“Film noir has generally been discussed in terms of its historical resonances, its treatment of genre, and its uses of style, and these three trends in noir criticism continue to inform criticism of and of noir, contributing to the long, unfinished, and arguably unfinishable process of its discursive formations. This is a term coined by French critics after the end of World War II and new Hollywood products flooded the market. Films under this term are often associated with black and white cinematography. Throughout this essay I will discuss the characteristic styles and themes of film noir, these will be demonstrated through the films "In a Lonely Place" (1950) directed by Nicholas Ray and "Double Indemnity" (1944) directed by Billy Wilder. In a Lonely Place (1950) was based on a Hollywood screenwriter. Dixon Steele and Laurel are just getting to know each other, but Dixon was involved in the murder of a girl he once met, Mildred. Laurel then endures her love affair with Dixon while she wonders if he murdered Mildred. Double Indemnity (1944) tells the story of an insurance salesman, Walter Neff, who meets Phyllis Dietrichson when asked to renew her husband's automobile insurance policy. She asked to take out accident insurance for her husband without his knowledge. Neff and Phyllis soon became lovers and they hatched a plan to murder Mr. Dietrichson for the life insurance money so that Phyllis could receive double the amount based on a double indemnity clause. Unfortunately, everything does not go as planned. Elements that will be covered are narrative, style and form, themes and character behavior. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Film noirs have similar characteristics in their narratives, "feelings of fear, distrust, sadness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia were evident." in film noir, reflecting the "cold" period of the Cold War, when the threat of nuclear annihilation was ever-present. Consequently, the narratives were often complex and convoluted, and usually told with a menacing orchestral score in the background, flashbacks, witty and pointed dialogue, first-person voice-over narration. This could be seen in the opening scenes of Double Indemnity (1944), when Neff told the audience that he had killed Mr. Dietrichson for Phyllis for money, but ultimately did not get the money nor the woman. In this scene, Billy Wilder used flashbacks to tell the story, so that the audience knows the fate of the main character. From this point on, every scene in the film builds to a conclusion that the audience already knows. As Rick Altman (1999) argues that the genre gives the audience a "set of pleasures", in Double Indemnity (1944), the audience receives intellectual pleasure from the character, Neff, so that they understand the film's plot much better . It is here that Neff is trapped by the narrative in which he exists, the film then plays into a sort of existential fatalism, which is the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. While Neff's fate was already announced to the public in Double Indemnity (1944), Nicholas Ray demonstrated a classic feature of film noir: complex storytelling in his film In a Lonely Place (1950). Since Dixon was the last person to see Mildred, he puts himself on a list of suspects. From there, the audience must determine whether Dixon murdered the woman, whataudience is forced to show their intellectuality throughout the film. In other words, they could present themselves as Laurel, since Laurel in the movie is doing exactly what the audience would do in her mind (trying to find solutions or clues to uncover the truth about the whole murder situation). Film noir developed during and after World War II, capitalizing on the post-war atmosphere of anxiety, pessimism and suspicion. It was a low-cost, B-list style of American film that capitalized on advances in filmmaking in the 1920s and 1930s. Therefore, it could be argued that film noir is not a genre, but rather a “style of American cinema of the 1940s and 1950s characterized by detective protagonists, shabby settings, dark lighting and a fatalistic tone”. There are features of film noir iconography, for example the "Venetian blind" lighting is featured in Double Indemnity (1944) where there is a low angle medium shot of Neff before killing Phyllis. Low key lighting and Venetian blind lighting are used to show a dark and suspicious side to Neff, these lighting styles add a chiaroscuro contrast to his face, evoking his moral instability on Phyllis. This also creates tension in the audience because it allows them to suspect that something bad is going to happen to Phyllis. As we can see in the majority of noir films, low-key lighting is the essential part of the style, because "black functions as an area of ​​darkness literally and figuratively, a place that must be illuminated in order for us to see ". Indeed, most films containing noir elements are classified as a detective or mystery genre. Therefore, low-key lighting allows producers to create enigma and tension in the audience, making the film more thought-provoking. Another reason for this is that noir films are black and white, so producers are more likely to use the advantage of different lighting levels to create different modes of tension for the audience. To explain this further, we can look at the fight scene of Dixon and the driver approaching him in In a Lonely Place (1950), the lighting contrast is comparatively higher than normal lighting. This evokes his aggression from his inner body, which also reveals to the audience that Dixon's serious anger issues are no longer hidden. Beyond lighting, the characteristic of sound is also an identification in film noir. The sound used on a scene would typically be a diegetic traffic flow, with an occasional siren suited to the urban location, with sirens also adding to the lower society of the film noir world. Interestingly when the scene involves women, the instruments tend to be high pitched with instruments like the violin and flute. This can be heard in Billy Wilder's production when Phyllis comes down the stairs to meet Neff in the living room. The violin creates the effect of Neff's weary romance towards Phyllis, while the flute would be used to emphasize Phyllis's beauty. However, thinking back to the scene before Neff killed Phyllis, it consists of background music and dialogue between two characters as well as the sound of gunshots. At the beginning of the scene, Neff went to close the window behind Phyllis because he doesn't like the music from outside the house, but in reality the reason he closed the window is because he doesn't want to let the shots be heard. heard. The gunshots were loud enough to create contrast as the audience is unaware that Neff has a gun, which provides emotional pleasure to the audience as they were shocked by.