What are the Genre Rules for Film Noir?

Question

any help

Answer 1

according to Paul Schrader....

1) The scenes are lit for night.
2) Oblique and vertical lines are preferred to horizontal.
3) The actors and setting are often given equal lighting emphasis. 4) Compositional tension is preferred to physical action.
5) There seems to be an almost Freudian attachment to water. 6) There is a love of romantic narration.
7) A complex chronological order is frequently used to reinforce the feeling of hopelessness and lost time..


Good stuff...but this is only one man's sense of structure.....check out the rest of the article...

AND

check out classic Film Noir in the movie...Detour (1945)

made on a shoestring budget...and one of the best of the entire genre...

Enjoy...

Answer 2

Large use of shadow, to the point where the darkness is almost a character. Pessimistic view on life. Usually a femme fatale and underworld elements.