Conventions of film noir

Iconography & Props


Characters
 - Corrupt Cops
, Alienated, Protagonist, 
Misogynistic Men, 
Femme Fatale, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral, conflicted hard-boiled detectives or private eyes, cops, gangsters, government agents, a lone wolf, socio-paths or killers, crooks, war veterans, politicians, petty criminals, murderers, or just plain Joes. Femme Fatal, stylistic choices, dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women, mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women


Visual Style
 - Low Key Lighting
 Shadows Cast By Venetian Blinds 
Dutch Angles
 Low Angle Shots
 Wide Angle Lenses 
Shots Of Characters Reflection In One Or More Mirrors 
Night For Night Filming (Instead Of Day For Night)
From The 1940’s Location Shooting Became Frequent


Iconography
 - Dark Sidewalks
 Rain Drenched Streets 
Flashing Neon Signs
 City Is Villainous/Hostile
 Alcohol/Alcoholics 
Cigarettes 
Guns
 Trench Coats, the is many different styles of film noir’s such


Themes 
- Transgression Of Social Norms
 Someone Evil Going Against What You Would Normally Expect
 Taboo, there are many different types of film noir’s, like Romance - Twisted, shocking melodramatic film noirs featuring deadly femme fatales on a path of romance and self-destruction (romance noirs) with the men in their lives included the following examples, Menaced Women - In menaced-women noirs, the tables are turned and women are menaced by the men in their lives (often their husbands),

Settings
 Urban Setting – LA, New York, San Francisco and Chicago
 Thought Of In The Sense Of A Labyrinth
 Bars
 Lounges
 Nightclubs 
Gambling Den’s
 Industrial Setting – Refineries, Factories, Train-yards and Power Plants
Narrative - Devices 
Convoluted Storylines
 Flashbacks 
Voiceover Narration
 Classic Noir Usually From A First Person Narrative