Genre Looks

Film Noir

Film noir lighting is a low-key, high-contrast setup: a hard key, often cut by a venetian gobo or a streetlamp cookie, leaves one cheek in true black while wet pavement returns silver. The camera sits at eye height on a 35mm or 50mm spherical lens, tungsten practicals as motivated sources, and blocking that isolates a figure in a doorway, an alley, or a pool of light.