General Context?

• Genre = film noir
• Conventions of film noir

  City Setting (san fransisco)

  Protagonist = an emasculated male anti-hero

  Femme Fatale

  Narrative resolution involves a death

  Aesthetic = black and white, chiaroscuro lighting

  Tableau style
• What is the femme fatale?

  A deadly woman who uses her sensuality to manipulate the male protagonst, and to take control over him.

  Madeleine (Judy) manipulated him but does it with silence and she fails herself by falling for him, and feeling the guilt and remorse. 'I made the mistake, i fell in love.'
• What is chiaroscuro lighting?

  Hard lighting, distinct shadows.

  Vertigo does not used this as it incredibly colourful and uses a soft diffused look (the cemetary scene)
• What is a tableau style?

  Use of wide master shots, static long shots. This is beausse they were quick, efficient and cheap.

  Vertigo does not use this, HC use of different angles, lighting and short cuts refelcts his love of soviet cinema.
• Soviet montage = an approach to filmmaking that relies heavily on editing to create the narrative.
• German expressionism = an early 20th century german art movement that emphasized the artists inner feelings or ideas over replicating reality.