HISTORY OF FILM NOIR

The visuals of film noir are deeply influenced by German expressionism in the 1920’s. With the increasing opportunities which were offered by Hollywood, in the late 1920’s many people fled from Nazi occupied Germany, to America, including many directors and producers. Because the time of mass emigration from Germany, many of the cinematic artists had been involved or closely linked to the expressionist movement, which brought to Hollywood the ideas of shadowed lighting and darker storylines to create the noir styling which we recognise.

   Even though the noir style originated from Germany, the actual phrase “film noir” was created in France by film critic Nino Frank in 1946.It literally meant (black film)  in French and described the visual appearance of the genre, including high contrast shadows and even could be linked to the darker storyline that became popular.

    These types of films became highly popular after the Second World War as they were quick and easy to make, which was important after the financial state of America after the war. They also were representative of the country at that time. The female characters played an important role being of “femme fatale”, which was similar to the increased importance of women in the 1940’s because of the roles they had played during and after the war.

Crime and usually murder, is an element of almost all film noirs, they tend to revolve around heroes who are more flawed and “shifty” than what is usually expected of the hero figure. It’s hard to define whether “film noir” is a genre or its own style, many people would argue that the average plot or storyline of a film noir would indeed be able to be put under genres such as crime, drama or mystery and so the “film noir” title would be little more than a style. However it could also be argued that film noirs contain characteristics, unique to that type of film and so would class it as an independent genre.

 

WELCOME TO MY AS MEDIA BLOG AND BRIEF

Hi, Im Larni Martin
welcome to my AS Media blog  this blog will be documenting my progress in my AS media coursework for AS 2010-11 at suffolk new college.

The Brief: film noir opening
My media brief is to produce a contemporary movie opening in the “film noir“genre to be suitable for age certificate 15-18. It is to be set in the modern day and must be a modern take on an original noir style film. Our film opening must include the common values, traditions, and conventions that are included in all the original film noir movies e.g., a crime or suspicious situation, a crooked character. Etc.
  In our sequence we have to update the “film noir” genre and give it a contemporary style and setting so it appeals to the new, current day audience. In our work we will need to also state the type of institution it would sit within. We must also show how it should be shown at the cinema and the distribution pattern the film would undertake. When it would be shown on public television, and the channel or channel category its best suited for.