The film noir era (early 1940’s to late 1950’s) was popular for using the three point lighting system to create a low key, black and white style popular in crime and drama films. The combination of minimal amount of whites, reduced lighting, lots of shadows and deep blacks came together perfectly to create the film noir style.
Silhouette
A silhouette only uses the back light, the back light is placed behind and above the object, normally out of shot so you can’t see the strong light. A silhouette turns the main object or person of the shot into a solid black shape and you are not able to see the interior features. The background of the silhouette often highly contrasts the object to made it stand out even more.
Spotlight
This uses only the key light to create an area of focus, the key light is placed above the object or person that you want the light to be on. This is
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