What does the term film noir mean?

Film noir, simply translated as black film from the french term, describes the genre of film's characteristics as dull in colour consisting of mainly black and white tones, low-key lighting, usually as well as containing a corrupt/shady plot environment and characters.

 

Film Noir Presenation from guest743866

The film noir style in classic movies refers to a series of downbeat, gritty crime and action movies made in the 1940s and 1950s. These movies used a shadowy, moody visual style that was inspired by European movies of the 1920s. Their visual style both set a mood and concealed the film's usually small budgets. Actor Robert Mitchum, who became a screen star via his many film noir roles, once quipped that the technicians "lit the movies with their cigarette butts."

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Here is a poster for Arthur Lyons' most recent film noir festival.

    Origins of Film Noir from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

a type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music
Definition Reference

From looking at these presentations I have learnt some of the history leading to the generation of noir films, as well as the conventions such as negativity darkness and seediness that will develop my own film noir OTS. I hope to keep the characters representations and dialogue simple but enigmatic to accentuate the noir themes, I will include some action possibly the traditional act of murder commonly found in noir films.