Double Indemnity - Craig Walters

In this shot, the only light coming into the room in which Walter Neff is standing is coming through the windows of the room, which is a symbol of fragility. These windows shines bits of the light on Neff while the shades on the window create a very harsh lighting contrast with jagged features. It also entails a very urban room setting as most of film noir takes place within cities. the ability to see the streams of streaky light coming in from the window makes it seem as if the room is not only dark, but also clouded with smoke drifting in the light. Despite the features of light, the lack there of is more important, or at least the contrast in film noir. Neff’s body takes on the darker features because the light in shining on such a small portion of his body. The lighting on one side of his face while the other being much darker very much to reminds me of the Batman villain, Two-Face, which may elude to the dark side of Neff which is portrayed later in the movie. Film Noir’s overarching theme of the darker aspects of the human condition can definitely be seen in this movie and very delicately placed throughout any shot in the movie, as in this one.