Noir film

Noir films very often feature a secretive main character who often has a job as a private detective or something in crime, they are almost always the heros and the villain is often portrayed as being an old fashioned crook that has set out to make money fast not caring about who he hurts on the way. Most noir genre films feature an attractive female character that plays a damsel in distress type role where the hero has to save her.

A lot of noir genre films are set in urban environments, and a lot of shots feature narrow alleys, small offices and city nightlife.You would expect to see iconography like a lot of Dutch angle shots, low angle shots, wide angle shots, low key lighting, manipulated images through convex glass, characters smoking, silhouetted characters and steam coming out from buildings and sewers.

I have watched a few noir style films, especially more recent ones. Noir films usally have a crime/thriller story line. I
Eden Lake features a very sunny happy opening, which engages the audience, as it knows that the happy opening is too good to be true and that something will go wrong. It features many low angle shots in the middle of the film and a good use of close-ups showing facial expressions. Eden Lake also makes good use of lighting as the main chase sequence is in a forest location meaning it is quite dark and glooming which is very noticeable in contrast with the opening where the colour is quite bright. Eden Lake uses many P.O.V shots and canted angles.

Brick also uses the same devices with close-ups emphasising important aspects of the film and a good variety of long shots and low shots. A filter is also used to dull down the colours so the film doesn’t look too glossy and Hollywood like