Film noir and femme fatale research

We decided to research film noire because our film was a gangster thriller; the narrative was based around the female protagonist capturing a gangster in a bid to seek revenge for the killing of her partner. The location of where the filming was going to take place, in the basement combined with the lighting and camera shots we hoped to use, all aimed to create a mysteries atmosphere in which the viewer would be left to ask various questions (which is an important factor in thriller films). And so through researching film noire we would have greater understanding of how to create this atmosphere. Film noir meaning "black film" in French began in the 1930’s, with detective and crime noir as well as many gangster films, and remained strong until the early 1960's. Film noire featured themes that are more negative than positive, with an overall dark and shadowy outlook by being filmed in black and white.The dark lighting symbolising evil while good is sybolised through light lighting. Interesting camera angles, shadowy lighting as well as extreme close-ups are all evident in noire films. 'Stranger on the third floor', a film released in 1940 was the first recognised film noire film. The film aimed to create dark themes, and did so through it's use of dark or/and dim lighting effects and monotonous setting. Flashbacks are also a main factor in a lot of films in the film noire genre. An example of a film noire film showing this is in 'Sunset Boulevard', where William Holden explains what happened before his death with a combination of flashbacks of flashbacks and voice over. In film noire the main character usually is bought to ruin by the femme fatal, who's usually depicted as a beautiful woman who would do anything possible to reach what she wants.