Neo Noir Film The neo noir filmmaking genre is a style that has existed in the world of filmmaking since the 1940s. Neo is a French word for new while noir means black. Film noir means black film although it does not literally incorporate the racial orientation of blacks. Rather it is the atmosphere and attitude of the film in terms of different styles. Neo noir is an updated version of 1940s film noir. Film noir today has updated content, visuals, style, themes, or media that were not present in films of the 1940s and 1950s. Nino Frank is said to have coined the term film noir in 1946 to denote America's excess of crime. This introduced a new style of filmmaking that incorporated anti-heroes, criminal elements, and desperate characters (Cobb, 211). The cinematic style in film noir is characterized by dark locations such as deserted, eerie houses, wet streets at night, and dim lighting. There is a dramatic contrast between light and shadow. The Se7en features a black detective (Somerset) as was the case in the 1960s when noirs featured black detective characters. Blacks and whites are racially represented in noir where equality is achieved as Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are partners in the film. There are more white criminals and black detectives (Covey, 61). This is seen in the movie Se7en where the setting of the movie is in a city that constantly rains. There is a high rate of crime and urban decay. There are many dark areas and places in the film, especially where the victims are found. For example, the sloth victim was found in a dark house without any source of lighting. There are inverted frames representing John Doe's inner thoughts. Se7en is an example of neo noir film. He has a lot of... half of paper... The Somerset girl represented a better life for him, but he chose to let her go for fear of the emotional bond that family brings. Tracy is Doe Envy because she represents the life he would like. He kills her after he is unable to play husband to her. This is an element of noir sex with a female fetus in film noir. Most noir films are for adults only. They have little to no female characters as is the case with Se7en. This is probably because no child can be subjected to such violence and crime. The twist and plot reversals can be seen in the movie Se7en. The first Doe turns himself in to the police. He fails to shoot Detective Mills when the audience expects him to shoot. It is a twist that at the end of the film Tracy Mills is killed, something the audience cannot perceive from the beginning. Mills' killing of the doe is also a twist introduced by the film.