Friday, June 27, 2008

Noirism



Horizontal shadows, a hallmark of film noir, in two scenes from Otto Preminger's "Laura".



Here the blinds are down in broad daylight.  There are mini-blind shadows on the wall of the next room at a different angle, indicating a second light source--the sun plus one?



In this scene the artifice is so obvious it borders parody.  The shadows cover the entire rear wall virtually from floor to ceiling yet do not touch the actors.  The source of the light is to the left of the frame where, as we know from other shots of the room, there is a wall--the only windows are behind the camera's point of view.

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