HL: The conventions of Film Noir

Double Indemnity (Wilder,1944)

What techniques might be used in this film?

• The use of low-key lighting is evident in this piece, as we see them used to add obscurity to the main characters. This can also be done by the use of mise-en-scene, where a character is wearing a hat or 'popping' up their collar of a jacket.
• The use of shadows can also be seen, mainly from the use of banisters and/or venetian blinds. Again to influence the level of light being fed into the scene.
• Dialogue is also relevant, many of the lines are spoken fast which connotes ideas referring to crime. The stereotypical  view of a vigilante, some one under pressure.
• Techniques such as the use of flashbacks and flash-forwards especially are very clear conventions of film noir.
• Not to mention the introduction of the femme fatale/ spider women who is renowned for beauty but also he deviance. This shows the audience how her morals are ambiguous.
•  Even though she is often presented as empowered, their character type rarely survives the whole of the film.

The Femme Fatale