WHAT IS A NEO-NOIR?

Neo- noir is a modern take on the classic style of “film noir”. These films usually are set in a modern era and location; however they still retain the classic characteristics of film noir. The changes in storyline and Mise en scene are the most altered, leading to the modernisation of the genre.

A few examples of the Neo noir genre are:

DOUBLE IDEMNITY, 1944,BILLY WILDER

Double Indemnity takes us through the story of insurance salesman Walter Neff and femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson. In this film we see the two main characters meet at the Dietrichson home, where Neff and Phyllis spark immediate chemistry. As the film progresses we see the relationship between the two characters develop. The "hero" character Neff is convinced by Phyllis Dietrichson, to include himself in her plans to create life insurance papers in order to gain a large some of money for the death of her husband. The story continues through the murder of Mr Dietrichson by Walter Neff, and the events leading up to Neff’s confession to the police.

  The story runs in a non linear narrative, we know this because it doesn’t run in chronological order, the main character Walter Neff, tells the story through a series of flashbacks and explanations, with the film ending in the same place where it had opened.

THE MALTESE FALCON,1941,JOHN HUSTON

This summary is taken from “http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033870/plotsummary”

“Spade and Archer is the name of a San Francisco detective agency. That's for Sam Spade and Miles Archer. The two men are partners, but Sam doesn't like Miles much. A knockout, who goes by the name of Miss Wanderly, walks into their office; and by that night everything's changed. Miles is dead. And so is a man named Floyd Thursby. It seems Miss Wanderly is surrounded by dangerous men. There's Joel Cairo, who uses gardenia-scented calling cards. There's Kasper Gutman, with his enormous girth and feigned civility. Her only hope of protection comes from Sam, who is suspected by the police of one or the other murder. More murders are yet to come, and it will all be because of these dangerous men -- and their lust for a statuette of a bird: the Maltese Falcon.”

CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM NOIR

Film noir narratives have often “distorted” storylines. Unlike a basic, chronological narrative, a film noir narrative will often jump between the timeline of a film, distorting the narrative. This could be done with a circular narrative as is shown by first person narration in “The protagonist”.

   Most narrative sequences go in order of “equilibrium, disruption, recognition, attempt to repair the disruption, return to equilibrium. however  in the majority of film noirs, there is an establishing shot, which introduces the audience to the situation. (most commonly a murder or crime) and then commonly a voiceover narration guiding us though the rest of the storyline. This causes major distortion in the narration as the storyline is skipping backwards and forwards throughout the narrative, causing it to follow an unusual timeline in narrative. This is often done using flashbacks or voiceovers like in films such as “the naked city”

Film noirs usually follow a very similar visual pattern. The originals are filmed in black and white and have a very strong contrast between the shadows and the area where low key lighting is present, this automatically creates a mysterious pillar, for the narrative and so immediately, sets a scene. In “sleep my love” this shot using a black silhouetted figure  creates a sense of mystery, whilst sticking to low budget options.

Because  of the tight budgets most of the film noirs had, many scenes were set on location, meaning that the background people (who in high budget films would be paid extras) would have been normal people. This was very common when shooting in large city streets because of both the fact it kept cost to a minimum and also because of the sense of reality it puts forward.
    Another common aspect to consider in film noirs is the angle of camera shots. In most, if not all the early film noirs, shots such as low angle shots and wide lens shots would be used. In both cases this would visually enhance a single character , giving them a sense of importance or mystery. When using a low angle shot, its usual to have only part of the figure in shot the result is to usually make the subject seem of higher importance, or to create a  sense of hierarchy within the scene. On the other hand  a wide angle lens would usually show the whole of a figure within a shot, by doing this, they can create set atmospheres  easily within the scene by using position, body language and facial expressions.


femme fatale



There are certain types of characters that are famously associated with film noirs. Almost all the time in a film noir all the characters will have a “crooked” side to them. This helps keep the dark undertone all the way throughout the film.  The dark characters represented in film noirs could also represent how people were viewed in the second world war, this could be why there is always a suspicious edge the characters. The iconic character is every film noir is the “femme fatale” or the deadly woman. This character is usually the centre of the goings on and tends to draw the “hero” figure into dangerous situations.