Week 3 - Jacqueline Malenke - Blinded by the Side Light

A dark room. Harsh side light. Tons of cigarette smoke. And a detective with a smooth Chicago accent. These are the things that make up Film Noir. 

Of course, this was my interpretation before researching a bit more into it. Film noir is a style of filmmaking characterized by elements such as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, black and white visuals, frequent use of flashbacks, and intricate plots. Typically, film noir movies were American crime dramas made in the 1940s and 50s. As far as lighting goes, film noir is most famously know for harsh side light and extreme contrast between light and shadow. The photo below is a still from The Big Sleep starring Humphrey Bogart. These blog posts make me feel so uneducated! I have never seen this movie, but it is now on my "To Watch" list. I really love the texture in this photo. The soft light in the background, the stark sidelight on his face, and the bright light shooting through what looks to be architecture. I think it would be so fun to light a stage production in this style. Not so sure about the black and white aspect, but the style of the design.

In 2015-2017, I was the programmer and light board operator for the Pamela Brown Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Every year Actors Theatre puts on the Humana Festival, one of the largest American new play festivals in the US. I was the board operator for a ten minute play called Melto Man and Lady Mantis by Eric Pfeffinger. The production was lit as a film noir superhero comic book piece! It was so much fun, and the designer used mostly stark side light and absolutely made sure to have light shooting through blinds. It seems like a staple for film noir to have harsh lighting shooting through blinds. Here is my very own photo featuring said blind lighting.

Does a film have to be in black and white to be considered film noir? Personally, I don't think so. I feel like the movies John Wick (photo still below), Pulp Fiction, and Drive all have aspects of film noir without being in black and white: stark lighting coming from strange angles, cynical heroes, and crime. I want to explore more classic film noir films to get a better understanding of this type of lighting.