Film Noir Conventions

'The Postman Always Knocks Twice' (1946)

A dark city street bathed in shadows.
A seedy office with “Investigations” stenciled on the door.
A winding road along the ocean cliffs.
An isolated house on the outskirts of town.

The scenes of film noir are all disturbingly familiar, as are the archetypal characters:
the hard-boiled detective,
the dangerously alluring femme fatale,
and the well-heeled villain surrounded by gun-toting thugs.

But even so, it is the visual style – canted camera angles, deep-focus shots, high-contrast lighting – and ultimately subversive message that are the hallmarks of classic film noir.

Learn more about the genre here.