The History of Film Noir

Through research I found out that film noir literally means ‘black film or cinema’ and the term was invented by Nino Frank in 1946. It was first used by French film critics to describe a type of film which was of a dark or negative nature. These type of films were made in black and white during the 1940’s and 1950’s, the last one being Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil in 1958. The directors of Film Noir include John Huston, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Edgar Ulmer, Douglas Sirk, Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Henry Hathaway and Howard Hawks. The directors who had emigrated from Europe to America brought with them the moods and feelings of Europe during the Second World War. The gloomy films typically had a main character who was brutal and moody and the films never had happy endings.

(Sources used: Wikipedia-"Film Noir" and "Neo-Noir"; A Guide to Film Noir Genre - http://rogerebert.suntimes.com; www.filmsite.org; The Rough Guide To Film Noir (book) by Alexander Ballinger & Danny Graydon, 2007)

The Brief for my AS Media Coursework Project

· To produce a 2-3 minute film opening with the theme of “contemporary ‘film noir’ thrillers”.
· To introduce a new audience to the values, traditions, narrative, mood and conventions of film noir but in an updated, contemporary style and setting.
· To mention the type of institution it would sit within.
· To consider the cinemas and distribution patterns the film would have.
· To consider the best time slot in a television schedule and which channel would be most suitable.
· To evaluate the finished film noir opening sequence.