Deconstruction of Typography in Film Noir

The typography used in film noir is in black and white including the backdrop to match the rest of the film. The main part of the text is in white whilst the shadowing is in black. The fonts can be a mixture of serif and san serif.

Some of the text is made to look 3D.

Often the title appears on a backdrop. This backdrop is usually a texture or a picture that links with the film. Textures used could be wood, a painted surface or a brick wall. If a picture is used it is often silhouettes of objects or people and this conforms to the common conventions of film noirs using lots of shadows. The backdrop may also be an establishing shot or the text may be layered on top of the opening scene.

The text may be slanted or straight and often the title is within quotation marks. Lighting is also an important part. Most commonly spotlighting is used so the main part with the text is lit up whilst the outer edges are dark this allows for the audience to focus on the title.

Examples

"The Maltese Falcon"

• The text is in serif
• Parts of the text have a slight shadow which gives it a 3D look
• The backdrop shows a statue of a falcon which links in with the title and the film
• Harsh lighting is used so that there are a lot of sharp shadows
• The title is in speech marks which is common for film noir's
• The text is in the colour white which conforms to the common conventions

"The Saint Strikes Back"

• The text has a 3D effect as well as shadows
• The text is in white so conforms to the conventions
• San serif is used and the text is slanted which is also commonly seen in film noir's

Evaluation

Overall, I think that when we create our own title we need to include shadows and a backdrop that will link with out opening scene such as layering the title over the establishing shot of the detective's office.