Film Noir is a film language term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize suspicious attitudes and sexual attributes. The Film Noir films lasted from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film Noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style; many of the ideal stories and much of the attitude of classic Noir consist from the tough school of crime fiction that appeared in the United States during the Depression.

The low-key lighting schemes of many classic Film Noirs are linked with harsh lighting, dark contrasts and shadow; a style known as chiaroscuro. Film Noir is also known for its use of low-angle, wide-angle, off-centre or Dutch angle shots.

In this Film Noir still image, there is use of low-key lighting; the use of the low-key lighting creates the contrast shadow harsh lighting and shadow on the wall behind the character in the frame. There is no use of filler lighting because of the strong contrast and the shadow. The still image creates a mystified character in the still image. The use of the face being covered by the amount of lighting the still image creates very negative feature of the character; suggesting that the character has links to the criminal world or is in a dilemma related to a crime. Most of the still image is in darkness that creates a very negative atmosphere for the character in the still image and the atmosphere for the entire film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBzX6fFvhwA

The film 'Brick' is a modern example of the genre of Film Noir films; there is use of colour in the production but still contains elements of the Film Noir genre. During the trailer there is the use of low-key lighting; such as, throughout the trailer the main character’s face and the other characters is obscured by the shadows which refers to a negative character or a negative atmosphere. There is element of sexual contents which is used in Film Noir films also there is the element of crime towards the ending of the trailer with a gun shot sound effect and several images of guns relating back to the tough crime imagery in Film Noir films.