Film Noir and Double Indemnity

I greatly enjoyed the two articles on Film Noir as well as Double Indemnity. In Place and Peterson's article, I found the descriptions of us of light very interesting. I was very intrigued when I read their description of how film noir uses lighting on female heroines to create a specific look for them. Throughout the screening of Double Indemnity, I couldn't understand why I didn't find Phyllis to be that attractive or seductive. She is presented as a seductress for Walter right away in the first image of her in her robe. We then are directed to look at her ankle as she walks down the stairs through a CU tracking shot as she walks down the stairs. However even with these obvious images and her flirtatious nature, I found something unappealing about her. Place and Peterson explain this phenomenon through use of lighting, "Heroines were shot in tough, unromantic close-ups of direct, undiffused light, which create a hard, statuesque surface beauty". This use of lighting on the female protagonist adds to the films solemn and dramatic style.
The use of lighting in these films is probably the most key element to their style and meaning. As both authors mention, film noir is not a specific genre of films, more a set of techniques and themes. One thing I found interesting in the article by Schrader was his depiction of the 3 phrases of film noir. One thing that seems so obvious by didn't specifically come to my attention until I read it in Schrader was that with the widespread popularity of color films, there was really no more possibility for the noir style to continue. Today, when films attempt to use film noir style they must film in black and white.