Task 2.1 Research into Existing Products : Film Noir

Where did genres come from?

Film genres originated from the 1920s, in the 'roaring' era as it was referred to when everything from film to sport became more accessible to certain people and more popular. Film companies knew what was popular and decided to produce more and more of those type of films. Over time they changed the story lines which eventually formed new genres.

How did the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' reinforce genres?

Film companies used it as a way to make money by reproducing the same type of film (with just a few changes); this made certain film genres very popular. The 'Big Five' film companies were responsible for the soaring success of the Hollywood's Golden Age. These were Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Which genres became popular in Hollywood?

Film noir became very popular along with western films. As music began to branch out and become more accessible to people, film musicals starting to become more popular. Their popularity grew due to the ingenious combination of two of the blooming entertainment industries, thrown into one thing: music and film.

Why do audiences like genre films?

Audiences 'know' what they're getting with genre films and they have some idea as to how the film is going to play out. Audiences would mainly go to watch a film due to the genre that it is, not
something else like the title. Audiences may also like genre films as it gives them leverage to say what sort of things they enjoy watching. If they couldn't decide what sort of genre they like, due to mixing of genres they can say they enjoy collaborations such as rom-coms or horror/thriller films.

Film Noir

Five major film companies dominated the film industry as cinema began to grow, one of these companies being Warner Bros. The film noir genre was first introduced by the film company Warner Bros. as they began to lose money and needed to rebuild their empire. This genre became very popular in the 'Golden Age of Hollywood', supposedly due to it's degrading views and traits of women which, at the time, matched the view of the general public.


There are many ways in which you can define a film as being in the Film Noir  genre. A classic code/convention of this genre being the 'Spider and the Fly' . This become a popular plotline; with the spider being a woman trapping a man, the fly, in her web and making him fall for her, making him want to take her side if she ever needs him to (so she can manipulate him). A lot of the time, the film noir genre usually contains a quirky detective, a femme fatale and a angered antagonist. Although, ultimately, the woman will never defeat the man and the male will always figure out who the mysterious femme fatale really is.

The film noir genre generally provides underlying feelings such as melancholy, guilt, paranoia, moral corruption etc throughout the film which is further emphasised with the genre's traditional use of chiaroscuro (black and white) lighting which helps to develop a negative mood.  Film noir films are mostly set in a dark scenario whether it be at night or in darkly lit rooms where only singular beams of light are shown through a small window. This helps to further boost and amplify the themes of the film noir genre.