Film Noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that are quiet ambiguous and sexually motivated. Hollywood's classic film noir period is known to be established from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the stories have derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.

The term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most American film industry professionals of the era. 

The lighting featured in this image is a mixture of low and high key lighting, this could suggest that the character has two sides to them, maybe an evil and good. This is known as Binary opposition as it is the contrast between two similar but not so similar words. 

To show the characters fascial expressions a bright under and key light is used, as this brings out the actors expressions clearly.  Filler lights are absent here, as we can see that a shadow is created, although this is not the characters shadow, but a crow which could indicate the characters discreetness, as crows are seen to be discreet and fast. Also some bright light is focused on the prop (gun), so the director or producer wanted the audience to notice this, as it gives them an insight as to what the film is about. 

This scene taken from Saw 5, features low key lighting, which primarily uses filler and backlight, as the producer wanted to create a dark and gloomy atmosphere which coincides with the film as it is a thriller. At times the villain is shown to be in both dark and bright light, to show that the character has an evil side to him. Because of this, the audience knows who is the villain. 

Some high backlight is used, however this is done to make the scene look real and adds an authentic look. Because of the lighting, the audience feels more involved as this sort of lighting is used frequently used in thrillers and horror films. 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zL3c52mwWSo