Raw Deal Alton

7/30/2019 Raw Deal Alton

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Featurette 03m.I \

So fne people seefihri noir as either the antithesis of Holly wooculmination, but it isfair to say that it did push the stylistic t.and cinetnatography.

KS its:if fiifn-mak

The R a w D e a l Lighting of John Alton inHollyvDood Film NoirBy W illiam Frasca

s: Raw Deal, Anthony Mann ,John Al ton ,ligiiting, film noir, gender

H O L L Y W O O D F IL M N O I R Hbeen a controversial topic of interest icinema for many decades. Its emphaseexpressionist style can sometimes contnorms ofHollywood films themselvespeople see film noir as either the antithHollywood o r as its culmination, b ut itto say that it did push the stylistic trendfilmmaking and cinematography. It'sof filmmaking which uses the melodraevents of the story to validate expressivkey lighting styles. Filmmakers often rethe style of film noir because its black allow for moments of suspense by limiught information, calling attention to tperspective of the directo r as the storyIt allows him control of the moment b


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Th e R av' Dcai Ligiitirig of JoHti Altot it Hollywo od Film Noir^ An imat^f Irom Raw Detll

mun's face is illuminated, allozving it to b-,- ' - site of uninhabitedl expression and the man's face is more siuiv, nigisteringfezver expressiv

lighting style compensates by symbolizing his emotions.onist lighting style is pushed byof director Anthony Mann andJoh n Alton in the film Ra w

(1948). Patrick Kea ting describes thisof film m oving away from the

sical cincma tograp hers resolve the

of conflictingof cinematographer

of film noir lighting.of gendered figure

in

Ra w Deal, can show Alton's use of hghtingto contradict norms in film noir. Thesecontradictions m ay be a possible wayto understand the range of Hollywoodconventions itchallenged and adheredto. By adopting the gendered expressivitystrategy, cinematographers balancedeonfcting demands by glamorizing thefemale star while creating an expressivearc that mirrored the dramatic arc of themale protagonist. The woman's face isilluminated, allowing it to become the siteof uninhab ited emotional expression andthe m an's face is more stoic, registeringfewer expressive gestures, but the lightingstyle compensates by symbolizing hisemotions for him (Keating 259). WithAlton, this stoic lighting goes beyondthe traditional gender expressivity byextending the m an's emotions to not onlyaffect bis shadows, but uses the darkness

to communicate suspenseful mood lightingfor anyone in the scene vidth him. Altontakes advantage of this Hollywood norm bthen reversing the gend er lighting, allowinthe men to reflect the brighter emotionalarc of the glamorized females to show aweakness of sensitivity. In the scene whenPat return s to Joe after a fight in which heslaps her, she apologizes and they em bracein a hug. Itcuts to a close-up of Joe's faeeand he is in beauty hghting with frontallighting illuminating his face and a backlighighlighting his hair and check. Normally,Pat's glamour shots are reserved for herprivate emotional moments, but at thismom ent her love for Joe is what motivatesthe softer lighting scheme on his face. If thover stylized glam our shots of the femmefatale are ametaphor for deceitfulness, thenone of the main characters are innocent,whieh is central to the director's intentions

no-rm by then reversing the genderallowing the men to reflect the brighter emotional arc of the glamorizedto shoiv a weakness of sensitivity.

An image from Raw led


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Featurette 03 William Fra.sca;i.o\v An image from l-/nv An image fnui Raw

As einematographer, John Alton's useof "mystery lighdng" grows out of a long-standing Hollywood convendon of advisingthe einematographer to use effect hghdngto produce the shadowy style associatedwith the melodrama. Alton does notpresent mystery lighdng as an exercise inunmodvated expressionism; instead heuses mystery lighdng through convendonaleffeets, cigarette lighters, flashing neon lights,hanging lamps, street lamps, moonlight,ete. to produee an appropriate set ofemodonal assoeiadons. John Alton writes,"where there is no light, one eannot see;and w hen one cannot sec, his imaginadonstarts to run wild. He begins to suspect thatsomething is about to happen. In the darkthere is mystery." In other words, the lack ofdetail is precisely the strategy that producesthe most mysterious mood. Since we cannotsee the space clearly, we begin to suspect theworst. In the fight sequence between Joeand Spider, the scene is so dark we eannottell who is winning, making this struggleambiguous, but thrilling since we cannot secthe violence elearly. In a seene were the bulkof the space is represented in whites andgrays the fog or smoke performs the samefuncdon as the shadow, rendering the spaceillegible and incidng the viewer's imaginadon(Keadng 260 -262). When Joe goes back forAnn, the street isfilledwith grey fog makingthe image hazy and the next m omentssuspenseful since we know that there is ahenehman with a gun around the corner.

Although Joh n Alton taunts the nodonof "chocolate coated cinematography," herespects die Hollywood norm that womenshould look glamorous at all dme.s, using ahigh frontal key with a backlight. Following astrategy used by other noir cinematographers,Alton lights the good girl diilcrendy irom the

femme fatale. The good gid receives a simplekey, with a glowing eye light. The femme fataleis presented with a more unusual arrangem ent,featuring a erisscross pattern on the side of herface from her veil or extreme close-up glamourshots with heavy diffusion. The effect isglamorous with all the conno tadons of falsenessthat "glam our" implies (Keating 262-26.3).Alton also contradicts this Hollywood normand allows the femme fatale to b e lit in mysterylighdng that violates beauty lighdng. WhenPat is in her ear at die prison w aiting for Jo eto escape, tliere is a moment when anodiercar's headlights lights up her face in all possibletonalides, pushing the limits of the imag e tocreate the most suspenseful moment. Thereis a point in this shol when her face is bodioverexposed and underexposed, pushing thelimits of w hat is acceptable fbr lighdng females.In the seene when Ann shoots Spider aftershe sees the gun on the ground, Alton's shiftfrom glamour lighdng, similar to the femmefatale's extreme elose-ups, is then eut baek tothe wide shot whieh is much darker tha n thebeauty shot of Ann. H ere is an example ofAlton violadng the norm of smooth lighdngtransidons, in which he shifts lighdng from thegood girl to femme fatale lighdng beeause sheis performing the cold act of murder. The re isnodiing unusual about a film switehing fromexpressive effect lighdng to glamorous figurelighdng when a woman appears onscreen.The unusual thing is that Alton makes noeffort to produce a smoodi transidon. A moreclassical einematographer would shift from amoderately expressive style to a moderatelyglamorous style, attempdng to get the benefitsof both strategies widiout calling undueattendon to the shifl. Alton is never m oderatebecause his style is so intetisely expressive d iatthe rare glamorous moments stand out asaberradon s (Keating 263).

Noir villains are eentral ingredientsthe bleak world of Mann's films. Typiclow wide-angle shots provide the visuaeorreladve for these psychodc villainsmain villain in Raw Deal, Raym ond Bfrequendy sh ot from the waist up, his totally filling the frame, ominously looover the acdon. In the scene when Rithrows the bowl of fire at the girl we gunusual reaedon shot of Riek in a clowith glamour light eonvcndons, most to Pat's glamorized femme fatale momThere is a backlight highlighdng his hand frontal light that seems difiused, background is out of focus. This goesthe norms of criminal lighdng, and thangle medium close-ups that made himore frightening, and associate this blighdng technique as a means to dem ocertain qualides of a character.

Raw Deal is the ideal example of thstylistic limits possible in film noir inHollywood. Raw Deal not only adherthe eonvcndons of film noir, but it thebroke those rules by reversing the genlighdng. This Hollywood lighdng stratacts as a tool for auteur direetors andcinematographers who understand theeonventions associated with it; they thcan decide to deviate away or towardsthey see fit. I believe that it is this un iqability to artistically convey suspense tmakes the film noir style so compellingcertain filmmakers who are interested potendal of cinema as an art form. Sinfilm no irs arc just as complex as any oHollywood film of the dm e, I believe tthis focus on expressionist lighdng canthe one consistent element that all filmrely on to stand out and aesthedeally cwith the Hollywood "A" pictures they screened w ith. This then makes film n


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T h eHoUywood, but a lighting style of

i ted

Ravv,.llyvv()ocl Film Noir

Piaex.. Jancy. a i td I X A V C H Pefcrsim. "Siirnc VisualMo tifs of FUIT! No ir. " M tm J \ ' 'm Header. New York:Limelig ht Edit ions, 1979. 6 . ' 7 G . Pr in t .Smi th . Rober t . "Maim in hc Dark : T h e F i n i sN in roi .Anthony .Mann." P'ilm JStrir i^a/Lf: New Vork:

FainliiiiilthLighi. Berkeley: University IJmd iiht Mi tio s. 9 7 9 . 189 202. Prim.P T S S , ! I 9 . 5 . Print . /

Patr ick. Hollytmoii IJgktijigJmni Ifie Sihtl EraNew Vork: ( . o lu ibia U niversity Press,

Prirtt.Paul. '"Out of What Fast? Notes on the B

Film .i\hir Rc(uln. New York: LivTicIigb!1979. 107 128. Priut.

A a t h o r B i o g r a p h yWiiliani Frasca is a rece film studiesgi'aduate fi'oxn tlie University of NorthCarolina Wilmington. He hius worked as aprojcctioiiist ibr lAiiriinH rheatcr atid I V A Shelped lo coordinate .several lilrn festivalsad screenings. I le is an a.spiring you ng iilrn

di)f.;ctor and actor as well a s fihn critic. Thiyear he has found success wurkin;; in the Nfilm industry at EUE/Serccrj (jeiris Studioas well being east as a stand-in !)n Marvel'siron M a n HI aruJ as a featun^d {;xtra in NBRfoohtiim. William idso directe d iiussie videvvii lire Arri Alcxa, digital i'umera. for twou})-iUid-coiiiiog southern hip-hop artists thsummer, arid continues to develop new ajidexeiting projects.


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