Film Noir - Experiments in Low-Key Lighting

This Is What It Sounds Like...


Associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style, film noir (French for black film) has roots that stretch back all the way to the 15th and 16th century. The low-key lighting creates moods reminiscent of 15th century chiaroscuro (Italian for clear-dark) and 16th century tenebrism from the Italian tenebroso ("murky"), techniques using high contrasts of light and dark to create moody and darkly foreboding art.



Piper Walks Down Art Alley


The Seven Deadly Sins - Lust


Film Noir is a term coined in the 1940's by French critic Nino Frank. Used primarily to describe Hollywood's crime dramas made through out the 1940's and 50's using the Low-Key German Expressionist cinematography style from the 1920's. However the term is rather ambiguous and it is hard to pin down a specific genera of film. As over the years many films from crime, drama, horror, sci-fi, and even westerns have used the lighting elements of low-key film noir. That is the one thing that makes a picture or movie Film Noir, the dark and contrasty lighting.



Young Mother


The Kickback


Leah - Noir