Chiaroscuro is a technique in cinemotography, where lighting and shade are used in the mise en scene. Chiaroscuro lighting is a common convention used in film noir.
It can be used as a sort of metaphor for certain characters inner personality, ie if a character was evil, or was about to do something bad, in film noir lighting would be used to create a large dark shadow behind the character, the shadow could be in the shape of a gargoyle.
still taken from "The Third Man"
The lighting can also be used to add suspense to a scene. For instance if it was very dark in a scene and something important or bad was about to happen, the lack of light, builds up suspense, and then when the situation happens, a bright light could be switched on. This technique is used in "The Third Man", the main character finally finds his friend that is apparently dead.
still taken from "The Third Man"Lighting is very important in film noir, as it can be used to represent things, without using words. Light is something easy to work with on a low budget. Which is what most films were made using, in the opriginal film noir period.
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