Deconstruction of Film Noir Typography

 

Deconstruction of Film Noir Typography

I wanted to explore the way that different film noirs have used typography, and use them as inspiration for our final editing task.

 

First of all I looked at original film noir's of 1930-59.

A classic film noir example is on Dangerous Ground: 

• The title itself is straight to the point about the plot. "On Dangerous Ground" is a film noir slang term which means to be in a position of danger or be involved with in a potentially harmful situation. 
• Sans Serif font is often used in action/ modern films as it doesn't have any relation to religion or supernatural elements. 
• The dark street as a background conforms to the common conventions of film noir, as ambient urban streets are a key feature of film noir in terms of location. Also, it further conforms as there are uses of shadows and harsh lighting which is also a key component in the success of the film.   

  

  1944

"Double Indemnity": 

• similar to on dangerous ground it also conforms to film noir conventions as it uses  monochrome colours.


• Sans serif is utilised to show that it's action and crime related rather than horror. 
• The shadows of the letters is cleverly used to set the title part from the brightly lit background. 
• Shadows are further used in the background, in the figure holding two walking sticks which compliment the title. This conveys a sense of mystery as we can't see the identity of the person, which film noir films usually aim to create. 
• The man holding the two walking sicks perfectly compliment the title because "indemnity" means security or protection against loss or other financial burdens, so "double" means twice the support which is what the figure has.       

1946

"Crack up" begins more adventurous typography: 

• Still keeping to the all monochrome conventions, it's still all black and white however the title itself is the centre focus. 
• Sans serif font mimics the rock like appearance of the title, as it looks more raw and untouched. 
• The effect of the title is parallel to the name of the film, though it doesn't give anything else about the film away.



1953





 "House of Wax"

I also chose to look at film noir last as this is more diverse than the other typographies that I have looked at.

• When colour TV had been developed in 1951 the monochrome versions of film noir had a decline however the conventions and principles had remained. Although there has been an incorporation of colour, the remaining background image is saturated in colour and dark. What seems to be a block of buildings with one source of light in each room, creates shadows enhancing the mystery as much of the setting is concealed.
• I had difficulty identifying the type of font for the letters of "House of Wax" and found that it was called slab-serif font. This creates the appearance of an American typewriter sort of typeface, an example of this is the font I am using now.              

• The melted orangey appearance on the title makes it look like wax melting off the letters, which is the main focus of the typography because it's the subject of the movie and therefore appropriate for it's film.