What Is LA Noir, Binary Opposites and Enigma?

LA Noir:



LA noir is like film noir except that instead of darkness and night time with light to create shadows, it is light and cheery and other objects and items are used to create shadows. For example in LA noir it is sunny but the main characters are in a dark room with the curtains or blinds half closed so natural light shines partially through, while in normal film noir the it would be night time or very overcast and the room would be lit with lamps and unnatural light. This makes the audience feel more enclosed and claustropobic becuase the natural light is being hidden. The natural light creates a more innocent atmosphere and the audience becomes shocked at the characters actions because they were decieved by the light, the the natural light is hidden or partially removed so it implies that the innocence and light is being pushed away by the darkness.

LA noir has a very cheerful atmosphere which makes the audience feel unneasy because it contrasts with the themes of the film. The music used in LA noir is normally upbeat Jazz and it is unnerving because its connected with themes of crime, deception and corruption. In LA noir the voiceover has a very important job, because the sunny nature of LA and upbeat music the voiceover has to lead the audience into the dark themes of film noir and show the evil underside of sunny LA.



Binary Opposites:

Binary opposites are stark opposites such as Black/White, Good/Evil, Life/Death, Light/Shadow and Justice/Corruption. Film noir often uses Binary Opposites to create drama and interest, film noir normally shows aspects of human life and society that is hidden and unseen and this in interesting to most audience because it is shown as taboo. In the opening "The Third Man" the Binary Opposites shown are religion in opposite to crime which are shown by flicking through images of angels and churches and then showing a few dealers selling questionable items. Another Binary Opposite is war and peace which is laid on heavily through pictures of ruined buildings, marching armies and the voiceover talking about it, although the peace side of the opposite is more implied than shown becuase the film was set after the war. A third Binary Opposite was the light and shadow when the American was walking on the streets, through the building and finally up the stairs, his shadow is clearly shown on the staircase and when he is walking through the hallway to the stairs the shadows cast by the archway are very clear and create a tension and nervousness which lets the audience know that something may happen.

Enigma:

Enigmas are questions that the film makes in the opening scenes that will be answered later in the film, they are used to engage the audience so they want to know the answers to the questions. In the opening "The Third Man" some of the enigma's are:
"Who is the man in the voiceover?"
"How/why does he know so much about the situation?"
"Is he important to the film?"
"Why is he talking about the war and crime?"
"Who is Harry Lime? and is he important to the film?"
"Why does he call the American 'poor chap'"?

The enigma's are what make the audience watch the film becuase they are curious about what the answers are and how the questions are important to the film. Enigma's are used to create certain expectations that the audience has for the film, for example in "The Third Man" the audience would expect Harry Lime to appear in the film with a important role because he was one of the first people mentioned in the film and because his full name was mentioned the audience would expect Harry Lime to have an even greater importance. Use of Harry Limes full name makes him sound revered and adored so this also creates expectations in the audience.