The film genre that my group and I ended up deciding on was Film Noir. With its gritty realism, cynical lighting, and black and white stories, the genre was very appealing. In this blog post, I will discuss some of the reasons why we chose Film Noir, including my exposure to it and the potential that I see in it.
I remember the first time I had heard the term Film Noir was in a parody format. On the Disney Channel animated show Phineas and Ferb, there was an episode that called for Phineas and Ferb to be detectives. The rest of the show was shot with Film Noir influences, including black and white shots, deep and mysterious voiceover, and crime plot lines. I remember being captivated by the way that the change in genre changed so much about how the episode was shot, which in turn impacted the way that I viewed the episode and the characters. As this was a parody, there were small snippets of satire included throughout the course of the episode. Ferb followed Phineas around with a saxophone, mimicking the jazz music that is usually dubbed in over most Film Noirs. Phineas’ dad asks who Phineas is speaking to as his son narrates the information he received from him regarding the case in question. Phineas and Ferb are the only people pictured in black and white because they are wearing black and white paint. The characters reference themselves being on the set of the Film Noir, and in a way break the fourth wall within the show without breaking the fourth wall of the actual show. There were many moments which made me think a lot about the concept of genre and what Film Noir attempts to accomplish. That episode is still what I think of when I hear Film Noir.
That being said, when the topic of Film Noir was proposed during brainstorming, I was excited at the opportunity to do something like this. Film Noir has a very strict definition for some movie critics, which means that the constraints of the genre are very tight. There are many aspects of Film Noir that must remain the same for the movie to be considered Film Noir. These qualifications apply to both form and content. I was more interested in the content qualifications, because, if the form qualifications are still applied, that can be a touchstone for audiences and then the content of the film can make statements about the strict content qualifications of Film Noir, which classically tends to support aggressive and toxic masculinity, often at the cost of objectifying women. If some of the roles that characters usually play in these types of movies were reversed or the plot of the movie didn’t necessarily center around an emotionally jaded male detective with a conveniently placed woman for the purpose of sexual intrigue and male gaze but maintained the low-key lighting, monochrome filter, and dramatic shadow pattern, then the film would have a lot of potential to make critique. This is something that I think would be effective and is something I want to keep in mind when brainstorming.
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