Film Noir And The Love Of LUTs

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I had yet to be born when the classic era of Film Noir movies were being made in the 1940s and 1950s. I never got to see these deeply stylized films on the big screen. And by “deeply stylized” I mean not only in the lighting and cinematography, but in the stories, the dialogue and above all the superb acting. 
 

Classic Noirs like “Out of the Past” in 1947 displayed a gritty style characterized by dark tones and shadows to convey a visual mood that enhanced the storyline, often portraying a crime drama of one sort or another. More so than any other film genre, Film Noir is known for its strong black and white contrast, the use of deep shadows to communicate mystery and danger, and intriguing plot twists that keep the audiences “in-the-dark” as it were. 
 

The term “Film Noir” is of course French and literally translates to “black film” or “dark film”, and was applied to Hollywood movies in 1946 by French film critic Nino Frank. Frank used the term to describe the gloomy tone, cynical characters, and stark lighting of American crime dramas that were finally shown in France 🇫🇷 after being banned during WW II. The phrase wasn’t adopted in Hollywood until the 1970s. 
 

One of my favorite Noirs is a French film directed by Louis Malle in his first feature film in 1958. “Ascenseur pour l’ėchafaud (Elevator to the Gallows)” featured all the great qualities of a classic Noir, with a French sensibility and with a plot twist at the end that was spectacular. With the added bonus of an improvised soundtrack by Miles Davis that was perfect for the film.

The film genre that brought us the “femme fatale”, the women who drove the story down dark and twisty paths to often deadly encounters, and gave these films dubbed “Noir” their beautiful and edgy quality. 
 

Alfred Hitchcock was a master of the Film Noir genre and many of his films are considered classics. He loved appearing in cameos in his films, offering a brief moment of comedic relief in the otherwise bleak world of Noir. 

Watch old classic Noir films to get an idea of what works best in lighting and composition, and if you are working on a film/video project, note the story and character arcs to get the feel for the genre. And to see a contemporary use of the best Noir qualities, including storytelling, watch the Netflix version of “Ripley.”

Every frame of “Ripley” is a master class in the Film Noir genre. The compositions and lighting are simply superb, and the story and acting are on par with the best of the genre. 
 

01  It is from this love of a film genre that I felt inspired to create my own set of custom Film Noir LUTs to “color grade” both my still images and video footage that I wish to give that treatment to. Not every image or video clip will look good with a Film Noir LUT applied, but for the ones that do, the look is extraordinary. Lighting and composition are key, as is the application of the right LUT.

The beauty of using a LUT is the same file can be used to color grade both photographic images and video footage. A LUT also makes color adjustments without using any of your applications tools, so you can still modify a LUT’s changes to suit your taste. 
 

Film Noir may or may not be your cup of tea, but if it is, if you love the visual aesthetic as much as I do, then you will love this collection of nine custom made LUTs for your photographic images and your video footage. (The image above was made with the Trace Film Noir 06 LUT.)