Codes and Conventions of Film Noir

Codes and Conventions of Film Noir (Detective Films)

I will be looking at the codes and conventions of the Film Noir genre, but to be more specific, Detective films. Detective films are a very hard to categorise. A lot of the conventions that can be found in detective films can easily be found in other genres as well, and is placed under the umbrella of the crime genre. In short, for a film to be considered a detective film there are two definitive items that are required, the first is a narrative that follows the investigation of a crime, the second is a detective like character as the main protagonist. There is also a second type of detective film which is called an ‘Inverted detective story’ in which it shows the criminal committing the crime at the start of the film and then goes through the investigators journey to unravel the mystery, usually clearing up most of the points such as why the crime was committed and who committed it on the way. A popular example of an inverted detective story is ‘Dial M for Murder’ by Alfred Hitchcock which shows the crime being planned at the start of the film, and has the story unravel with the characters figuring out who the real mastermind behind the plot was. A good example of a more classic whodunit storyline is from the TV series ‘Monk’ which features a number of locked room whodunits in which a character is killed in a near impossible scenario from which a criminal could enter or leave, for example, a locked room.

With a detective protagonist, the detective sub-genre becomes much easier to break down and define. For example, most detective characters are usually male and display a sense of American masculinity, whilst female detectives have started to infiltrate the genre over the last few years, male detectives are still portrayed as the most popular. The protagonist is usually morally questionable in detective films, usually having some form of dark past or secret that placed them in the current situation, such as in the case of detective films, the detective may have some past experience that procured them the skills or grit to be the only one good enough for the case.

Detective films and novels are usually set in heavily populated cities and the murders in an enclosed space, so as to allow the detective character to get really close to the suspects involved. Camera angle wise this can be shown by using close ups of the character and eye-line match ups to show the proximity of the characters that are in the film. Another prominent camera angle that is used in detective films is the low angled shot, this shot is effectively used to make characters (usually the detective) look far more menacing and intimidating, most notably during questioning or interrogation of other characters. Some good examples of these would be films such as Citizen Kane or Star Wars were evil or more menacing characters were shot with a low angle shot to amplify their status.

Most films in the crime genre (thrillers un-included) are set somewhere between the timeframe of 1920 and 1950, because of this most detective films usually use a black-and-white special effect to straight away set a time zone for the film. Other effects that can be used are to cast the shadows of blinds or banisters across a character (usually whilst they are sat down) or to actually film night time scenes during the middle of the night versus using special effects and lighting to emulate it as most Hollywood genres would, this is most commonly referred to as ‘night-for-night shooting’ versus ‘day-for-night shooting’ which is used by other Hollywood films. Characters faces are usually obscured by shadows to fit in with the mysterious theme of investigations and crime, when used to the right effect, partially or completely hiding a characters face can achieve a number of accomplishments as listed below

• It can hide the identity of the perpetrator of the crime

• It can show the divided personality of a character

• It can show that a character is deep in thought or does not wish to be disturbed.

A number of narrative devices are used in detective films, one of the most notable being the use of flashbacks to remind the audience of an earlier clue that may have been forgotten. Another device that is widely used in this genre is the voice over narrative. Usually given by the protagonist these narrations are used to recap previous events of the film or can be given as a monologue either at the start of the film to properly set the scene, or at the end to give the film a morally good ending. Inverted detective stories also sometimes use a non-linear story line, showing the crime happening and then having the detective (through flashbacks and description) redevelop the crime from the ground up, discussing the reasoning behind it and the motivations of the perpetrator.

Detective films are usually very downbeat and pessimistic, despite having the detective capture the killer towards the end directors usually make it clear that someone in the film has still been murdered and that a number of characters have been placed in a situation which they had never wanted, pitted against fate there was always the possibility that if the judgement of the detective were wrong, then it could have been them going to jail whilst the perpetrator of the crime was able to go free. Critics have always declared the entire film noir genre (of which crime and therefore detective films are a sub genre) to be depressing, and that the general tone of these films is a ‘hopeless’ one.