Film Noir

Film Noir is a french term which means 'black film'. This term was primarily used to describe Hollywood Crime Drama's. A good way to understand the codes and conventions is to identify the common moods and scenes.

Characters:
Vladimi Propp studied folk-tales and outlines 7 types of characters, these included: the villain, the doner (prepares the hero and gives some magical object), the helper, the princess, the false hero, the dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off) and the hero.
Within Film Noir's there is usually a main male character who is drawn to a femme fatale (a women who is beautiful however pretends to the the fly while she builds her spider web. In other words she plays the victim to the dominant character however she is the one that has created the crime and to cover her act she has produced a persona of someone in need). The man is encompassed by the presence of the women until he see's that she is the person who has caused all the issues.

Sound:
The sound within the film is very structured, many voice overs are placed. They're put in to draw the audience in and allow them to understand the thought and feelings of the characters.

Mise-en-scene:
The lighting in Film Noir's is very specific there is a lot of low key lighting, black lights and fill lights are most frequently used this creates a build up of shadows. The props suggest the type of film it is, these include: guns, cigarettes, newspapers, alcohol, notebooks etc. These props emphasise what the character is like and the type of people involved in the film. Some props are used to build up the story line for example: a close-up of a newspaper may be shown emphasising the headline, the headline relates to the what the content of the film is for instance if the headline was like 'HORRIFIC MURDER' it suggests that the film will be a crime detective film.

Editing:
The editing is simple, a sheen of black and white is placed over the footage showing it is a Film Noir. The scenes run with no visual effects placed on top, only credits are apparent within the scenes.

Analysis of a Film Noir:
The Maltese Falcon was distributed in 1941 by Warner Bros. Directed by John Huston, the film tells a story of a private investigator Sam Spade, and his co-worker Miles Archer. They're approached by
Miss Ruth Wonderly who claims to be looking for her sister.

"In 1539 the Knight Templars of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels - but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day-"

The film open with this passage, this sets viewers a starting showing them where the story could lead. Once the passage has been played it then cuts to establishing shots, the clips show where the location is. The San Francisco bridge is used as an icon, a big city where gangs fill the place and women are objectified. The black shadows and low key lighting emphasise the lack of innocence, focusing on the despair and bleakness which is apparent throughout. This links to the time period the film was made in, as the War had just ended many felt a great sense of loss and sorrow.

This shot is looking out of a window as it pans down to the Detective. This shot allows viewers to grasp where he is (in the middle of the city) and the type of place he is in. 'Spade and Archer' is what is written across the window, these are the last names of the Detective's this shows that these characters are in very high positions within their career as the company is named after themselves. The character is introduced rolling a cigarette, this prop sends information on his type of character. He is the boss, the man who people run around after, he is sitting at his own desk in his own successful store dealing with different costumers. The cigarette allows people to create stereotypes, how he is a typical male who converts to smoking or drinking as that would be the normal thing to do. He is a typical male however out of the two of them (Spade and Archer) he is the main male, this is because he is introduced first and also the way the name's have been written on the window, he has been placed first emphasising his dominance.


Spade's secretary walks in announcing that he has a woman that want's to see him. This woman is very plain with a simple look, Spade addresses the woman using terms such as 'darling' or 'sweetheart' this emphasises that he is a superior character compared to the woman and that he is able to address her in whatever way her wants.

Miss Ruth Wonderly (the woman shown in the screenshot above) is a very important character within the film. She appears to be the damsel in distress, she sets the enigma to the viewers as they're intrigued to find out where her sister is. She decides to come to Detective Spade for help, when she walks into the room Spade is taken back, and he stands up to look at her. Her character is represented as a wealthy woman, as she has a piece of expensive fur placed over her shoulder. Her clothing is immaculate, with not a thing out of place. Her accent is English instead of American, as her tone of voice is very sophisticated and posh this backs up the idea that she is a wealthy person. While Miss Wonderly tells the Detective her story, he becomes patronizing this tells viewers that he feels like her is above her as he speaks to her as if she is below him. It is apparent that Miss Wonderly is the femme fatale in the film, as she plots the story line appearing to be the person in need as the film progresses it becomes obvious that she is the person who has been the bad person all along.

The Maltese Falcon have key concepts the build up a Film Noir. Firstly the lighting is low key creating a contrast of shadowing throughout the opening sequence. Props such as cigarettes build up those stereotypical characters within the film. You're shown the hero (Spade) firstly, and the princess which is his secertary as she is the kind loving person who Spade should of fallen for. However soon after viewers meet the femme fatale (Miss Wonderly), the beautiful woman who the hero does fall in love with. The sound is very simple throughout only having a typical Film Noir soundtrack at the beginning of the film. The soundtrack quietens down while the secretary talks to Spade, however becomes louder when Miss Wonderly enters the room, this could be used as a warning to viewers showing that she is trouble.

Overall the Maltese Falcon became a very successful film as it is known as one of the best classic mystery ever made.