Essential Parts of a Film Noir

What is takes to make a film fall into the category of film noir is an endless debate. Yet, this shouldn’t stop you from making a film noir as one of your film projects. It is hard to give this genre and exact definition. Still, some common elements and themes seem to appear in a majority of films that are considered to fill within this genre. The definition of “film noir” is still arguable and changing to this day, but most noir films have the following characteristics. Consider the following features if you plan on making your own film noir.

Most movies of the film noir genre have a generally pessimistic tone with a bleak ending. There are, however, a few films that have what may be considered a happy ending. More often than not, though, the overall feel of the film is bleak. These films also tend to use a simple visual style with low-key lighting. If you’d like to use this style in your own films, look to create contrasts between dark and light and consider using special shots with different angles, like low shots and location shooting. Such films may or may not be in black and white, although classic noir is filming in black and white.

The narration of film noir is also unique. The film usually has a voiceover narration, most often made by the main character but this narrative voice may also be that of another character or an omniscient. Typically, storylines are not chronological but are instead convoluted. Voiceover narration allows for the use of flashbacks, flash forwards, and other devices that can muddle and confuse the overall sequence of events. Although a movie in the film noir genre may or may not contain all the above mentioned elements, these traits are generally considered to be the main identifying features of film noir.