crime dramas and were greatly influenced by the pulp fiction novels of the period by authors like Dashiell Hammett and

audience) that he will wait in a café until he finds her. The café he

It became not only a place of living, but also a place that celebrated creative work and innovative thinking. Living without walls opens the door to many possibilities. It is much easier to connect with your children, as was important to Schroder. She felt her children had been neglected while living with their father since every time she left they were then taken care of by a housemaid; she thought this must have been horrible for them and wanted them all to live together. She also wanted to have space in her house in order to celebrate created work. This was accomplished through the design of the upstairs. It itself was a gallery of ideas -- ever-changing each time it was experienced. This atmosphere was very stimulating and put forth a sense of happiness, which was important to her in how she wanted raise her children. Schroder wrote about this atmosphere she wanted to create in one of her letters stating, “This house exudes a strong sense of joy, of real joyousness. […] And that’s absolutely a question of proportions, and also of the light; the light in the house and the light outside. I find it very important that a house has an invigorating atmosphere, that it inspires and supports happiness.” Using open space, natural light, and a modest scale she created a space that embodied happiness and made her children feel comfortable. Also, she felt the way that her children can move and change the space in order to suit their needs gives them the sense that it is their home. The act of designed the space and making it unique to them made them feel

Visually, film noirs are often dark and expressive to mimic “the moral ambiguity in which the characters find themselves” (Fluck 385). This visual darkness is portrayed using low-key lighting and the number of scenes that take place in low lit interiors or exteriors at night. The tone is set through visuals, immediately, as under the opening credits the audience sees the silhouette of a man on crutches, approaching the camera, moving slowly. The feeling of helplessness and despair is portrayed. This is contrasted with the speeding car seen in the next scene, giving a sense of urgency. Once in the office when Neff is about to begin recording his story, the only light is that from a lamp that we see him turn on. The use of lighting through Venetian blinds is another common noir characteristic that is present throughout the film. In Phyllis’s house, the voice over specifically mentions the blinds and the shadows from them are very prominent in other scenes, especially in Keyes’s office and during Neff and Phyllis’s first kiss.