1. Playing with Shadows – an introduction to
Film Noir dara Hogan

2. It’s a Wonderful Life

3. The Big Sleep

4. Take a moment Take a moment to look at each film still in turn
What do you see in each photo?
What adjectives would you use to describe each photo?
What mood do you feel each photo evokes?
Compare the two film stills

5. Towards a Definition
Film Noir
French critics used ‘Film Noir’ to describe American Films of 1940’s/50’s
Common attributes
Theme
Setting
Lighting
Camerawork
Dialogue

6. Origins Low Budget ‘B’ Movies Compete with TV Double Bill
Newsreel
Cartoons
Serial
B Movie
Main Attraction
Actors/Directors on way up (or down)

7. Low Budget
No money for big stars, fancy costumes, elaborate sets, big stunts
Had to rely on plot twists, clever dialogue, unusual lighting and camera work
Less money meant less supervision
Directors could experiment
European directors brought new influences
Why did European directors move to Hollywood in the 1930’s and 40’s?

8. Source Material ‘Pulp Novels’ ‘Hard Boiled’ Detective Novels
Often trashy
Sensationalist
Sometimes accomplished writers acted as screenwriters
Raymond Chandler

9. Lighting Typical Hollywood movies were very brightly lit
Three Source Lighting
Everything visible
Happy, Happy, Happy
Very Slow/Expensive

10. Lighting ‘B’ Movies often shot at night Tight schedule/small crew
Often set at night
Dimly lit rooms
Shadowed streets
Suited subject matter
Portrayed a dark world

11. Camera Work Re-used sets/costumes Attempt to make them look different
Strange Angles
Shot through blinds
Grid over faces
Rain on a window pane

12. High Angle/Low Angle

13. Extreme Close Up/Depth of Field

14. Hero/Anti Hero Not traditional ‘Good Guys’ Outsiders
Private Eye/Ex Cop
No Friends/Family
Morally Questionable
Brains and Brawn
Do the right thing?

15. Girl Next Door/Femme Fatale

16. Dialogue Narrator/Voice over Slang Double Entendre Broads Bulls
On the lam
Double Entendre

17. Quotes
Marlowe: You know what he'll do when he comes back? Beat my teeth out, then kick me in the stomach for mumbling
Tom Regan: All in all not a bad guy - if looks, brains and personality don't count. Verna: You better hope they don't.
Brendan Frye: Uh-huh. And he wants cash on the nail. He's a pot-skulled reef worm with more hop in his head than blood. Why pay for dirt you can't believe?

18. Setting Documentary style Bars, nightclubs, gyms, doss houses
Usually urban
City seen as menacing and dangerous
New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Gotham
Documentary style
Bars, nightclubs, gyms, doss houses
Alienation
Corruption

19. Complicated Red Herrings Double Crossing
Storylines
Complicated Red Herrings Double Crossing

20. The Big Sleep (1946)
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.
Director: Howard Hawks
Writer: William Faulkner
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and John Ridgely

21. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Tom Regan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Writers:
Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney and John Turturro

22. Brick (2005)
A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
Director: Rian Johnson
Writer: Rian Johnson
Stars:Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas and Emilie de Ravin

23. Suggested Reading Overview of Film Noir The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep
Miller’s Crossing
Brick

24. IMAGES Google Images Advanced search, images listed as 'available to use, share or modify, even commercially'.
Picture Credits:
It's a Wonderful Life, 1946, Dir. Frank Capra, RKO Radio Pictures
The Big Sleep, 1946, Dir. Howard Hawks, Warner Bros.
Roman Holiday, 1953, Dir. William Wilder, Paramount Pictures
Touch of Evil, 1958, Dir. Orson Welles, Universal Pictures
The Man Who Wasn't There, 2001, Dir.Joel Coen, Working Title
The Manchurian Candidate, 1962, Dir. John Frankheimer, United Artists
The Maltese Falcon, 1962, Dir. John Huston, Paramount
My Dream is Yours, 1949, Dir. Michael Curtis, Warner Bros.
Detour, 1945, Dir. George Ulmer, Producers Releasing Corporation
Double Indemnity, 1944, Dir. Billy Wilder, Paramount Pictures
Miller's Crossing, 1990, Dir. Joel Coen, 20th Century Fox
Brick, 2005, Dir. Rian Johnson, Focus Features