·         The only law for film noir is the law of fate. 

·         Popular film noirs in the 1940’s consisted of melodramas, romance and musicals.

·         All film noirs had one thing in common – they lived on  the edge. 

·         Plot – male had a secure job and a wife, the wife left for the Hollywood dream, male chases her to Hollywood but on route is killed ‘under weird circumstances’. 

·         Male character on a downwards spiral. 

·         Lots of war links – therapy shown in some film noirs. 

·         Prohibition was shown a lot in the film noirs for example nightlife, danger and crime. 

·         Film Noir was a riddle/puzzle – audience watched to figure ot out.

·         Sexual actions on the screen made the audience think about what was happening/going to happen – film noir was restricted to what they could show on screen.

·         Females were sometimes portrayed as the strong, powerful and smart character – used sex and looks to get their way.  – dressed in tight outfits, would smoke and had long hair. – this female role was never forgotten. 

·         The lighting helped portray good v evil – dramatic usage of lighting was also featured in many film noirs. 

·         Vitiation vines created a pattern that was often linked to psychological effects. 

·         Screenshot of 2 in the car on the right was a film noir that was shot in 3 hours – left to the audiences imagination – public bystanders called the police on them for ‘robbing the bank’ – opportunity for film noir to learn how to shoot in a new environment/ on location. 

·         “shooting on location is a must for film noir” – Andre De Toth. 

·         Important for film noir to represent life on the streets. 

·         Fate occasionally put the finger on the wrong person. 

Film noir ended because the 1950’s keyword was ‘Togetherness’ – which film noir was not, ir was constant conflicts.