Thomas Campbell's Film Noir Reflections
I believe film noir is a genre. The elements of this Film Noir were used very efficiently throughout the film Double Indemnity. A genre is best explained in the PC magazine encyclopedia as “a category, class, style, type or variety”. I like this definition as film noir uses a variety of styles including moody lighting, shadow effects, changing background music, and darker or lighter clothing in the Film. In the article by Eric Lott he explains “Film noir is a cinematic mode defined by its border crossings. In it people fall from grace into deep shadows” (pp. 548). In the Film this is very evident in the following elements.
My first example is the light to dark clothing Phyllis wore throughout the film. At the start of the film when Phyllis and Neff meet she is wearing an all white dress to emphasize no gloom. The next time the two meet Phyllis is wearing a black dress, to emphasize that she is not so innocent now, we first see this when she tells Neff “Oh I forgot today is the maids day off” when she really knew, and brings up the term Accident Insurance again, we now know she is trying to manipulate Neff. The next time they meet it is a dark rainy gloomy night when Phyllis comes to Neffs apartment, she is now wearing a full black dress, and they first kiss when there is a dark background, we now know there is something bad going to happen. Moody lighting is another example element used throughout Double Indemnity. This was evident with shadows on the walls, and shadowy images of the characters, where dark shadows emphasized a trapped idea and that the characters are doomed for failure. An example of this is when Neff enters his office at the start of the film, there is a dark shadow on the wall, and we can already tell that Neff was doomed for failure. My favorite element of Film Noir is the use of changing speed, and volume of the background music when something bad is about to happen. We are informed as an audience that something terrible is going to happen once the gloomy music begins. At the start it is slow and at a low volume, however as it leads up to the act it gets faster, and louder, we now know something will happen soon. I like this style as it is still commonly used in films today. Other elements of film Noir are not as common as technology advances in cinematography have better ways to send the message to the audience.
Overall I really liked this film as the elements of Film Noir as very efficiently used and easy to follow. This would have to be one of my favorite black and white films