How does Film Noir show us terrible people doing terrible things without endorsing it?

Mel and Chas continue to explore what Noir (the genre) can teach writers of all other genres. In particular:

how to keep the audience on side of characters doing reprehensible things
how to control your audience understanding of those reprehensible actions
distinguishing between characters undergoing transformative arcs against discovering their true natures

In finding the common craft tools of Noir over 100 years, this Part 2 looks at two modern noirs - DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995) and WOMAN OF THE HOUR (2024) - after Part 1 looked at the classic DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LONG GOODBYE.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

Despite Chas claiming to have edited this episode it was, in fact, Chris Walker who saved the day and got this done. Thanks Chris.

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 - Using noir as a lens

00:01:56 - DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS

00:31:33 - WOMAN OF THE HOUR

01:04:30 - Key Learnings

01:08:50 - Thank you Patreons!

LINKS

Shot Zero on the noir-set of noir shots in WOMAN OF THE HOUR

RELATED EPISODES

DZ-123: Flawed characters & noir
DZ-03: Making unlikeable protagonists compelling
DZ-110: Voiceover

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

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We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter.

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DZ-124: Making the despicable compelling

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast